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Issue Number One
Burnt Out at Work?; Food Banks Struggle; Economics of Worry; Answering Your Questions; Quick Vote Results
Aired July 18, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Rising fares, charges for the first bag you check, no food, no films (ph). Airlines doing everything to save cash and try and make some. We'll talk to the president and CFO of Delta about the state of the airline industry.
Sick of your job? Well, most people are. So what can you do to combat your frustration? Advice ahead.
And a town that is so full of hot air, that it's pulling the plug on standard electricity.
Issue #1 is your economy. ISSUE #1 starts right now.
Well, from the ISSUE #1 headquarters to the CNNMoney.com news room, we are all over the stories that matter to you.
Hello and welcome to ISSUE #1. I'm Ali Velshi.
The ever-fluctuating price of black gold. After three days on the slide, oil prices are creeping back up a bit. The price at the pump? Hey, look, here's some good news. It'd down a penny, according to AAA, now at $4.11.
But we begin with how that all impacts the stock market.
Gerri, the market has been on a tear for a couple of days.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, Ali.
Well, oil prices have tumbled nearly $16 in just the last three days, and now gas prices going that way, at least for one day.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
WILLIS: This show is all about you and...
VELSHI: Soaring fuel costs is putting a lot of pressure on the airline industry. And to offset those costs, we've seen everything from fare hikes, to added baggage fees. So where do we go from here?
Edward Bastian is the president and chief financial officer for Delta Air Lines. He joins me now from Delta headquarters in Atlanta.
Mr. Bastian, thank you for being with us.
You are in an industry that, boy, attracts a lot of ire from a lot of our viewers these days. They're frustrated. They're frustrated when they go fill their own cars up. So I guess they kind of get that you're facing the same thing, particularly with fuel costs.
You just reported your earnings this week, and they were better than folks expected. Tell me what the relationship is between your earnings and what we pay in terms of added fuel costs.
ED BASTIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, DELTA AIR LINES: Well, Ali, first of all, thanks for having me. We appreciate the opportunity to be with you and to speak to our customers, your viewers today.
Fuel prices are having a tremendous impact on the industry as a whole. And certainly for Delta, we're not immune from that.
The second quarter, as you indicated, we just reported a profit for the quarter, if you exclude some of the book write-offs that we're incurring on the goodwill side of the balance sheet. And as a result of that, we found fairly effective ways to offset not oil, but a substantial amount of that fuel increase.
I mean, we're doing it in various ways. I think international growth is one way in which we're doing it.
You know, our top line in revenue in the quarter grew 10 percent, and a lot of that was driven off of international growth. So we're continuing to expand the network. We had a very effective fuel hedging program in place for the quarter, we saved over $300 million. So...
VELSHI: What kind of price do you lock into with fuel? What's your average price that you've locked into in terms of fuel futures?
BASTIAN: Well, we've got about 50 percent of the forward six to 12 months locked in. We're in the low $3 per gallon range on jet fuel.
VELSHI: Now, let's talk a little bit about oil and speculation. You and other airlines have sort of started a campaign to end speculation or excessive speculation in the oil market.
What's the implication there? That new airlines need the oil, so you're OK to hedge for oil, but you think there are people who are out there who are forcing the price of oil up, who are just doing it to make money?
BASTIAN: Well, I think there's no question about it that the financial markets are having a tremendous impact with respect to what, you know, consumers are facing at the pump, what we're facing with respect to rising fuel prices in our industry, as well. And what we'd like to do, is there to be a little bit greater transparency in oversight with respect to how those trades are occurring.
The speculation certainly does bring liquidity into the market, which we appreciate. But we think it may be excessive at this point.
VELSHI: All right. Let's talk about how this plays back to us again.
We've seen maybe about 21 attempted fare increases by the major airlines this year, about 15 of them have been successful. We're almost on pace to where we were for the whole of 2007. And our customers, your customers, and our viewers want to know what you see as the outlook in terms of fares because of fuel increases.
Are we going to see fares up another 10 percent or 20 percent in the next year? What's it going to look like?
BASTIAN: Well, I think you're going to see fares continue to stay at the current levels. Whether we have the ability to raise them further is really going to be driven by the fundamental demand issue to the extent that consumers balk. Obviously, that creates a ceiling with respect to where fares will go.
Clearly, it's also going to be influenced by the price of fuel. And fuel's going to drive capacity. So, as you see fuel continuing to rise, you're going to see fewer choices out there. And that's unfortunate, but that's the reality. You need to have a business model that works, because it's in no one's long-term interest for there to be an unhealthy airline industry in this country.
VELSHI: Have you found that as these fare increases have been instituted, that you've seen demand pull back from consumers?
BASTIAN: Well, I'm not certain it's only fare increases, Ali. If you were to look at airline fares domestically, they're not any higher than they were back in the year 2000. So putting that into contest.
What we are starting to see though is some softening because of the economic outlook. And clearly on the business front in the U.S., we are entering, you know, a rough patch. I think there's a number of domestic businesses that are starting to pull back a little bit in terms of their travel needs. And we're adjusting our supply to calibrate that.
VELSHI: Tell us about the merger with Northwest. When do you expect that to be done? And what are we going to see as a result of that in terms of fares, in terms of service? What will be the change for our viewer?
