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American Morning
Obama Talks to the Muslim World; Obama Demands Quick Economic Action; FedEx Plane Crash; Presidential Regrets; No Tax Backlash
Aired January 27, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Crossing the top of the hour. And our top story this morning -- President Obama trying to make good on his inaugural pledge to reach out to the Muslim world. Yesterday, he gave his first formal interview to the Arab channel Al Arabiya. And the president spoke about his hopes for peace and mutual respect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And right now, President Obama's new Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, is in Egypt. He arrived in Cairo a short time ago to begin the arduous task of seeking peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. CNN's Jill Doherty is live in Washington.
Jill, today is going to be his first full day in the region. This is the man who helped broker the Good Friday accords in Northern Ireland. Can he do the same in the Middle East?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's extremely complicated, John. And you know, if you look at Ireland, it seems so much simpler than the Mideast at this point. But essentially, what the mission right now for Mitchell is, he's in listening mode, as the State Department says. He is there. He's not just going to be sitting and listening all the time, but it's really a new style.
You heard it from President Obama today saying that the United States previously had dictated to other countries what to do. So Mitchell will be listening. And essentially he's got two parts to the brief. The first one is the immediate one. They have to consolidate that cease-fire in Gaza, try to interdict weapons going into rearm Hamas, and then at the same time longer frame, they have to try -- he has tried to help bring the peace process back on track. And for that, he has to talk to the allies and one of the key ones, as you can tell from today, first stop, is Cairo, Egypt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The charge that Senator Mitchell has is to engage vigorously and consistently in order for us to achieve genuine progress. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: So that's going to be the challenge, doing both of those things at the same time, John. It's not easy.
ROBERTS: It never is in that part of the world. Jill Dougherty for us this morning. Jill, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Turning to our other top stories this morning. President Obama calling for quick action on his economic stimulus plan. In just a few hours, he'll be meeting with Republican lawmakers hoping to narrow political differences on the eve of the critical House vote. And right now the man who will oversee the president's ambitious economic plan is newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Geithner made it clear that his mission is first to stop the bleeding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Our agenda, Mr. President, is to move quickly to help you do what the country asks you to do. To launch the programs that will bring economic recovery sooner, to make our economy more productive, and more just in the opportunities it provides our citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House. So we also know the president is going to be meeting with Republican lawmakers as well to try to come to some consensus or find at least areas where there is agreement. How important is it to get that bipartisan support?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, really, it's symbolic but it's beyond symbolism, because Barack Obama, the president, he realizes he probably could actually get this $825 billion economic stimulus package pushed through Congress because of the Democratic majorities. But he wants more than that. He wants to show that it's a different type of error, that there is a sense of bipartisanship. So he is going to be courting Republicans. And Kiran, he has done this before and he's done it successfully.
You'll recall the last $700 billion and half of that was stuck in Congress and he want to release that money. What did he do? He turned to House Republicans to try to convince them to move along here. So is he willing to make any concessions?
Well, the Republicans basically say we want more tax cuts, deeper tax cuts and that this thing is just too big here to accommodate, to justify this kind of money. He is working behind the scenes with the Democrats saying what can we look at that perhaps we can cut here, that spending that is not related -- not related to creating jobs. One of those things was the $200 million for contraceptives for family planning, for poor families. That is something that Democrats are now looking and taking out of this package. So that's one of the things that the president is involved with. Reaching out to Democrats and saying, look, how can we accommodate these Republicans so we get more of them on board.
Kiran?
CHETRY: And it's one of the things he promises as well. When he talked about the stimulus, it was going to be free of pork, and you know now it's up for debate whether some people believe that, you know, the $21 million for resodding the national lawn is pork or if it really is a useful project.
MALVEAUX: And that's the kind of discussions, the kind of debate that's taking place behind closed doors. You have President Barack Obama, as well as some of his top aides who are reaching out to the Democrats and saying, let's be reasonable here. What can we actually take out of this so that Republicans can get on board?
Another thing that's happening is we've got the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner coming out today with new rules regarding special interest, lobbying influence over who gets the bailout money. Who -- how do they spend it? New accountability measures that he is actually going to be talking about, hoping that Republicans are going to be convinced and some Democrats as well. That, look, there is a chain here. There is a way of tracing this money, tracking this money, so that they feel more comfortable with the figure, the dollar figure that's going to be flexing this economy.
CHETRY: All right, Suzanne Malveaux for us outside of the snowy White House this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: And Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning with more context and perspective on all of this.
And Christine, so much debate over how much money to put in which sector.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
ROBERTS: Whether this money is being spent appropriately. How long it takes for the trickle through?
