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Hurricane Bertha will Probably Not Land in the U.S.; Tips to Recession-Proof Your Life; McCain Holds Town Hall in Denver, Colorado
Aired July 07, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Jobs first, says John McCain, as he seeks the job of U.S. President. Live coverage this hour of the Republican-nominee-to-be on the economy that isn't what it used to be.
Want to save $500 a month without starving or living on the street? Get the scoop from "Consumer Reports" this hour.
And we all want to stretch those gas dollars, but before you jump on the hypermiling bandwagon, learn the rules of the road. We're going to show you how to maximize mileage safely.
Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live in New York. Don Lemon is on assignment.
And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And right now we are waiting for John McCain to launch his Jobs First economic program. The Republican presidential candidate is about to speak at a town hall in Denver, Colorado. The big headline we're expecting, details of the senator's plan to balance the budget by the end of his first term.
We're going to have live coverage as soon as it gets under way.
Now, for Democrat Barack Obama, an unexpected change of plans today. After taking off from Chicago to Charlotte, his plane made an unscheduled landing in St. Louis. Apparently, the pilot detected a control ability issue in the pitch of the plane.
It did land safely, but Obama had to cancel his town hall in Charlotte, where he was scheduled to talk about economic security. He is expected to deliver his speech to the press corps traveling with him in Missouri later this hour.
Meantime, there is a big change in plans for Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. He's going to deliver his address at Denver's Mile High Stadium instead of the much smaller convention hall. The stadium seats about 75,000 people, and convention organizers say that that move is a reflection of Obama's success in encouraging people to get involved in the election. And it will give a lot more first-time voters a chance to take part in that event.
And a new political director for John McCain's White House bid. Steve Schmidt, who oversees campaign operations, has been tapped -- or has tapped Rudy Giuliani's former campaign manager, Mike Duhaime, for the job. Until now, there's been no political director at the campaign headquarters. Instead, the Arizona senator relied on 11 regional managers, a plan that Republicans in and outside of the campaign considered unworkable.
And check out our Political Ticker for all the latest campaign news. Just log on to CNNPolitics.com, your source for all things political.
Now, wind and fire, two extremes on opposite coasts right now. The first hurricane of the season is getting stronger out in the Atlantic.
Where could Bertha hit? Well, Chad Myers is tracking it.
Also in California, cooler temperatures have helped firefighters gain ground there. Hundreds of evacuees are back at home, but two of the biggest wildfires are far from out, we're told right now.
The so-called Gap fire has burned nearly 10,000 acres in Santa Barbara County. It's about 35 percent contained. And a lot of people who were forced out by the flames are heading home. But forecasters say that a heat wave is on the way, and that's going to make it tough for firefighters to put this one out anytime soon.
Crews on the fire lines around Big Sur are predicting it will be the end of the month before they have that wildfire fully contained. And it's also the biggest fire by far, burning across 120 square miles right now. Crews are cutting more fire lines to try to slow the spread of those flames.
A 48-year-old man who lives near there is under arrest for trying something similar. Listen to this.
Authorities don't want homeowners setting backfires because fire crews may be in the area and they could get trapped. Plus, the backfire could get under control. But apparently this one that was set landed this guy in jail.
Chad Myers, pretty interesting. He did what he thought was right and it worked, but he still got arrested because it's illegal.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You better check with the local authorities before you do something like that.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. It's like Backfiring 101.
MYERS: Right. Right.
I want to kind of get into this. I mean, I'm going to get a little bit closer and delve into this onshore/offshore flow for people who live in Buffalo and don't have any idea what that means. Although, when you get an on-lake or from the lake flow, you can get lake-effect snow.
If you get the wind off the ocean, it is a cooler, a misty kind of air. And that mist can help out the firefighters dampen some of these areas. But it can also lead to a place in a spot where you can't get anymore planes in because there is just too much fog and too much low-level moisture there. So it's kind of a 50/50; it's good, it's bad, all at the same time.
High pressure now across parts of Las Vegas, back into Bakersfield. And this is going to be the heat. Temperatures are going to be above 100 for most of the rest of the week. Vegas today is -- and tomorrow -- 111. Phoenix about the same.
Even San Francisco heats up. When you see San Francisco not 60 degrees, that means that the air is no longer coming in off the ocean. And so that's the heat that we're seeing.
Here's Bertha, way out in the middle of the Atlantic, not going to hit anything, at least not right now. And no forecast for it, except maybe Bermuda. You could be in the way.
We talk about all these computer models. What is Bertha doing? All of them, turning Bertha on up toward either Bermuda or out into the Atlantic.