BASTIAN: Well, we're expecting to have that closed by the end of the year. We've made a lot of progress.
The number one thing you're going to see is you're going to see the creation of America's premier global airline. We're going to be able to connect the great Pacific routes of the Northwest to the great position we have across the transatlantic and the East Coast of the United states. And it's going to mean greater choices. And more importantly, a more solid, durable airline for the future.
VELSHI: And yet, we continue to see cutbacks in services and in staffing. At some point, do you have some sense of what your staffing levels will be like in a year from now or two years from now? Or are we going to sort of see this little bit of attrition? Because we see changes in the number of flights that go to different cities, we see cutbacks on that.
What's the outlook for how many cities and what sort of services you'll be able to offer?
BASTIAN: Well, the cutbacks on service have been largely in the amount of frequency. So we expect to maintain most of our presence in the U.S.
We're growing internationally. We grew 15 percent this quarter internationally. We expect to grow another 15 percent over the balance of the year. So you're going to see a changing dynamic.
You know, Delta is shrinking its U.S. footprint a bit, but it's not shrinking the size of the company. We're only down about four percent on a global basis. So, you know, we're reallocating assets, not just shrinking assets.
VELSHI: Let's talk a little bit about a report that came out earlier this week by an analyst at Fitch, a credit rating company, suggesting that one major airline is going to be out of business by the end of next year. Delta was on that list of possibilities.
Now, I understand that that was just a particular analysis about financial positions. You've got some cash on hand. How do you reconcile that analysis with your financial situation?
BASTIAN: Ali, I haven't seep the report, so it'd be unfair for me to get into the details of it. I can tell you Delta's going to be a survivor.
We ended the quarter with over $4 billion in available liquidity on hand. When we close our deal with Northwest, we'll have over $6 billion by the end of the year. So there clearly are going to be and we're seeing airline failures occur in front of us. There's a changing landscape across the domestic industry. Delta's going to be a winner, there's no question about that.
VELSHI: Do you think there'll be one major airline failure by the end of next year?
BASTIAN: Hard to say. I think it's going to -- you tell me where fuel prices are at the end of next year, then I'll have a better ability to predict that.
VELSHI: Ed Bastian, good to talk with you. Thank you for being with us.
BASTIAN: Ali, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
WILLIS: Well, this show is all about you, and it's time to get you involved and weigh in on today's "Quick Vote."
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is here with today's question.
Poppy, hello.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi, Gerri. Happy Friday to you and to everyone out there.
Today, though, not so happy. Gas topping $4 a gallon in 39 states across the country. Is cheap gas a thing of the past? If you think so, how are you going to cope in the future?
Here's our question today: What kind of car do you see yourself driving in 10 years, electric, hydrogen, solar or gas?
Weigh in on CNNMoney.com. We'll bring you the numbers later in the show.
A solar car would be awesome.
WILLIS: A solar car would be awesome. Somebody told me the other day they want a car fueled by sugar.
HARLOW: Love it.
WILLIS: Great idea, right?
HARLOW: Yes.
WILLIS: Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
VELSHI: Well, a state known for big oil is now spending big bucks in clean and renewable energy. We'll take you to a community that is completely powered by wind.
And from clean and renewable energy, to a not-so-clean power source. Could cow manure be the solution to our energy crisis? We'll get you the scoop.
You're watching ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: We talk a lot about alternative energy on this show, like wind, solar power, but let's talk for just a minute about cows. One dairy farmer in California has figured out how to turn his cows into serious energy producers.
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has the details.
HARLOW: All right, Gerri. I'm going to try to hold a straight face for this whole hit.
Behold, folks, the power of poop. That is right. A farmer in Lodi, California, says each of his cows produces enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for 24 hours.
Our affiliate in Sacramento, WXTV, caught up with farmer Larry Castalenelli (ph). He has 3,000 cows, and their droppings create enough methane to power his entire 12-acre farm. Here's how it works. The farmer harvests the cow poop, separates it, and sends it into a digester, which is basically a two-acre lagoon. Check it out. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bubble left here is all that methane gas. We capture this gas, this methane that would normally go up into the ozone. Instead, we capture it, we run it through the generator, we get electricity. And we're running the dairy with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Pretty cool. How creative there.
Eventually the methane is sent to a generator. It's little known fact that the methane from cows is a source of global warming.
So, Gerri, this fix is really solving two problems at once.
WILLIS: All right. I just have to say it -- from grass to gas.
HARLOW: That's a good one.
WILLIS: But the good kind, right?
HARLOW: Yes, the good kind. It's powering that generator, helping power his whole farm. He doesn't have to pay an electric bill.
WILLIS: Cool.
HARLOW: It's pretty amazing. As long as the cows keep doing their business, Larry can keep on doing his without any electric bill.
It takes a little more than a month to turn the manure into energy. So it's not an instant fix. And Larry says the hotter the day, the better the system works. I'm sure the more it smells as well.
Other farmers around the country are doing this thing. They report a reduction in odor, as well.
You can see, we here at CNNMoney.com, we're covering the energy fix stories from each and every angle, down to cow poop.
WILLIS: Cow poop. Poop for you.