ROMANS: And one person's overspending is another persons -- listen, we have to create a lot of jobs. Let's create jobs, feeding them all. No, that's just a pork project. I talked to somebody yesterday who told me there is $825 billion, we would be crazy to think there isn't something in there that's going to raise concerns, and people are going to call pork, and other people are going to say it's an important spending project. Bottom line, we've got to try a lot of different things here. Maybe tax cuts are going to work. Maybe business tax cuts are going to work. Maybe new spending projects are going to work. Maybe some of those new spending projects aren't going to create a lot of permanent new jobs. We just don't know.
And when I talk to sort of the nonpartisan economists who look at the whole mix, and I say what really is going to stimulate? They say we're not sure exactly what the perfect mix is. We have to try a lot of different things here, and we have to do it well and we have to do it quickly. Now, you can argue has government in the past done this well. And quickly, Ron Paul would say no. Ron Paul would say, you know, it's a disaster in the making, but this is an administration that is saying quite energetically that it wants to do this and do this right. The question is how much money can they get out there and how quickly can you get working in the economy?
The direct aid for states, that's something to sort of try to keep your property taxes down, that could help people in the near term. Direct aid for the needy, direct aid to extend unemployment benefits, and those tax, the tax relief in your pocket. Economists tell me those are the things that you would feel first.
ROBERTS: You know, yesterday, a real blood bath in terms of the job markets. 71,000 jobs lost yesterday. What's today looking like?
ROMANS: Today is looking not quite so dire. We haven't seen that many numbers, but we're seeing 3,500 here. You know, a thousand there, 800 more here. So we'll watch. We really did have a big rush of them yesterday. And the president stood up and said -- it's so rare. I'm sure -- it's so rare to hear a president tick off individual companies laying off workers. And he used that yesterday as a reason for why they've got to get together on a stimulus.
ROBERTS: All right. Christine, thanks so much for that.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Well, despite the economic downturn, several companies actually are growing and they are hiring right now. Our Gerri Willis joins us a little bit later on this hour with a list of so-called safe jobs.
CHETRY: And the regrets of former presidents. What Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush admitted they would do differently if they had the chance to do it all over again? It's 8 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: My tax plan will cut taxes for 95 percent of workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Money for nothing. How the president's massive stimulus plan will benefit people who pay no income tax at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really is like a welfare program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The no tax backlash. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Some breaking news to tell you about right now. This is a FedEx cargo plane that crashed during landing at Lubbock-Preston Smith International Airport in Texas. There are some video right now. Both crew members walked away from that crash. They were taken to the hospital as a precaution, but FedEx spokeswoman saying now that they were able to walk away from that crash.
It happened about -- just almost four hours ago, 4:30 a.m., Tuesday, and it was a twin turbo prop aircraft that was arriving from Fort Worth Airport. There were some freezing mists. That's some of the conditions being reported. And they say that what happened is the plane came down at the end of the runway, that it veered off of the runway, skidding there and caught fire.
They say they were able to quickly put out the fire. Also, some of the airports say that it actually wasn't the weather that was a factor, but, again, there are others who say that there was some freezing mist at the time and that the plane did skid off the runway.
Again, this was a cargo plane. A FedEx cargo plane, so there were only two crew members on board. They were able to walk away from that crash but some dramatic pictures this morning coming out of the Fort Worth Airport there -- the Lubbock, rather, Preston Smith International Airport. This plane coming again from Fort Worth. But everyone is OK. They were able to walk away from that crash.
John?
ROBERTS: Good thing. Well, being the most powerful person in the world is a job that few have on their resume, and it's a job that even fewer can say they have done with no regrets. Appearing before the National Automobile Dealers Association in New Orleans, former President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton talked about issues they wish that they had resolve while in the White House.
Alina Cho is here with more. I think regrets a few, but then again probably too few to mention.
ALINA CHO, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Good morning, John. Good morning, everybody. You know, this is something we don't often hear from presidents, what they wish they would have done while in office. But the two former presidents, Bush 41 and Clinton were incredibly candid in their assessments. They spoke out yesterday in New Orleans about their regrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If we had tried to get Saddam Hussein to come and literally surrender, lay his sword on the table, I think it might have been avoided some of the problems we've had in the future -- that we did have in the future from him. BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: My number one regret is that we didn't get -- I was not able to persuade Yasser Arafat to accept the peace plan I offered at the end of my presidency that the Israelis accepted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Mr. Clinton said he believes all presidents should share their mistakes with the public, because it would teach lessons that would be valuable for historians. He added you want each new president to make new mistakes, not the same ones. Well put. But yesterday's Q&A forum wasn't all serious. There were some light moments, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H.W. BUSH: One time, we thought we had outsmarted the crowd. We sent a decoy limousine off in one direction while I snuck out in the back entrance. As we rounded the corner, I'll never forget it, I saw one of the ugliest and angriest women I have ever seen in my entire life. Boy, she was really bad. And she charged my car with a sign, I don't see why the secret service let it up right next to the window. "Stay out of my womb." No problem, lady.
(LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: You know, he tells jokes that I just couldn't get away with telling.
(LAUGHTER)
Can you imagine what they would do to me if I told that joke he told up here?
(LAUGHTER and APPLAUSE)
Some people can do things, other people can't. Reminds me, you know, the story of the two dogs who watched kids break dancing, and one dog said to the other, you know, if we did that, they'd worm us. I mean, some guys got it, some guys don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Oh, you got to love it. They should take that show on the road, shouldn't they? Now Bush and Clinton obviously feel comfortable together. Over the years, they've worked together, many times, most notably, to raise money following disasters like the Asian tsunami and of course Hurricane Katrina. Of the new administration, both men sang the praises of President Barack Obama saying during this economic crisis, the president has set the right tone by encouraging an era of responsibility.
And Clinton also said, John, of Bush 43, I told him that if he thinks that he can just go to that ranch and fool around with the brush, he has got another thing coming. He has got to work just like the rest of us.
ROBERTS: It is incredible, though, the relationship between Bush 41 and President Clinton.
CHO: Yes. I mean, I think when the two first appeared together, I think it was after the Asian tsunami. A lot of people thought, gosh, this is sort of an odd picture, right? But the two have actually worked together many times since then. They get along very, very well.
ROBERTS: And remember back in 1992, when George Bush called them those two bozos.
CHO: That's right. That's right. And that's the ultimate...
ROBERTS: Bozo no more.
CHO: ...reaching across the aisle, isn't it?
ROBERTS: Alina, thanks so much.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, every day, you hear about companies that are laying people off. What about the companies that are actually hiring? There are companies hiring. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here to tell you how to find a high-paying job, in some cases not requiring you to go back to school to get it. It's 16 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": Former Yankee Manager Joe Torre is apparently writing a new book. And he says in the book that he really didn't get along with Alex Rodriguez. He didn't get a long, yes. In fact -- in fact, A-rod once took a swing at Torre, but since it was October, he missed.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: 18 minutes past the hour now. Time to fast forward to see what stories will be making news later today.
Congress is close to passing a bill that would delay the changeover from analog to digital TV signals for four months. The Senate approved the measure to extend the deadline from February 17th to June 12th. The House could vote today.
And the Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting today. No further rate cuts are expected. But investors will be listening to the Fed's views on the economy and their ideas to kick-start the credit markets.
Also it's part of President Obama's $825 billion economic stimulus plan. A provision that allows people who pay no taxes to get a stimulus check. That's not helping the president win bipartisan support for the economic package.
Carol Costello is looking at the no tax backlash, and she is live in Washington for us this morning.
A lot of people say that's not fair.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only that, Kiran, they call it sort of like a welfare policy, and Barack Obama is creating a sort of welfare state. That's pretty harsh. But is it fair?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It was a campaign promise that scored big.
OBAMA: My tax plan will cut taxes for 95 percent of workers.
COSTELLO: And, now, it is the albatross around President Obama's stimulus package. Under his plan, Americans who pay no income tax would get refundable tax credits.
PROF. PETER MORICI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: It really is like a welfare program. There's no two ways about it. It's something that we're doing in place of welfare these days.
COSTELLO: Really? I mean, that sounds so extreme.
MORICI: The reality is we're going to pay people back more money than they've paid in taxes if we implement this program.
COSTELLO: In case you're wondering, according to the nonpartisan group the Tax Foundation, some 45.6 million Americans legally pay zero income tax because of their income level and tax credits. That is one-third of all people filing taxes. Republicans say it's just another government handout disguised as a tax cut.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), OHIO: All told, the plan would spend a whopping $275,000 in taxpayer dollars for every new job it aims to create, saddling each and every household with $6,700 in additional debt paid for by our children and grandchildren.
COSTELLO: But for taxpayers, Obama's plan would benefit largely low- income families, those promised tax benefits aren't welfare, but much- needed help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that he is going to do everything in his power to help us.
COSTELLO: And some economists say it's unfair to say low-income Americans are paying no taxes. They may not pay income taxes, but they pay property taxes, sales taxes and payroll taxes. And experts say they're much more likely to spend that extra cash from Uncle Sam.