Now, do not worry about that line that goes to Miami. Why? Because that's if Bertha continues in a straight line. Well, Bertha is not going to continue in a straight line -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. We'll follow the straight line with you, or the not-so-straight line.
MYERS: You know, sometimes they don't turn. We wait, we wait and we wait. So I just put that in there just to let you know where it could go, but I just don't think so.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, from the political frontline to your bottom line, the economy is issue #1. Many Americans are seeing red, are in the red. And we're here to help, or at least try.
All day long, CNN will show you how to recession-proof your credit, your home, your job, your life. So you want to save 500 bucks a month? Of course you do, and we're going to show you how.
And as you learn from us, we want to learn from you. We're going to share some iReports that we received and tell you how you can send us yours.
Now, economic fears are being fueled in part by oil and gas prices. We're keeping an eye on Wall Street, the Big Board there, after a shop drop in oil prices today, about $5 a barrel at one point.
Here's the Dow Industrials, down 144 points right now. Now, experts cite a stronger dollar and an apparent easing of tensions with Iran. They don't see a long-term trend in that direction though. And gas prices have set another record. The national average for regular is now $4.11 a gallon. It is the 10th straight increase and the eighth straight record. Gas prices are up about 40 percent from over a year ago.
OK. Enough numbers. OK? We want to hear about your bottom line and your budget.
You have sent us a number of iReports. Veronica De La Cruz joining us with some of them -- Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
So pay close attention, because I've got a vehicle for you.
PHILLIPS: Oh, perfect.
DE LA CRUZ: So pay attention.
PHILLIPS: OK.
DE LA CRUZ: OK. So we've been asking you out there how you have been weathering these tough economic times. And we want to show you a couple of iReports that you have sent us.
This first one is from Gary Strivey (ph) in Bakersfield, California. He was one of the lucky ones to snatch up a Prius. He says that he also plans to buy a Honda hybrid, which gets 60 miles to the gallon.
So, this is his driveway. This is his Prius.
Not only that, Gary has also downsized his living space. He went from a 2,700 square foot home to about 1,600 square feet. So this is what he's doing to save.
Now, just in case you're on the waiting list for a Prius, you can't get one, why not consider this? Take a look. Take a look.
This is the ZAPCAR, Kyra. I have lovingly named this the De La Cruz-er.
You challenged me, and this is what I came up with.
PHILLIPS: I like it.
DE LA CRUZ: This is the De La Cruz-er.
PHILLIPS: What are you going to throw in the back?
DE LA CRUZ: What?
PHILLIPS: What are you going to throw in the back?
DE LA CRUZ: I'm going to go in the back, and Jim Hooper (ph) is going to drive because this is his car. He lives in Crescent City, California, and he says that he believes that electricity is the fuel of the present and the future.
And the ZAPCAR, Kyra, is 100 percent electric. And on top of that, it's pollution-free. So it's good for the environment as well.
So here is the thing, Kyra. I don't know, the ZAPCAR, do you think it's cool-looking?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: It is, right?
Well, you know, Jim has a complex. He thinks it's kind of dorky looking. And he says, yes, he knows...
PHILLIPS: But if you are in the back, it's not going to look dorky, sister.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. You know, maybe you're right about that.
PHILLIPS: You can bump it up a level.
(LAUGHTER)
DE LA CRUZ: But to all those people who says he looks dorky riding around, he says, you know what? Back then when the VW Bug first came out, that was probably dorky, too. But, you know, the De La Cruz-er -- the De La Cruz-er is pretty cool.
PHILLIPS: I like it. I like it. Very good.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. So this one is for you. This is Donna Soltwedel in Chicago. Now, there she is.
Because of this three-wheeler, she says that she never tips or she never runs out of gas. And her husband even has one, too.
He rides his to work, Kyra, 30 miles each way. That's 60 miles a day on this thing. Donna says that this is the only way to ride.
I asked Donna. She says that you could borrow this. So I have called this the Kyra Commuter. The Kyra Commuter. And if not the Kyra Commuter, how about the Kyra Three-Wheela?
PHILLIPS: OK. It's working.
And you know what I like about that, too? We get in shape while we're working our way to work.
DE LA CRUZ: Right.
PHILLIPS: Getting all the endorphins going.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right. You know, the Kyra Commuter, or the Kyra Three-Wheela, through Central Park, I think.
PHILLIPS: Yes. I'm liking it. I've got to figure out a way, though, that I can put my little nephew on the front there.
DE LA CRUZ: Or you know what? I will let you borrow the De La Cruz-er...