All right. Well, I guess we're going to move on now -- Ali.
VELSHI: That's no bull.
Ahead of the curve, one Missouri town becoming energy independent, thanks a lot to windy days.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on this story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Follow Steve Scamman down this gravel road and you'll notice spinning shadows over his cornfield. Then you'll see the blades that make Rock Port, Missouri, run.
(on camera): Did you ever think that Rock Port would be kind of on the cutting edge of energy technology like this?
STEVE SCAMMAN, ROCK PORT, MISSOURI, RESIDENT: No. No. Rock Port's just a good old farming community.
LAVANDERA (voice over): Rock Port, population 1,400, is the first city in the United States that can be fully powered by wind. The wind turns on the only traffic light, the bank's clock, computers, and the tools of a hair salon.
The Rock Port wind farm was Eric Chamberlain's idea. He manages it out of his family's funeral home. The idea came to him after seeing a wind farm while driving in a funeral procession through Iowa. Now he's known as the wind czar.
ERIC CHAMBERLAIN, WIND CAPITAL GROUP: I was born and raised here and began to think it's windy a lot of the time.
LAVANDERA: Rock Port flipped the switch to wind energy in April. But when the wind isn't blowing, the town must buy traditional energy. So the city hasn't totally done away with the old power system.
CHAMBERLAIN: This is the total city load currently.
LAVANDERA: But since the turbines were turned on three months ago, they produced seven percent more energy than the town needs. The excess is sold off to other communities.
CHAMBERLAIN: Those turbines produce electricity without any emissions, without any other fuel source other than the wind. And they produce a lot of power.
LAVANDERA: Back in the fields, farmers here like to say they don't stare at the corn anymore.
SCAMMAN: It's the way to go with electricity as far as I can see.
LAVANDERA: They're mesmerized by the spinning blades.
(on camera): Rock Port residents haven't seen any relief in their electrical bills, at least not yet. But the hope is wind power will help keep energy prices from skyrocketing in the years ahead.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Rock Port, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Well, from job loss to life gain, how a layoff can be the best thing that ever happened to you.
And more and more workers are burned out. Why? And the best way to combat that workload. We'll tell you ahead.
You're watching ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: We've been reporting for nearly two years now about troubles, big troubles in the U.S. housing market. But we're not the only ones suffering. It turns out the British are having a hard time, too.
CNN's Mallika Kapur takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID BRAND, WINKWORTH: And then you've got the doors open on to a patio, and then straight on to the communal gardens.
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In an upscale London neighborhood, a beautiful five-bedroom, three-bathroom house is up for sale. It's been on the market for six weeks and had only one viewing. So the estate agent knocked $500,000 off the $6 million asking price.
BRAND: A year, 18 months ago, this house that we're talking about, we could have hoped to achieve in excess of 3 million pounds, $6 million, and hopefully had a couple of people fighting over it to drive the price up. Now we're just fighting to get people through the door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And I welcome you.
KAPUR: The mortgage lender Halifax says house prices in Britain are down more than eight percent from last year. Now, you'd think that would encourage people to buy. The problem is, potential buyers are finding it hard to get a mortgage. Lenders, burnt by the credit crunch, are demanding hefty deposits.
HETAL MEHTA, ERNST & YOUNG: A lot of banks aren't willing to lend to people. And that's having a big knock-on (ph) effect on consumer confidence. And as soon as consumers don't feel very confident, they don't feel like moving a house, and that has a snowball effect, and that's making house prices fall even further.
KAPUR: An industry group says a state agent sold an average of just 15 properties so far this summer. That's the lowest rate since records began 30 years ago.
BRAND: This is as bad as I have seen it.
KAPUR: Brand says people are not sure where the property market will bottom out. So many are choosing to rent instead.
And this beautiful house is available to let, as well. And that may be the seller's only option.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAPUR: Well, folks in Britain are keeping a close eye on the U.S., waiting for any sign of a pickup in the housing market there to translate into better times here -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, Mallika, the U.S. Government here, and Congress, they've stepped into our housing market to try to turn it around. Is the British government doing anything there?
KAPUR: They are. And in fact, it was just earlier this week that they've announced a rescue package for the housing market, and that includes a rent now, buy later program, especially for first-time buyers.
And what this plan does is it essentially allows certain families to rent houses at a discounted rate. And while they're renting at a discounted rate, it allows them to save money for a deposit, which they can then use to buy that house that they are renting. And the government has also announced a plan to work with local council and local building authorities to sue surplus land to build new homes, all of which they hope will keep the current housing market downturn from turning into a crash.
WILLIS: Well, Mallika, I guess it's not just us. Thank you for that.
VELSHI: Well, getting laid off, you know, sounds like a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be the end of your world. It can actually be the beginning of a better one. One woman who has gone through a job loss has a message for others.
Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kitty Wiemelt says she wouldn't be fly fishing on a weekday morning with her husband Jerry if she hadn't been laid off not once, not twice, but three separate times.
KITTY WIEMELT, AUTHOR, "LAID OFF? DON'T STRESS!": It's just an awesome life, because I have been able to have some control.
ROWLANDS: Wiemelt says she gained that control by reinventing herself after losing her job. Instead of looking for another marketing job in the medical field, she started her own consulting firm.