JIM HORNEY, CTR. FOR BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES: If you give those people money, they are going to spend it and that's what will stimulate the economy and save jobs. If you provide tax rebates to high income people, a very large portion of that is just going to go into their savings account and that does not help stimulate the economy in the short run.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And, you know, Kiran, here is the irony. We're supposed to be entering this new era of responsibility and President Obama is hoping that low-income Americans will spend that money instead of banking it. I mean, maybe it would be great if they could pay their rent or their mortgage, but let's say they go out and buy something at Wal-Mart. Well, some economists say, hey, you do that and you really are funding China because most of the goods at Wal-Mart are made in China.
CHETRY: That's right. And you know, Christine Romans and Gerri Willis always tell us what's good for us at home and our pocketbooks isn't necessarily always good for the macro picture of the economy as well. So, a double-edged sword at times. Carol Costello, thanks.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: You hear about jobs being slashed left and right, but did you know that there are companies that are actually hiring in this tough economy? We'll tell you how to find a high-paying job without going back to school.
And, filling a couple of Senate jobs played out like a drama from Illinois to New York. But now, one senator wants to make sure that it doesn't happen again by changing the constitution. Senator Russ Feingold joins us live, coming up. It's 22-1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Kirsten Gillibrand officially becomes the junior senator from New York today when she's sworn in as Hillary Clinton's successor. New York Governor David Paterson appointed the congresswoman on Friday after Caroline Kennedy withdrew from contention for personal reasons.
According to a new CNN poll, more than three times as many New Yorkers blame Caroline Kennedy and her team for the issues surrounding the Senate appointment and fault New York Governor David Paterson. And apparently, his final choice does meet with their approval.
Well, the drama surrounding replacing Hillary Clinton in New York and Barack Obama in Illinois may have captivated political jockeys and supplied plenty of material for the late night comics. But Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is not amused by the process, and he's trying to change the constitution to keep it from happening again. Senator Feingold joins us now from Washington.
Senator, it's good to have you with us. Why do you want to change the constitution here so that no longer will governors be able to appoint vacant Senate seats but there would have to be a special election to do it?
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: Well, actually, John, I was amused. I find this as entertaining as anybody else. But it sure doesn't look like democracy. The idea that somehow one person in these states will determine a U.S. senator, who's very likely to continue to be the U.S. senator for decades, is no way to go in a democracy.
And that's why we had the 17th Amendment passed in 1913 so that, for the first time, we have a requirement then of direct election of senators, but there's this loophole that that if there's a vacancy, you can have the governor make the appointment. I think it's time to eliminate that loophole because clearly, it is creating a lot of fodder and pun in the post-election period, but it's not pretty and it's not good.
ROBERTS: All right. So, you actually were amused by this whole process and it's impossible to also miss the irony, Senator, that this happened with two Democratic governors. What does that say about your party's ability to appoint senators to vacant seats?
FEINGOLD: There have been some pretty scary senators appointed by Republican governors, too. That's not the point. The question is whether it's Republican or Democrat, having one person make a decision that the people of all the state should make is a mistake. And there has been 184, I think, of these appointments in American history since we passed the 17th Amendment. And it's an opportunity here to clean this up, return the power to the people.
In Wisconsin, we don't have this rule. We don't have the governor do it. We have a special election. So when Joe McCarthy died, Bill Proxmire won the special election, and went on to become one of the greatest senators of the era. So, it works in Wisconsin. It works in other states -- a few states that do it this way. It's time for the whole country to adopt this approach.
ROBERTS: So, if you have a Democratic governor and you have a Democratic senator who is leaving to join the administration, as is three of them did, or resigning or whatever, you're pretty much guaranteed that you're going to get another Democratic senator. But if you throw it open to a special election, special elections sometimes have, you know, a tendency to go the other way. Do you not risk the balance of power in Congress by doing that?
FEINGOLD: No. This is the way it should be. The people should always decide. Maybe they're going to decide after they put all of these Democrats in there, maybe there should be a Republican in there. Or maybe they're going to say, look, I want to give Barack Obama another person who is more likely to help him.
That's for the people to decide. It's not something that I should try to engineer or senators should try to engineer to keep a majority. This is about what the American people get to have, and each state gets two senators and the people should pick the senator, not just one guy who's having conversations on the phone with different people.
ROBERTS: You know, to amend the constitution, you got to have two- thirds approval in Congress. You got to have ratification by three- fourths of the state. An awful lot of efforts going to go into this. With, you know, the economic downturn, with so many people losing their jobs and all of that, is this the right thing to be focusing the nation's attention on at this time?