PHILLIPS: OK.
DE LA CRUZ: ... and you can throw your nephew in the back. How's that?
PHILLIPS: I don't know if Jim Hooper (ph) would want me in the De La Cruz-er. My gut is he would much rather have you in the back of his truck, my dear.
DE LA CRUZ: No. No.
PHILLIPS: All right. I like it.
DE LA CRUZ: iReport.com, Kyra. Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
And you can of course send your pictures and ideas in to Veronica. She'll bring them to us. Just log on to ireport.com.
Again, CNN is all about your budget, your bottom line today. We are showing you how to recession-proof your life, even naming cars right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You can also go to CNNMoney.com. There is much more to come.
Now, a string of explosions has ripped through the port city of Karachi, Pakistan. Police say at least one person is dead, 35 wounded.
As many as seven blasts happened within an hour in both residential and commercial areas. Police say that five potential suspects are being held. No one has claimed responsibility at this point.
And yesterday, a suicide bombing in the capital of Islamabad, it killed 17 people. Most of them police officers.
And the Indian Embassy was the apparent target of a suicide car bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 41 people were killed there, more than 100 hurt. Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed Taliban militants, but the Taliban denies responsibility.
And just when will U.S. troops leave Iraq? Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says that he's pushing for a short-term understanding with the U.S. instead of a formal agreement on the status of U.S. forces. Some type of agreement is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.
Now, al-Maliki says that his plan includes a formula for the U.S. troops' withdrawal. President Bush has said time and time again that he opposes any type of specific timetable. Now, for some personal business and then the opening of the G-8 summit in Japan today, President Bush had his first sit-down with the new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. Mr. Bush called his counterpart a smart guy. Medvedev referred to Mr. Bush as "George." He was pretty casual.
Obviously, you can catch all the big developments in the first day of the G-8 summit in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
And state flags at half-staff across North Carolina today in remembrance of long-time Senator Jesse Helms. Live pictures now.
Helms' body is lying in repose at a church in Raleigh so people can pay their respects there. The controversial conservative died Friday. He was 86 years old. He spent 30 years in the U.S. Senate, and his funeral and burial are set for tomorrow.
Straight ahead in San Antonio, Texas, a big welcome home for three freed American hostages who spent more than five years in the jungles of Colombia.
We'll have a live report.
And outrage in Mississippi. Millions of dollars in supplies for Katrina victims never made it to the needy folks. What happened? We're going to get an exclusive report from our Special Investigations Unit.
And Southwest Airlines boots a woman, her four children and her pregnant sister off a flight. Well, the family is not too happy. We're going to tell you what happened.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from Denver, Colorado. John McCain with his Jobs First economic program.
Let's go ahead and listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll double the child deduction from $3,500 to $7,000 for every dependent in every family in America.
(APPLAUSE)
At a time of increasing gas and food prices, American families need tax relief. And I, not my opponent, will deliver it.
In addition to small business, the other bright spot in our economy are our exports, which are estimated to be growing at over 7 percent. I'll expand markets for our goods and services. Twenty-five percent of all the jobs in this country are linked to world trade. In five states alone -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and believe it or not, Colorado -- over five million jobs depend on open markets.
My opponent believes America would be better off by refusing opportunities to sell in growing foreign markets, but protectionism not only puts a hidden tax on almost everything you buy, but it undermines American competitiveness and cost jobs. Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States. Our future prosperity depends on opening more of these markets, not closing them.
(APPLAUSE)
Five years ago, the outdoor footwear company Crocs was started by a couple of entrepreneurs with a great idea, ingenuity and drive. This former small business now employees 600 people in Colorado alone and sells over 50 percent of its products in 90 countries around the world. Building barriers to Crocs or any American company's access to foreign markets will have a devastating effect on our economy and jobs and the prosperity of American families.
I understand free trade isn't a positive for everyone. If a worker loses a job, we must retrain them and prepare them for 21st century jobs.
That's why I proposed a comprehensive reform of our unemployment insurance and worker retraining programs. We'll use our community colleges -- use our community colleges to help train workers for specific opportunities in their communities. And for workers of a certain age that have lost a job that won't come back, we'll help make up the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary lower-paid one until they have completed retraining and found secure and new employment at a decent wage.
We must also get government's fiscal house in order. American workers and families pay their bills and balance their budgets, and I'll demand the same thing of our government which you're not getting now.
(APPLAUSE)
A government that spends wisely and balances its budget is a catalyst for economic growth and the creation of good and secure jobs. The Congress and this administration have failed to meet their responsibilities to manage the government.