WIEMELT: Was that marketing schedule OK?
ROWLANDS: She always wanted to be a public speaker, so she joined Toastmasters, and now she gets paid to speak on a number of subjects, including getting laid off.
WIEMELT: We used to work together.
ROWLANDS: And she authored a book, "Laid Off? Don't Stress! How to Get From Mad to Glad," a compilation of success stories after job loss.
WIEMELT: Let's hope the fish are ready to be caught today.
ROWLANDS: Now seven years later, Wiemelt says she's making more money than ever and has more time to fish.
WIEMELT: Last year we were able to take 12 weeks off and just go fish and visit our kids, and just enjoy life. Because I didn't have to ask anybody.
ROWLANDS: Lynne Behringer's story is in the book. She was laid off after working for the phone company for 23 years, her first job out of school.
LYNNE BEHRINGER, OWNER, TEETER HOUSE: It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
ROWLANDS: Behringer said she always wanted to be a chef, so she went to culinary school. And now nine years later, Behringer owns The Teeter House, a quaint, authentic Phoenix tea house.
BEHRINGER, OWNER, TEETER HOUSE: It's hard. I mean, no doubt about it. It's very hard. But it's very rewarding.
ROWLANDS: Both women say getting laid off changed their lives for the better, and both have similar advice for people who lose a job.
BEHRINGER: This is not your fault, first of all. And don't despair. Think about what you really like to do in your life, and maybe you can make a career out of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you wouldn't have been pushed out of that job, maybe you would have never looked at anything else. But here you have an opportunity to think, what do I really, really want to do?
ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: The global food crisis hits home. Going hungry in America.
And those fortunate enough to have jobs, what are they saying? They're saying, we're burned out. Tips on what you can do about it.
You're watching ISSUE #1, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's been a really big week for ISSUE #1. The economy stocks are up, oil is down, more trouble for the airlines, the car companies, the housing market, and the banking sector.
There's a lot to talk about. And it must be pretty confusing, because it's confusing to us.
But here to put it into perspective is the CNN money team. They're not confused because they do this all the time.
On the right of your screen, Poppy Harlow, then Steve Hargreaves and Jeanne Sahadi. They cover this stuff every day for CNNMoney.com, which is exactly where you go if you want more information on all of this.
We started the week with banking woes. A bank had failed, and then we were talking about Fannie and Freddie. And I'm glad you're here, because this is a confusing issue to talk about.
Are we out of the woods? Are we safe?
JEANNE SAHADI, SR. WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Oh, well, I think we're trying to get safe. There are a lot of proposals out there to put Fannie and Freddie on track to be more stable than it's been. There's been huge turmoil surrounding the two companies, the stock price has gotten thrashed, and then it's recovered quite a bit in the last couple of days.
Treasury Secretary Paulson came out with a so-called rescue plan that he says we don't necessarily need to use, he just wants to put it in place to give the market confidence. He's asked lawmakers for two things in particular -- a line of credit that's unlimited, and the right for Treasury to buy at its discretion securities in Fannie and Freddie.
VELSHI: All of this designed to provide confidence that Fannie and Freddie will be there to buy mortgages from banks, and then do something else with them so that money continues to exist for people to get mortgages.
SAHADI: Right. Lawmakers were not delighted by the unlimited nature of the line of credit. And they're debating now how they might want to put some limits on it both for -- you know, they've been talking a lot about raising the national debt ceiling, Barney Frank, who's the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee says he doesn't love that idea.
VELSHI: That means we're going to be talking about this for at least another week.
SAHADI: Right.
VELSHI: Now, Steve, back up the truck and load up the barrels, because they are giving oil away. This morning it was under $130 a barrel. It's like a half price sale almost. Not exactly. But what's going on with oil?
STEVE HARGREAVES, WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, basically oil fell all week long. It was down like $16 at one point. People were fearful over the state of the economy. You know, when the economy's bad, the price of oil falls. People don't use as much of it. There are also some signs that Americans are really starting to cut back on their use this week. The inventory reports showed a big . . .
VELSHI: But we kind of knew this, right? We knew they were giving up SUVs and trucks. And we kind of -- I mean it's not like this week we found out the economy was bad. Just because Ben Bernanke was at Congress and says, oh we might have some problems with the economy. I mean didn't the rest of us know this a year ago?
HARGREAVES: Yes, but I mean I think it was just reenforced this week. You know, you had all the Fannie and the Freddie stuff and you had Bernanke saying what he did. And you start to see some significant drops in demands with the inventory report this week. I mean, plus there's the situation with Iran. You know, people think the talks upcoming this weekend. And people think that tensions are going to cool there as well.
VELSHI: Poppy, pick one of the other 17 pressing, huge issues that made business news this week.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. Well let's go from oil into airlines, right, because we've got earnings from Continental, from Delta, from a lot of the big carriers and the whole debacle with U.S. Airways fuel prices coming into focus this week. Interesting note, Fitch rating coming out and saying, they think with fuel at $3.50 a gallon, the airline structure as it is right now, it's unsustainable. They're predicting liquidations this year. Bankruptcies for big legacy carriers. And it's unbelievable when you look at the results, the airlines, if you factor it all in, take out the one-time charges, et cetera, they did a bit better than expected, Continental and Delta did, but they still say that -- Delta says fuel charges $1 billion more this year than last year. That's unbelievable. American, more than $800 million more.