FEINGOLD: This clearly isn't the top priority, but I am chairman of the constitution committee -- subcommittee, the judiciary committee. It's my job to look at these issues. This will be something we can do a hearing on very quickly. It is not going to take a lot of time and effort.
And in fact, that's how we got the direct election of senators in the first place in a very important and difficult time in American history -- in the early 20th century. Part of the belief that we could return democracy to the people was to make sure senators are elected directly. You're going to get a better product when it comes to regulation of financial institutions or tax policy or the environment if people or senators are elected by the people and not just by the appointment of one person.
ROBERTS: Well, if you get your constitutional amendment, I don't necessarily know that you'll end the interesting stories that we've managed to tell about this. They'll just be different.
Senator Russ Feingold...
(CROSSTALK)
FEINGOLD: They won't be bathroom stories.
ROBERTS: Senator Russ Feingold, it's good to talk to you. Thanks for coming in today.
FEINGOLD: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Take care.
CHETRY: All right. We're coming up on 29 minutes after the hour. Following developing story out of Lubbock, Texas, where a FedEx cargo plane crashed on landing early this morning. These are live pictures of that plane. You can still see the plane off kilter there.
It reportedly skidded off the runway and caught fire. But both crew members managed to walk away and the airport crews were able to quickly put that fire out. There were reports of a freezing mist at the airport at the time. However, the airport director telling the Associated Press that weather was not a factor in the crash. They'll certainly still be investigating. But again, the good news is the two crew members on board were able to walk away from the crash. They're now being evaluated at a hospital in Lubbock.
The week-old Mideast cease-fire shattered this morning. The Israeli military says a bomb went off near the border with Gaza. And in the fighting that followed, an Israeli soldier was killed. Palestinians say Israeli choppers opened fire a short time later, killing a Palestinian.
And, President Obama talking about his hopes for peace in the Middle East, giving his first televised interview since taking office to Arab media with Al Arabiya. He had the chance to talk directly to the Muslim world about resuming Arab-Israeli peace negotiation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: We cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what is best for them. They are going to have to make some decisions. But I do believe that the moment is right for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people, and that, instead, it's time to return to the negotiating table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And President Obama also chided the Iranian government for stirring up trouble in the region. Meantime, he is headed to Capitol Hill today to try to get republicans on board with his plan to help fix the economy. He will be meeting with both House and Senate republicans. The House is scheduled to vote on the $825 billion economic stimulus bill tomorrow.
Well the job market is shrinking by the minute. More than 71,000 layoffs announced yesterday and 3,500 more just in the last hour. So if you're out looking, where can you find some higher paying jobs?
Gerri Willis found jobs that pay six figures without having to go back to school. So you're here to tell us about that. We're talking about the high-end but if you're able to parlay your experience and your work life into this, you could have another job waiting for you just as good?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well Kiran, you know, few people can afford right now to go to a four-year program. So if you're looking for a new job, you're flexible. You want to shop where the jobs are, here's what you do. Here are five job titles, pay scale help put this together. With the hiring continues but you may need some additional training, not a four-year education.
Air traffic controller is the very first one. It can pay up to $186,000 which is very good pay. Certainly for most markets in this country. But you have to go through FAA training. And, you know, drug testing, background checks. And, of course, this is a very stressful job. So you want to be sure that you understand that.
Number two, this is one of my favorites. Plumbers. Plumbers can make a ton of dough, up to $130,000.
CHETRY: You always need a plumber, right?
WILLIS: That's right. And they always seem to have work. This is recession-proof as you were saying, Kiran. You have to have an apprenticeship or technical training, community colleges also train plumbers. And you have to be willing to work some late hours. That is how you make the big dough because you're able to come on Christmas Day or Labor day or whatever. And also police detective. Another big job. People don't think about it. Government work here. A lot of people are looking to government work because the government is hiring now. If you work your way up to police detective or supervisor, you can make up to $111,000. You probably need one or two years college course work, but not a four- year program. Of course, it's dangerous. It's stressful. And you have to work your way up through the ranks, ultimately.
Another interesting one, I was surprised that paid as much as it did. Ultrasound technician can make over $100,000 and you know who they are, they use sound waves to generate images for diagnosis for pregnancy. And the training is done in hospitals, definitely recession proof. It's something to think about. Still demand for ultrasound technicians.
Another one you might have thought of, court reporters can make over $100,000. And believe it or not, this can be a really stressful occupation because you have to get what people say verbatim in real time down and it can be very tough to do but the job prospects are excellent. There is some stress there, licensing requirements. Two year training minimum.