(APPLAUSE)
Government has grown by 60 percent in eight years. Sixty percent. That's simply inexcusable.
When I'm president, I'll order a stem to stern review of government, modernize how it does business, and save billions of dollars. I'll veto every single bill with wasteful pork barrel spending on it. You can count on it.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm make them famous and you will know their names.
(APPLAUSE)
We aren't going to continue managing this country's future for things Americans don't want or need. My opponent has a very different record on this issue. He sought millions upon millions of dollars in earmarks in the short time that he's been in the United States Senate.
In 2007 alone, Senator Obama requested nearly $100 million for earmark projects. I have never asked nor received a single earmark in my entire career, and I'm proud of that.
(APPLAUSE)
He supported the $300 billion pork-laden agriculture subsidy bill. I opposed it.
He voted for an energy bill stuffed with giveaways to oil companies at a time of record profits. I voted against it.
Let me give you a little bit of straight talk on energy.
Our dangerous dependency on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making. Not yesterday, 30 years. And was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long term about the future of the country.
If we don't act now to break our strategic dependence on foreign oil, we're putting our national security, our economy and our environment at great risk. At grave, grave risk.
By 2030, America's demand for energy will rise by 20 percent. Our jobs and our way of life depend on the next president beginning to solve this challenge.
Two weeks ago, I announced the Lexington Project to secure our energy future, named for the place where Americans first fought for their independence. We will begin by producing more of our own oil and gas, increasing our own supply. We'll send a message to the market, a result in lower prices for oil and gas.
(APPLAUSE)
We will develop more clean energy. Nuclear power is the most dependable source of zero emission energy we have. We will build at least 45 new nuclear power plants that will create over 700,000 good jobs to construct and operate them.
(APPLAUSE)
The development of clean coal technology will create jobs in some of America's most economically disadvantaged areas. Our coal reserves are larger than Saudi Arabia's supply of oil. Clean coal demonstration projects alone, just the demonstration projects, will employee over 30,000 Americans.
In the state of Colorado over 80 percent of the electricity comes from coal. And in Ohio, it's over 90 percent.
My proposal to help automakers design and sell new generations of cars that don't depend on gasoline will reinvigorate that struggling industry. My plan to develop wind and solar power and renewable technologies will drive innovation and create high-tech jobs.
Now, my opponent's answer to the Lexington Project is no. No to more drilling, no to more nuclear power, no to research prices that help solve the problem of affordable electric cars. For a guy whose official seal carried the motto, "Yes, we can," Senator Obama's agenda sure has a whole lot of, "No, we can't."
(APPLAUSE)
The Lexington Project will create millions of jobs, help protect our environment, improve our security, and solve the nation's energy problems.
Americans are having a tough time. We've been through worse and we've beaten longer odds. Even in these difficult days we must believe in ourselves. Nothing is inevitable in America. We've always been the captains of our fate.
All you've ever asked of government is that it stand on your side not in your way.
(APPLAUSE)
I intend to do just that, to stand on your side; to help business and not government create jobs; to fight for your future and not the personal ambitions of politicians and bureaucrats. We have much work to do if we are to end the self-interested partisanship that prevents us from fixing problems that need to be fixed and changing government to keep this country prosperous and at peace.
I make you one promise I will always keep no matter what. In war and peace, I have been an imperfect servant of my country, but I have always been a servant first, last and always.
(APPLAUSE)
Whenever I faced an important choice between my country's interest or my own interest, party politics or any special interest, I chose my country. Nothing has ever mattered more to me than the honor of serving America, and nothing ever will.
(APPLAUSE)
If you elect me president, I will always put our country first. I will put its greatness, its prosperity and peace, and the hopes and concerns of the people who make it great before any personal or partisan interest. I will keep that promise every hour of every day I'm in office. And I will ask you to help me convince Congress, Republicans and Democrats, to keep that promise as well.
There is nothing beyond our ability to achieve. We are Americans and we don't hide from history. We make history. All we need to do is to believe in ourselves as we always have and to cherish the beautiful country we are so blessed to call home.
Thank you very much. Thank you for being here.
PHILLIPS: John McCain live in Denver there with his Jobs First economic speech.
CNN's Gloria Borger joining me now from Washington to talk more about jobs, budget plans, what he had to say.
Something I want to ask you, Gloria, if you don't mind. I don't know if this caught your attention as well.
He said he has never asked for a single earmark in his entire career. He went on to say Obama supported a $300 billion pork-laden agriculture subsidy bill, he says he opposed it. He says that Obama voted for an energy bill stuffed with giveaways to oil companies at a time of record profit. John McCain said he voted against that.