VELSHI: The stocks of these companies have done well, particularly as oil came down.
HARLOW: Well, they're so low.
VELSHI: Well, this is what I was gong to say. I mean the Dow's off right now about 12 points. But the bottom line is, look where we are in life, where oil comes down, it's still $130. The economy's still in the mess that it's in. And we're thinking it's OK. We're buying stocks again because there's some sense that maybe, maybe there's a bottom to this market and this housing crisis and maybe a top to oil at some point. There's a hope?
HARLOW: Well, hope in banking numbers, right, today, folks?
VELSHI: They're not as bad as we expected them to be.
HARLOW: Citi only lost $2.5 billion. Better than expected, right?
VELSHI: Vending machine change. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) purchasing.
VELSHI: It could be. Or it's like, we have to do something. We've got to have hope in the whole thing. And you people do give us hope. And if any of you out there are wondering more about a lot of these topics, they are complicated and these folks are on it all the time at CNNmoney.com.
All right. Thank God it's Friday. Feeling a bit burned out? Because I am. The survey says that most Americans are. We'll have the details in just a moment. But first, let's get you up to speed on other stories making headlines. Don Lemon is at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, you feeling a bit burnt out? I mean, come on, I can . . .
VELSHI: It's been a busy week for us.
LEMON: Yes. At $75 an hour, I'll take care of it for you.
VELSHI: Deal.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Ali.
We want to take a look at the headlines this hour. Serious story to tell you about. A mother of two murdered. Police and family members are still searching for answers. This morning we heard from the parents of Nancy Cooper. They're calling on the person who killed her to come forward. Cooper was reported missing Saturday afternoon. Her husband told police she went jogging and never came back. Her body was found Monday night at a construction site near her North Carolina home.
The death toll from a tropical storm in Taiwan reportedly doubles. Taiwanese media reports, they saying that at least 14 people have died there since the storm hit yesterday. Now, raging flood waters and landslides have swamped towns. Some areas got 44 inches of rain in just 24 hours. Now this man was one of the lucky survivors, plucked from the water by a rescue crew. Not bad. Wow.
Well, it's now safe to have tomatoes in your salad again, or on your burger or with any of your meals. The FDA says all fresh tomatoes are safe to eat. Not the source of a salmonella scare. Nearly 1,200 people in 42 states in the district of Columbia were sickened. And there's still a warning in place for jalapeno and serrano peppers.
We've been talking about this story and still more to come on it. The Reverend Jesse Jackson and the N-word. The civil rights activist recently used that word talking about Senator Barack Obama. It's raising the debate about when, if ever, is it OK to use the word? We'll talk about it in the CNN "Newsroom." We've also reached out to the Reverend Jesse Jackson who is on his way back from Spain and we may hear from him during our hours.
I'm back at the top of the hour. Let's throw it back to Gerri in New York.
Gerri, make sure you have a nice, fun, safe weekend, will you?
WILLIS: I sure will. You too, Don. Good to see you.
LEMON: Good to see you.
WILLIS: Well, are you sick of your job? You're not alone according to a new survey. So what can you do to combat your frustrations? Richard Castellini is a senior career advisor with careerbuilder.com.
Hi.
RICHARD CASTELLINI, SENIOR CAREER ADVISER, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Hello.
WILLIS: Let's talk a little bit about your survey. You interviewed some 7,600 workers out there. Are people feeling burned out? How many of us are feeling like we're doing too much?
CASTELLINI: Well, certainly what we're seeing is the affects of the economic downturn is going from Wall Street to main street. Seventy-eight percent of workers feel burnt out at their current jobs.
WILLIS: Yes. I think a lot of people out there thinking that the work load is too heavy. When you ask people about that, are they doing more, Richard?
CASTELLINI: Oh, in the past six months, workers have felt that their work loads have increased. About 46 percent of them said they're doing more today than they were six months ago. And about half of them are also saying that their work load is too heavy. We're seeing that people are getting the stress from the economic environment into their daily work lives and it's a little bit too much with the downsizing, the commodity prices, the threat to their homes. It's having effect of what they're feeling at their office every day.
WILLIS: And it's really hard to say no to a boss who asks for more in this kind of market. You don't really have a lot of leverage.
Did you find that folks who do have that work/life balance, are they happier?
CASTELLINI: Well, certainly. People really, that can manage a schedule between their obligations at home and at work are happier at work and they're more productive. And we're trying to find ways and tips for people to manage those things. We want people to get organized so that they know when to say no to both home and or work things, to put themselves in a position where they can feel that they're organized and structured and they can find ways, like working out, that release -- physically working out that relieves stress for them in their daily lives.
WILLIS: Now you're seeing a little chart here about flexible benefits. Let's talk about that. How common are they? You hear a lot about them. Which are the ones that workers really like?