So again, we were just looking for jobs that are actually out there, going begging, need people that don't require a four-year education because most folks at this time can just drop out of the job market for four years and get training.
CHETRY: Now, realistically speaking though. A lot of these require some extra training or some special training, right?
WILLIS: That's right.
CHETRY: They just march into it but then again you don't have to go to a four-year college.
WILLIS: That's right. And you know, and if you're wondering where these jobs are and you want more detail, go to careervoyages.gov or careeronestop.org. Those are web sites put together by the Department of Labor. They have all kinds of information on pay. Some of them even show videos of people in the actual jobs themselves. So really useful web sites, give you lots of details about what is available out there. These people continue to try to work their way through this tough job market.
CHETRY: All right. Gerri, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a shocking security breach. A man in search of good tunes ends up with top secret military files. Soldier cell phone numbers, social security numbers, how could it happen?
And a massive winter storm on the move right now, causing big problems throughout the south and midwest. Rob Marciano tracking it all from the CNN Weather Center. He is with us. Hey, Rob. ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John. You see in the video, the ice is piling up from Texas to Oklahoma to Arkansas. And it's all heading east. Detailed forecast coming up when the most news in the morning returns. It's 34 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: And 38 minutes after the hour, live pickets here from Preston-Smith International Airport in Lubbock, Texas. That is a Fedex plane ATR42 that skidded off the end of the runway upon landing at about 4:30 this morning and caught fire. You can see it there with the right wing ditched down into the snow.
Obviously, the wing broken off as well. The two pilots that were on board the aircraft walked away from the crash. Some reports that they were provisionally taken to a hospital just to get checked out. But according to Fedex, they did walk away from that crash. The weather at the time, freezing mist though it's not clear whether it was a contributing factor to that crash, whether or not the runway was slick or icy causing that plane to veer off the end. But again, an ATR-42 Fedex plane, that's at Preston-Smith International Airport in Lubbock, Texas, skidding off the runway and catching fire this morning. Again, both of the pilots OK this morning.
Rob Marciano is monitoring the bad weather across the nation. And it looks like it's pretty cold in Lubbock this morning.
MARCIANO: Temperatures in the teens, John. And you go up about a mile in the atmosphere and temperatures there almost 40 degrees. So you're talking about very warm, moist air falling into that subfreezing air. You know, I don't know the cause of that crash, but certainly weather didn't help, I can guarantee you that.
Philadelphia, 30-minute delays at this hour. And I expect these delays to be on the increase. It's already snowing in D.C. and beginning to pile up. So Baltimore, Philly and D.C., you'll see the snow as well Cincinnati and St. Louis. Dallas, Little Rock and Memphis, sleet and freezing rain continuous there. And fog pretty thick and soupy from Atlanta south into northern Florida.
A very long storm track. This thing kind of slow. We thought it would be out of Texas by today. But it really hasn't moved all that much. 29, lower 30s in Ft. Worth. Meanwhile, 60s in Austin. So you see where that cold front is and that pink is not good, either is the blue on the warning map. This is an ice storm warning from Dallas and just north of Memphis. We've already seen reports of over an inch of accumulation in parts of Arkansas and it's still raining heavily into subfreezing air there.
And then we move into the I-95 corridor. The whites of winter storm watches, we'll probably see significant snow, anywhere from three to eight inches in spots, mostly north and west in the bigger cities. 36 for a high in Dallas. Today, I'll be 18 degrees in Kansas City. 20 in Chicago. 30 degrees in New York and soupy and 62 degrees in Atlanta. So this is a nasty one, John, and it will take another day, day and a half before it winds down. Back up to you. JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We remember some years ago, Rob, the ATR-42 had icing problems. I think one went down in Indiana and their usage was restricted to places where there was good weather. Don't know if that had anything to do with the crash but certainly the NTSB will be looking into all that have.
MARCIANO: No doubt about it and there are still delays in a number of airports, about nine or ten at last check, that are being slowed down because several of those planes have to be deiced obviously before they take off, at least the commercial ones.
ROBERTS: It's going to require a lot of patience this morning if you're leaving through some airports. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: You got it.
CHETRY: Well the senate committee hearing on climate change may have to be put on ice because of winter weather in the nation's capital. Former Vice President Al Gore was scheduled to testify before the senate foreign relations committee tomorrow. One republican lawmaker reportedly said he can't imagine that Mr. Gore would want to showcase his new findings on global warming while a winter storm rages outside. There are others though who say that you know this type of wild winter is proof of climate change. There you have it. Either way, a snowy, snowy look at the capital this morning.