Can you fact-check that for me? Is that true?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, it's John McCain's signature issue, is he's against earmarks, he's against what he calls pork. He's against all special projects.
And when it comes to cutting government spending, this is -- you know, this is terra firma for John McCain. This is what he knows. And it is, in fact, why he doesn't have a lot of friends in the Senate, Kyra, because when they come in with their special provisions, he stands on the floor and says, no, no, no, we shouldn't give that senator this for his home state, we need to cut out all of these earmarks.
And as he said in his speech, if he's president, he's going to publicize these earmarks so people know about it all over the country. This is really his signature issue.
PHILLIPS: OK.
Something else that he said, that he can balance the budget by 2013. Is that doable?
BORGER: Well, not if you ask the Obama campaign. I mean, the Congressional Budget Office says that the deficit by 2013 is going to be over $400 billion. So that's an awful lot of money to cut out of the budget.
He says, of course, that he will use some of the money to do that from what he calls the victory in Iraq. So a lot of that money that we're spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he will put right into deficit reduction and he'll also have a one-year moratorium on new spending. So just freeze the budget where it is.
PHILLIPS: Now, he also talked about the Social Security crisis. But I'm looking at my notes here, he didn't give any specifics.
Why was he so vague about that?
BORGER: Well -- he's been around Washington for a while, Kyra, and he knows that the minute you put a specific on the table about reducing Social Security, somebody is going to use it against you.
They used to call it the third rail in American politics, touch it and you die. And so he's going to be careful about this. I bet, and if I had to bet on this, that if he were to become president, he would form a presidential commission, as they all do, to study what to do about Social Security.
But you cannot avoid tackling these huge entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, if you want to get that deficit under control. He's going to have to look at it.
PHILLIPS: All right. Gloria Borger, thanks for helping us read between the lines.
BORGER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, don't eat, don't drive, that is one way to save 500 bucks a month, right?. But there are some more realistic and more practical options. And the executive editor of "Consumer Reports" has them for us. He's going join us right here, in the NEWSROOM.
Also, we are waiting for Barack Obama to talk to us in St. Louis. There was a little bit of a hiccup where he had some mechanical problems in his plane. He didn't make it to the live forum that we were supposed to bring to you live. So now he is just going to make his speech in front of the press there, live in St. Louis. We will take it as soon as it happens.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Your paycheck is probably your best defense against recession. Here are some ways to protect it.
Work on a job that is at the core of your company's mission. Think of ways to generate revenues for you company or cut costs. Enterprise while you're there. Get to the office, stay there, be visible, and don't be afraid to talk up your contributions.
Also, keep a broad perspective, be flexible. Get your skills up to date. Keep a good attitude. Cozy up to the headhunter and never stop networking. Always have a plan B, C, D. And consider a career change. It's not so bad. You can lay the groundwork to shift to an industry that has better growth prospects. Take a risk.
Now all day long we are showing you how to recession-proof your life. How would you like to save $500 each month, and every month? Sure, you could just not eat, not drive and not use your credit cards. But our next guest has a few more realistic options, six of them actually -- Greg Daugherty, executive editor of "Consumer Reports."
Greg, good to see you.
GREG DAUGHERTY, EXEC. EDITOR, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Thank you. Good to be here.
PHILLIPS: All right. Why don't we start out with the first two money saving tips about car and life insurance. I thought these were interesting. Why don't we start with car.
DAUGHERTY: Well, car insurance -- insurance is sort of a boring topic to a lot of people, but it is a huge part of the average household budget. So if you can bring it down a bit, you can really make some substantial savings. For example, with car insurance we found that people tend to keep their car policies 10, 12, 15 years and don't even bother to price shop. But if you do price shop, you can often save substantially.
And it's easy to do that on the web. You can go to your state insurance department's Web site usually and find the names of companies that are doing business in your state and what they're charging for policies.
PHILLIPS: Yes, you can just change your deductibles, right? I've done that a number of times, realized, wow, I don't have to be paying so much for a deductible sometimes.
DAUGHERTY: Exactly. Without even changing companies if you change your deductibles, you can often save.
PHILLIPS: OK. What about life insurance? We're living longer now, right? So do we really need -- I guess prices are probably going down?
DAUGHERTY: We are less of a risk to life insurers so they have dropped prices over the last say decade or so. So if you have an old life insurance policy it may be much more expensive than one you can get now if you are in reasonably good health. So that's worth shopping around also.