CASTELLINI: Well, most companies -- I mean the most -- the common one is an alternative work schedule where people will work a compressed workweek. Say if they worked four 10-hour days, they might get Fridays off where they might be able to work one afternoon say at home so that they can meet a family obligation. Companies are more receptive today than they've ever been to the work life balance that workers are facing. So it's something that we encourage people to explore with their employers if they're a part of that 80 percent that are feeling somewhat burned out.
WILLIS: So, Richard, what do you do if you're burnt out? Do you just try to get home earlier? Spend more time with the family? I mean, how can you really change things when the economy's in the middle of a recession and you're afraid to like maybe go home early or take a little time?
CASTELLINI: Well, what we're trying to tell people is to look for the two or three reasons that could help alleviate that stress. Say, for instance, you're not being able to go see your son or your daughter's baseball game because it's at 4:00. You know, if you work out, most bosses are reasonable that say, hey, I want to be able to do this. I'm going to come in, you know, two hours early so I can go home to see that 3:00 or 4:00 game. You know, don't try to -- try to break it down into small pieces to alleviate two or three little levels of stress in your daily life. Try to go home and shut off your computer and shut off your Blackberry to dedicate time to your family. And then, once they're asleep, then turn it back on. You know, the 6:00 conversation or e-mail can probably wait until the next morning or after your kids have gone to bed.
WILLIS: Great advice. Richard Castellini, thank you so much for that.
CASTELLINI: Thank you.
VELSHI: Well, going hungry in America's food banks, struggling to feed those in need. We'll talk about this growing crisis right here at home.
And do you worry a lot? Our next guest says you should worry about everything except the economy. He'll have to explain that one next on ISSUE NUMBER ONE. Stay with us.
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WILLIS: Would you believe that about one in 10 people in this country, they don't know where their next meal is coming from? It's hard to believe that hunger even exists in the U.S. But it is a problem and the food banks are supposed to help. They are overwhelmed too. Phil Zepeda is with America's Second Harvest, a network of more than 200 food banks around the country.
Welcome, Phil. Good to see you.
PHIL ZEPEDA, AMERICA'S SECOND HARVEST: Hey, thank you for having me.
WILLIS: All right. Let's talk about how bad the situation is. I keep seeing stories from all over the country, really. Virginia, Maine, all over the place about these food banks. How serious is this shortage?
ZEPEDA: You've got a situation in America where the demand at local food banks from the agencies that they serve is up on average anywhere between 15 percent and 20 percent. But you do have a situation where in some communities it's up 50 percent and 60 percent. So while donations are up of food and funds, the demand is outpacing that.
WILLIS: Well, how did we get into this situation? It seems like Americans are really generous generally with food banks. Why is it so severe right now?
ZEPEDA: Well, if you think about the strains that families have today. You know, 90 percent of the American workforce drives to work. So when gas goes up, that puts a strain on the family budget. They're making decisions about when they're going to pay their rent, how they're going to pay utility bills and what type of food they're going to put on the table for their entire family. America's Second Harvest really saw this start to play out middle of last year where our food banks were beginning to see increased demand from middle class Americans who had never had to rely on this emergency food distribution system before.
WILLIS: A lot of people finding themselves in a situation they never expected. Let's talk about higher food prices. We've seen prices for all kinds of basic commodities. Milk, bread, go through the roof. I've got to think that impacts you.
ZEPEDA: It does because it forces families, as I said before, to make different decisions about how they're feeding their families. Look, nutritious food is expensive. So families are making choices to feed their family different types of meals. That affects the diet. And, as you can imagine, the dominos just trail on from there. So families that have not been caught in this type of situation are finding themselves dealing with hunger on a much more regular basis.
WILLIS: Well, were you supposed to get some help from the farm bill. I thought Congress was going to give you a little assistance here.
ZEPEDA: Congress has stepped up and passed the farm bill, which does really provide a bolt of food into our system. But it will be until later this year when we see really the fruitful, pardon the pun, the fruitful bounty of that farm bill. Right now we have the situation where the need is right now. And while the farm bill will help, you've got food banks across America that are still struggling with the demand today.
WILLIS: Right. Exactly. And some words of wisdom here for folks who would like to help you guys out. You say don't donate food, donate money. Why is that? ZEPEDA: Yes, we can stretch -- the local food bank or America's Second Harvest can stretch that dollar ever so much further than you ever could. So if you're going to pay to buy a can of peanut butter, if you give that money instead to the local food bank or to America's Second Harvest, we can turn that can of peanut butter or that jar of peanut butter, rather, into three or four jars. So we're able to stretch the dollar much further than the individual consumer.
WILLIS: So, Phil, quickly tell folks your web site. So if they want to help out, they can.
ZEPEDA: Sure. You can find us at secondharvest.org. And you can make a donation to us. Or you can find your local food bank to find out how you can help.
WILLIS: Thanks so much for being with us today. We appreciate it.
VELSHI: Well, with so many scary economic stories out there each day, it's hard not to be worried. But our next guest is an economist who says we shouldn't be worried about the economy and we should be worried about a lot of other things. Tyler Cowen is an economist and he's an economic professor at George Mason University. The's also the author of a book called "Discover Your Inner Economist."
Tyler, welcome to the show.