Well, imagine getting top secret military files by mistake. It happened to a man who bought a used MP-3 player. The MP-3 security breach. 41 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Another roof for the recessionista. Rent your clothes. If you dare!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's tacky! You can't afford it, you don't get it.
CHETRY: Fashion for a fraction of the cost.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's a way for a woman to still wear the current fashions but not having to break her bank?
CHETRY: Look hot. Then give it back. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Well, if you want high fashion at bargain prices, there are places to go. Recessionistas, our Lola Ogunnaike shows us how to look good for an evening for a fraction of the cost with just a little catch. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OGUNNAIKE: The recession is obviously changing the way that people shop. They are headed to thrift stores. They're heading to consignment shops and now they're even renting their clothes. Look at this one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Oscar de la Renta. Scarlett Johanssen wore this for a big ad campaign.
OGUNNAIKE: So how much would this cost you retail?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $10,000. But if you want to borrow it for one night, we'll dress you head-to-toe for $1,000. OK. That's a hell of a deal. You're going to your daughter's wedding or to your own wedding, how many times are you really going to wear that wedding dress again?
OGUNNAIKE: That's true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at a bridesmaid. Is this not like 101 Dalmatians?
OGUNNAIKE: This is so great. Look at the feathers! Oh, yes, you would be the bell of the ball in this. Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. You can get it all here for a thousand.
OGUNNAIKE: I love this place! So it's a way for a woman to still wear all of the current fashions, still be up-to-speed but not having to break her bank?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to be just like the stars for one day, I would do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's tacky. If you can't afford it, you don't get it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's still too expensive.
OGUNNAIKE: If you walk into an interview with this power Chanel suit, you are going to get at least a second look, don't you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would hope so.
OGUNNAIKE: We also have to talk about the "Sex and the City" movie. Samantha!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You remember!
OGUNNAIKE: So it's a proper bathrobe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A proper bathrobe. OGUNNAIKE: I feel like Liberaci. 5,000 pairs of fabulousness. I know this dress because I've seen "Devil Wears Prada" 8,000 to 10,000 times so -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, it's really exciting. This is a dress that she wore when she pulled up in that limo for the ball. It's Galiano and she looked amazing in it.
OGUNNAIKE: So you're telling me if I wanted to look like Anne Hathaway from "Devil Wears Prada." and I would be a size 2 then I could come here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly and you could rent it and even look exactly like she did.
OGUNNAIKE: You said a lot of people do come in here for the inauguration?
We dressed a lot of news reporters and lots of celebrities.
LESLIE SANCHES, RENTED DRESSES FOR INAUGURAL BALL": I had to have several different dresses and this was just the most economical route as opposed to buying them even at a second-hand store.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were able to rent that for a thousand, as well as the beautiful Chanel dress that probably retailed at 10,000 along with four-day looks and a few coats and a few shoes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Wow! Leslie Sanchez by the way looked incredible.
OGUNNAIKE: She looked incredible and again, she was wearing a $10,000 gown but she got I for $1,000 and that included the shoes, the handbags, and the jewelry, head to toe.
CHETRY: OK. What if we need to go a little bit more down market. What if there are some of us that still can't picture spending a grand. Is there, you know, are there $50 dresses you can get from (inaudible)
OGUNNAIKE: Well, there is a place called IList, that's on-line actually and they will rent cheaper dresses. Then Bag Borrow or Steal if you want any designer handbag. They said that they're sales are up. The membership is up form 250,000 members to a million members now.
And also a number of these places are having significant sales. So this is just another option, Kiran. I just want the people to still look good.
CHETRY: I know what you're saying. And the other is fair point. A lot of times you're never going to wear the same thing twice, especially if you're photographed in it, right? Or you're at the same wedding reception, you don't want to wear the same thing twice. So it's a good option. OGUNNAIKE: And if you want to feel like Scarlett Johanssen for the day or you want to feel like Anne Hathaway for a day, why go out and spend $15,000 on a dress when you can go rent one.
Why go out and spend $15,000 on a dress when you go and rent one?
CHETRY: Well I can take that dress and buy it and mortgage my house and still I wouldn't look like Scarlett Johansson but, hey, a girl can be -
OGUNNAIKE: You would be one dress closer - one dress closer, Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, Lola.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away now. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center with a look at what lies ahead. Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: Hey there, John. That's right. Here is a check of what we're working on in the NEWSROOM today. Republicans only. President Obama heads to Capitol Hill today to try to win over GOP lawmakers on his stimulus plan.