We caution people here though that -- don't drop the old policy before you get the new one because you might leave yourself uninsured.
PHILLIPS: All right. What about food? Especially big families -- we know that eating out less is a given. That's something we all try to do. It is hard when you are working and you have kids and there is not always time to cook. But what are some of your other tips?
DAUGHERTY: Well, look at fresh foods instead of prepared foods. They are less expensive, and they can even be better for you in many cases. Buy on sale, of course. In the old days we would advise people to drive around to a bunch of supermarkets and comparison shop. But with gasoline being what it is, you probably want to find one good, low cost supermarket near you and do all your buying there.
And also, look at store brands. We have tested a lot of store brands in recent years and they are very good. They often come up very high in the ratings, up with the big famous name brands. So buy those and you can save some money if you aren't already buying them.
PHILLIPS: Yes, you look at the ingredients on the back, absolutely the same, I've noticed, with the big labels and just in the store brand.
OK. Bank fees and credit card fees. I know with credit card fees, because I do this a lot, you can negotiate a lower rate. Sometimes just threatening to quit the card they'll drop your APR tremendously.
DAUGHERTY: Right. That is worth a phone call. Try to pay the thing off if you carry a balance. They have these absurd interest rates on them. It is not uncommon to be paying 15 percent interest. That is just money out the window. With food, if you overpay, at least you get something to eat. But with a credit card fee you are not getting anything, you're just giving them your money.
PHILLIPS: What about bank fees?
DAUGHERTY: Bank fees have really gone up in recent years. In particular, watch out for overdraft fees. If you use your debit card a lot, as a lot of us do, it is very easy to run up one, two, three overdrafts a day without even being aware you are overdrawing, and those can be close to $30 a piece. So that's like $100 if you aren't careful.
PHILLIPS: And ways to save on your phone, too. Take a look at how much you are using, negotiate with other companies. Also, bundling your phone with your cable, right?
DAUGHERTY: That can work. Look at bundling, where you get several services, such as Internet and cable and so forth all together in one package. That can turn out to be cheaper than buying each one separately.
PHILLIPS: Greg Daugherty with "Consumer Reports." Thanks for the tips.
DAUGHERTY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: A driver who is hyper about getting his money's worth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: He routinely gets 50 miles per gallon in his plain old Accord, twice what Honda promises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: I have to admit, it was a little scary, but our Miles O'Brien does learn how to stretch those MPGs in a pretty safe way. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Outrage in Mississippi. Tens of millions of dollars of stock piled supplies meant for Hurricane Katrina victims never made it to the needy. Instead, all that stuff went to various states and to federal agencies. Special investigations unit correspondent, Abbie Boudreau, just got back from the Mississippi coast.
She is joining us now with more on her exclusive report -- Abbie.
All right. I'm being told that we are working that connection now. She will be with us later on.
A little bit of what she says about (INAUDIBLE) and her report. We also brought you the live coverage of how the goods actually got to those who needed it. She'll talk more about that in just a minute.
Now, penny pinchers, well, rules of the road for those. As gas prices keep climbing, hypermilers keep saving.
CNN's Miles O'Brien rides with a master conservationist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne Gerdes may look like he is out of gas. But actually, he is just kind of hyper about saving every drop he can. And I mean hyper.
WAYNE GERDES, HYPERMILER: We are in neutral so I'm ready to just pop. It starts, we're going.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Oh wait, you just went -- that was like immediately into drive.
GERDES: Right, there's no point in wasting any fuel --
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne is the reigning king of the gas mileage misers known as hypermilers. A ride with him is a real eye opener, not to mention a filling-loosener.
GERDES: Hold on to your camera, we're going to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm going to hold on.
O'BRIEN: That's what happens when you take a turn without touching the brake pedal. Wayne avoids it like, well, gas stations. He routinely gets 50 miles per gallon in his plain old Accord, twice what Honda promises.
GERDES: And I'm already going to shut it down. This is an advanced technique --
O'BRIEN: He kills the engine whenever he can, never tailgates, but does draft behind big trucks. He always drives the speed limit and plans trips as if they were the D-Day invasion. (on camera): So it forces you to think entirely differently about how you drive.
GERDES: Yes, I'm already thinking like three lights ahead if we're in a suburban traffic area. And now I'm going to use what I call a ridge ride (ph).
O'BRIEN (voice-over): In Wayne's world, angry tailgaters are proctologists.
GERDES: Guys that ride in your butt.
O'BRIEN: And when they pass in a huff ...
GERDES: They're the mad rabbits (ph).