I, you know, read all about you and I have to keep my notes in front of me because, frankly, some of the things you say seem so out of tune with what we think is going on in the economy that I had to keep these notes because you say that we really shouldn't worry about falling real estate prices and we shouldn't worry about the stock market, and we shouldn't worry about the economy and higher energy prices are a slight worry. Tell me what you're talking about.
TYLER COWEN, ECONOMICS PROF., GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: That's not what I say. It's clear that in the short run we have some very real problems and we can expect a two to three-year recession. But it's important to keep in mind, in the long run, the United States has always come back from adversity. The long run is what determines our standard of living. And the productive capacity of this economy, it's largely intact.
VELSHI: What then should we be worrying about?
COWEN: We should be worrying about nuclear proliferation, which is a very serious threat to world order. We should be worrying about the environment and pandemics. But I'm convinced, when it comes to this economy, the United States of America will do well in the long run.
VELSHI: All right. So what's the advice to people -- I mean we obviously talk about a lot of the things that are going on because they're of concern to people. People are worried about their gas prices. They're worried about these things. How do you get to a point where you don't worry about them if, in the long run, you say they're going to be OK?
COWEN: Look, this is still a country where obesity is a bigger problem for the poor than is starvation. When it comes to high gas prices, a lot of economists, and some economists, think the price of carbon-based energy is still too low (ph) because of global warming. The housing stock of this country, it's still intact. There's been a shift in values. Some people have gained, other people have lost. But what's remarkable, actually, is how much turmoil we've seen and how little affect it's had on the real economy. That's what's startling.
VELSHI: We do seem to think, and certainly in this political campaign that we're in, that people are very concerned about the environment. We've heard that conversation. I suppose you think that's a good thing, at least.
COWEN: It's a good thing. But people say they're concerned about the environment. When it comes to a high gas price and driving less, all of a sudden they want the gas price lower again. So I think often it's a kind of cheap talk and people really are not yet at the point where they're willing to make a sacrifice for the environment.
VELSHI: All right. Interesting stuff. Tyler Cowen, thank you for joining us.
Tyler Cowen is an economics professor at George Mason University.
WILLIS: Interesting conversation.
Well, up next, it is the Help Desk. It's not too late to e-mail us your questions. The Help Desk is standing by with your answers. The address, issue1@cnn.com. Stay with us.
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WILLIS: It's time now for the Help Desk. Answers to your money questions. Here to help answer your questions is Lynnette Khalfani- Cox, author of "Your First Home." Bob O'Brien is the stocks editor at Barron's Online and Anya Kamenetz is with Yahoo! Finance.
Welcome, all. Let's get to that first question.
Harry asks, "I have two daughters in college. Where can I go to get grants and scholarships? I have completed the FAFSA application, but are there any other grants available?"
Lynette, I know you know this.
LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, AUTHOR, "YOUR FIRST HOME": Yes. There's billions of dollars worth of scholarships, grants, et cetera available for students. Get online, search the Internet, use sites like fastweb.com, scholarships.com is great. But also go through your school itself. They might have specific departmental aid based on whatever major that your kid is in, has chosen.
WILLIS: Can I tell you, I love free money. What do you think, Anya. Do you agree?
ANYA KAMENETZ, AUTHOR, "GENERATION DEBT": Well, those are really, really important. It's also important people be aware, there's two new programs that the government went into effect the beginning of this month. The Teach Grant for future teachers, $4,000 a year. And the public service loan repayment program, which is for a variety of public services.
WILLIS: Oh, excellent. Good to know. And where do you go to find out about those?
KAMENETZ: Both of those, the Project on Student Debt has a lot of information.
WILLIS: Beautiful.
OK. Well, let's get that next question. I think we've got another question on student loans. We get inundated with these. All right. "I will graduate from college soon with a huge debt load. Is it a bad idea to take on more debt for a graduate degree in this bad economy?"
OK, Anya, I'm going to have you guys both go after this. I'll get to you in a minute, Bob.
BOB O'BRIEN, STOCK EDITOR, BARRON'S: Thank you.
KAMENETZ: Well, you know, I think that Scott probably knows the answer to this. He may have, you know, some idea. But I would say definitely think really hard about any graduate program these days. Try out the job market first. I know so many people who have changed their ideas about where they want to go to school after a couple years. You may have an opportunity to get an employer to pay for it. So, you know, don't plunge into that graduate degree right away.
WILLIS: Wow, that's interesting. I'm kind of surprised because I would be of the mind that maybe you should go ahead and do it.
Lynnette, what do you think?
KHALFANI-COX: Well, you know, Anya's right. The fact is, that the average college grad has about $20,000 in student loan debt coming out of undergrad school. If you tack on graduate school, typically that's another $32,000 in student loans. Is your income going to justify that? That's a key question for this person to ask.
WILLIS: Can you live at home with mom and dad for a little while? That's what I'm wondering. Will they take you in?
KHALFANI-COX: Sacrifice.
WILLIS: Al right. Well, let's get to the next e-mail. "I just came off seven months of unemployment and during that time I exhausted my emergency fund and incurred debt. Recently I inherited stock. With the bear market, should I sell all or part of the stock to pay off the debt?"
Bob, what do you think?
O'BRIEN: Well, the one thing that argues against selling stocks is that, obviously, stock prices have become depressed in this bear market. So it's difficult. I wouldn't sell all my holdings. But I can also tell you, you're not going to get the returns in the equity market right now that are probably going to offset what you're paying in servicing those debts. So sell off what you need.
Keep in mind also, the banks themselves, like Merrill Lynch, are selling off assets in this environment. That's better than the advice your financial planner's going to give you. Do what the banks themselves are doing.
WILLIS: Right.
KHALFANI-COX: That's a great -- and I talk about that too. You know, we need to live like lenders, not borrowers. And one of the things we should do is emulate what the banks are doing. and you're absolutely right. Use the strategy they're doing. That's their survival strategy. It should be ours as consumers too.
WILLIS: You know, if we could only write off losses like they do. That would be awesome.
KHALFANI-COX: Or get government bailouts.
O'BRIEN: Or get the government to help.
WILLIS: Exactly. A nice little bailout would be great.
Next, the e-mail comes from A.K. in Illinois. "I am 26 years old, have a decent job and already enrolled in a 401(k). After expenses, I have $2,500 leftover for savings every month." I wish this was me. "What's the best way to invest the extra cash?"
Bob, you start this off.
O'BRIEN: Well, the best thing you should do is find out if you're single. I don't know. Somebody out there is going to . . .
WILLIS: Bob's going to leave his phone number for you I think.
O'BRIEN: Look, on a long-term basis, I would take at least a slug of this money and put it into the equities market. Yes, you're in a bear market, but you're getting some opportunities to buy these stocks at relatively low prices. You're 26 years old. You've got a long time horizon until retirement.
WILLIS: And, Bob, just quickly, the markets had a rebound here. Are you believing it? How do you feel about the market right now?
O'BRIEN: No, I think we're seeing a, you know, a kind of a bull market move within a broader bear market. I think there's still a lot of risk in this market. If we get another bad announcement out of a financial services company, we could see these gains unravel quickly.
WILLIS: All right, guys, great answers to tough questions. Anya, Bob and Lynnette, thank you so much.
Ali.
VELSHI: Thanks, Gerri.
Well, what kind of car do you see yourself driving in 10 years? Electric, hydrogen, solar, gas? Log on to cnnmoney.com. Weigh in on our Quick Vote. The results are coming up next.
You're watching ISSUE NUMBER ONE right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: What kind of car do you see yourself driving in 10 years?
VELSHI: The responses to this are fascinating. That's today . . .
WILLIS: If I can still drive, that's going to be amazing.
VELSHI: Right, that's today's Quick Vote question. Let's check in back with Poppy Harlow for the results.
What did it turn out to be, Poppy?
HARLOW: Hey, guys. Thirty-three percent of people think they will drive an electric car, 26 percent hydrogen, 7 percent solar, and 33 percent gasoline. If there's any . . .
VELSHI: Wow, so electric and natural gas. That's interesting.
HARLOW: Yes.
WILLIS: You know, nobody has any confidence in technology.
VELSHI: I think we haven't figured out solar cars yet. I think if we did that it would be fantastic.
HARLOW: Like Justin's (ph). What if solar cars that could fly.
VELSHI: Can you imagine just like parking your car and it refuels?
WILLIS: Did you see those solar cars? Did you see the solar car?
VELSHI: No.
WILLIS: It's shaped like a triangle. It doesn't have any room for groceries.
VELSHI: Yes. Look, if that grows, I think those numbers will go up.
Pay attention to this one. I'm going up to ANWR.
HARLOW: To get more gas for the 33 percent.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, we're looking. That's one of the places people think that we can look for oil, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
WILLIS: Will you be looking for it?
VELSHI: It's part of our energy hunt. We're going to see what -- and we want to see what the dispute is up there because some people think you should drill for oil up there, or wherever we can, and some people think you shouldn't. And one of the things I'm going to see, because it's central to this discussion, is the porcupine caribou.
WILLIS: Do you have a picture of the porcupine caribou?
VELSHI: I don't know, do we have a picture of the porcupine caribou?
WILLIS: Do we have that?
VELSHI: I don't know if we have one. But I will bring you -- I will be here on -- there we go. Look at that. No, I thought that that might be . . .
WILLIS: Very interactive.
VELSHI: What was your first question?
WILLIS: Why do they call it a porcupine?
VELSHI: All right. That's what I thought. It doesn't look like a porcupine, does it?
WILLIS: Yes.
VELSHI: It's named after the Porcupine River.
WILLIS: Oh. Well, see, I was looking for needles.
VELSHI: I had been very puzzled by this. I was looking for needles as well.
So I'll be on the show on Monday from Alaska.
WILLIS: OK, you'll be remote. But you're staying with us. You're not abandoning us.
VELSHI: You'll be here. I will not abandon you. It's part of our energy hunt. We're going to be talking to you about -- so if you've been wondering what all these candidates are talking about, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we'll tell you that story on Monday.
WILLIS: Well, time now to get you up to speed on other stories that are making headlines.
VELSHI: CNN "Newsroom" with Don Lemon and Kyra Phillips starts right now.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's sort of like campaigning, but not really. Sort of like being president, but not that either. It's Barack Obama's first trip overseas as a major presidential contender. A tightrope of sorts.