O'BRIEN: And big SUVs are FSPs, as in ...
GERDES: Fuel sucking pig.
O'BRIEN: I almost didn't have the heart to tell him about my UCONN XL. But when he came to New York the other day, he held his nose, plugged in a gadget that displays fuel economy, and we are off like a herd of turtles for hypermiling 101.
GERDES: Gentle, easy, back off a little bit. No sense in racing. Shift to first. We are going slow enough to first. I want your foot on the brake and I want you to shut off the car at 1,100 RPM. And you are working your butt off right now.
O'BRIEN (on camera): This is hard work, it is.
(voice-over): Using his techniques, I instantly curtailed my FSPs thirst for unleaded by 30 percent, but still a long way from 50 miles a gallon.
GERDES: This vehicle just is not meant for downtown.
O'BRIEN (on camera): You think?
GERDES: I have to watch my own speed on this.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Wayne started doing this after 9/11 made him reconsider our dependency on foreign oil. He runs a Web site with tips. And with gas where it is now, he has a growing, albeit slow moving, following.
He sure made me a believer.
(on camera): OK, call me hyper-Miles.
(voice-over): In fact, you might say I'm pushing the concept.
Hyper-Miles O'Brien, CNN, Wadsworth, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Well it is fun to watch man with a plan like the one in Miles' story. But the truth is, many of the most extreme hypermiling tactics are not really that safe and they are even illegal.
Stephanie Elam has our Energy Fix from New York and will break it all down for us.
Stephanie, I just like seeing Miles attempt to do anything like that, including push a car.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well -- I don't know how cute it is, either, to go around pushing a car, but, hey. Miles, he is dapper anyway. He can push a car and still look great.
But for most of us --
PHILLIPS: Even if he does have a fuel sucking pig -- FSP.
ELAM: Right, he does have a really large car. He does.
But for everybody -- we all can't handle that. If you have gas at a record $4.11 a gallon today, a lot of people are looking at things like hypermiling. But AAA, law enforcement, they are all coming with some bold warnings, saying hypermiling techniques -- some of them, they are dangerous, some of them are illegal, and some them just simply are not worth it.
After all, if you are saving a few pennies, or even a few dollars, it won't do you too much good if you get a really expensive ticket, or worse, what, if you don't live to tell about it. So, we want to put these into perspective here.
So for one, rolling through stop signs -- that is a big no, no. It is dangerous, it is illegal. You know all the things that are wrong with that -- you could get him by another car, you can hit another car. AAA also says you shouldn't turn off the engine or shift into neutral to coast down hills. That is also very dangerous.
The other thing you want to keep in mind, don't overinflate your tires. And particularly unsafe, according to AAA, drafting behind large vehicles. It hurts visibility, and risks your lives and the lives of drivers behind you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, surely there must be some type of energy fix out there then, Steph. Give me something.
ELAM: Yes, that's true. I can give you something.
There are some aspects of hypermiling that are safe and money saving. These are the true fixes. First, keep those tires properly inflated and avoid that whole operation of accelerating and then braking sharply, and then accelerating again. It is a real drag on gas mileage. And so is driving too fast. So I know a lot of repeople don't want to hear that, but slow down. If you keep it close to 55 on the highway, you will do your car some good and your gas mileage. And instead of turning off your engine on the downhill, just take your foot off the accelerator. That's also an easier one to do. And remove any unnecessary weighty from your car. So clean out your trunk. A good hypermiler doesn't carry anything extra in the car, except for maybe Miles, who tends to have a big car. So that may be the best thing to do in that case there, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: He does drive like a grandpa though. And I think that's because he has the pressure to save money when he's got that big gas guzzler.
ELAM: Well you have to balance it out some way, right?.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Thanks, Steph.
ELAM: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: A hurricane giveaway. A state sends supplies to everyone but the victims. How did that happen? We investigate.
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PHILLIPS: Outrage in Mississippi. Tens of millions of dollars of stockpiled supplies meant for hurricane Katrina victims, never made it to the needy. Instead, all that stuff went to various states and to federal agencies.
Special investigations unit correspondent agent Abbie Boudreau, just got back from the Mississippi coast and is joining us now with our exclusive report.
Abbie, we are seeing this all -- we're seeing this now in a couple of states.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Oh, Kyra, you're absolutely right.
Last month we reported what happened in Louisiana. How FEMA stored $85 million of worth of house hold supplies. Some were donated to the federal government. FEMA then gave away those items instead of getting them to Katrina victims. Well, the story in Mississippi gets even more complicated. Because the state actually took the supplies but again, never got them to the people who still need them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARON HANSHAW, COASTAL WOMEN FOR CHANGE: This is bigger than what we think. This is gigantic.
BOUDREAU: Complete disbelief.
GLENDA PERRYMAN, UNITED HEARS COMMUNITY ACTION: We worked so hard to help people in our community when the government is holding stuff back that we can use to give to people that don't have.
BOUDREAU: Reassembled leaders of eight Mississippi nonprofits still doing all they can to help Katrina victims, nearly three years after the storm.
CASS WOODS, COASTAL WOMEN FOR CHANGE: You would have to be living under a rock not to know that there are still needs.
BOUDREAU: Each expressed outrage about what CNN's investigation uncovered. None of them knew that FEMA had stored these supplies for the last two years, and they all say the need for those items is still there.
ROBERTA AVILA, INTERFAITH DISASTER TASK FORCE: Even more now than right after the storm.
HANSHAW: It's scary to know that there are supplies that are harboring and people in need right now as we speak today.
BOUDREAU: Instead of the supplies going to Katrina victims, FEMA declared them surplus and in February gave them all away to federal agencies in 16 states. Louisiana's Surplus Agency said no thanks to FEMA's offer because it said it hadn't been notified that there was still a need.
It wasn't until U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu learned of CNN's investigation that she was able to retrieve some supplies for victims in New Orleans.
(on camera): And what do you think when you're watching all of these items coming off this truck?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm going to get a new pot set.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): But no one is celebrating in Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't think it was going to be this long (ph).
BOUDREAU: Howard and Gloria Griffith's (ph) home was swept away by the storm. They have been living in this FEMA trailer ever since.
(on camera): These are pictures of brand-new household items that FEMA had stockpiled in warehouses for the last two years that were meant for you guys, meant for Hurricane Katrina victims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen none of it.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Struggling to make it, the Griffths say they still need the basics...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still need cleaning supplies and stuff like that.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very expensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bath towels, washcloths. BOUDREAU (voice-over): Both have full-time jobs and they have spent every penny they have earned to rebuild. But now, they say they are broke and there's little chance they will be finishing their home any time soon. That's the reality for many Katrina survivors on the coast.
But when Mississippi had a chance to help people, like the Griffiths, rebuild their lives, just listen to what happened. Unlike Louisiana, Mississippi's Surplus Agency told FEMA it wanted the supplies. But it didn't hand them to groups helping Katrina victims. Instead, it gave dinnerware sets, pillow cases, men's underwear, and coffee makers to state prisons.
Other agencies, like the Department of Wildlife, became the proud owners of more coffee makers, cleaning supplies, and other items. And the state even kept plastic buckets for itself.
State officials did not return our repeated calls and refused our interview request to try to find out how this could have happened. But we did talk to a spokesperson from Mississippi's surplus agency, Kym Wigggins, who told us, "There may be a need, but we were not notified that there was a great need for this particular property."
BILL STALLWORTH, HOPE COORDINATION CENTER: These families don't have anything or very little of what they need to have.
BOUDREAU: Bill Stallworth is the director of a nonprofit group that helps are rehouse Katrina victims. He's also a Biloxi city councilman. He says he cannot believe so many state and federal officials are this out of touch.
STALLWORTH: And when I hear people stand up and just beat their chest and say, we've got everything under control, that's when I just want to walk up and slap them upside the head and say, get a grip, get a life.
BOUDREAU: Stallworth, and other community group leaders, maintain if they had only known about these items, they would have begged for them.
STALLWORTH: When somebody comes up and says, oh, we've got it all together, everybody is taken care of -- hey, have you been down? Have you looked? Have you seen?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU: So why didn't these community leaders that we just showed you in our story, get some of these supplies? Well, it turns out they aren't registered with the state's surplus agency. Most of them we talked to say they never knew it existed. Now of course, they are getting signed up. I talked to a FEMA official who tells us it is now launching an internal investigation into why these supplies were never used to make sure this never happens again -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, I've just figured out Abbie, we just slap them upside the head. The best advice. BOUDREAU: Well, I don't know if we want to do that. But, he was angry. I mean, so many people in Mississippi are just wondering are they left behind? You know, is anyone listening? Does anybody realize that there's still a need out here?
PHILLIPS: Yes, absolutely. And you've been doing an incredible job investigating where all the corruption is.
Abbie, thank you so much.
BOUDREAU: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, Beijing bound. And her hopes swims eternal. Olympian Dara Torres is suiting up for her fifth games. But her first as a mom.
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