And storm spreading. A wintry mix of snow, ice, and freezing rain moving now from Texas into New England. Our severe weather team tracking it for you. And digging in the mud for drops of oil. A look inside the deep poverty of Afghanistan and its tie to the terror war. We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Heidi. Thanks very much. Just 11 minutes away now. Because it is 49 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Shocking security breach. How did secret military data end up on a used mp-3 player?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more I look at it, the more I see and this I think I should see.
ROBERTS: He tried downloading a song and up popped top secret military files. Soldiers names and cell phone numbers and social security numbers. MP-3 confidential. How can this be? You're watching the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some of the most popular videos on cnn.com right now. An ancient discovery. Archeologists have found an 1800-year-old marble figurine in Israel, believed to be the head of a Roman boxer. The sculpture is only about two inches high but its still in pristine condition.
Also, an Oscar lawsuit. The Academy is suing an Arizona-based company called Experience Six for selling black market tickets to the upcoming awards show. Lawyers for the Academy say selling tickets is a security issue that could bring celebrity stalkers to the star- studded event. By the way, the Oscars are coming up fast, February 22nd.
Also one of the most popular stories on cnn.com, American military secrets for sale in a thrift store for nine bucks. Confidential information on an MP-3 player now the property of a man from New Zealand. Our Ed Lavandera looks at how the strange security breach happened.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran. This is a story that will have many people, especially American soldiers, asking how in the world did that happen. A New Zealand man buys a used MP-3 player in Oklahoma and discovers that the little device is holding confidential U.S. military files.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Chris Ogel says he bought this mp-3 player a year ago at a thrift store in Oklahoma City but it wasn't until only a few weeks ago back home in New Zealand that he tried downloading a song from it and that's when about 60 military files, some he says, labeled top secret, popped up on the screen.
CHRIS OGEL, The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be.
LAVANDERA: Ogel says the files included home addresses, social security, and cell phone numbers of U.S. soldiers. It also included what appeared to be mission briefings and lists of equipment deployed to hot spots. All of the information dating back to 2005.
The New Zealand journalist who first reported the story verified the authenticity of the files by calling one of the soldiers listed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, is this Sergeant?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, speaking.
LAVANDERA: The reporter says once she explained why she was calling, the soldier hung up. Pentagon officials tell CNN they are aware of the MP-3 player but can't talk about it until investigators confirm that the information came from the department of defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government is not doing a very good job protecting the information that it collects.
LAVANDERA: Despite government efforts to protect sensitive information, privacy experts say this is a growing technological problem. Two years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs lost track of a laptop with personal information of millions of soldiers. And computer hard drives with classified military information were found for sale at street markets in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you can identify American military personnel, when you have their names, their home addresses, their cell phone numbers, you actually put people in a very dangerous position.
LAVANDERA: Fortunately for the several hundred soldiers whose personal information is stored on this device, the secret data landed in friendly hands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Chris Ogel tells us he has put the mp-3 player in a safe place and happily turn it over to U.S. military officials if they ask for it. John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us, thanks so much.
Well, call it the Blago-blitz. How many TV appearances can one embattled governor get? Our Jeanne Moos on the Illinois governor's wild TV tour. It's 55 minutes after the hour.
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LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Is this media blitz today an attempt to taint the jury pool in your upcoming criminal trial?
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: No, what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to explain to any fair-minded person across America that we, as American citizens, live in a free society and we're entitled to fundamental civil liberties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well that's embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who was on "Larry King Live" last night and that capped off a whirlwind day of TV appearances in New York while he faces impeachment back home.
CNN's Jeanne Moos watched as Blagojevich opened up to virtually everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blah, blah, blah, Blagojevich.
BLAGOJEVICH: The answer is this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The camera is over here.
BLAGOJEVICH: Who am I talking to?
MOOS: You're talking to everybody!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, open the window!
MOOS: He didn't just open the window for Geraldo, he came out the door. He let Joy Behar on "The View" mess up his hair. Then fix it up for him! He rescued a camera person who almost got pushed off her perch trying to get a better angle.
BLAGOJEVICH: Be careful! She's up there. You all right. I'm holding you.
MOOS (on-camera): No matter what reporters wanted to ask, there are things the governor wanted to say over and over about the impeachment proceedings against it.
BLAGOJEVICH: The fix is in. I think the fix is in. I know the fix is in.
MOOS: But the fix wasn't in for Senator Oprah Winfrey. Governor Blagojevich confessed he considered Oprah to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard Oprah.
BLAGOJEVICH: That is true.
MOOS: Oprah hadn't heard it and expressed bemused shock.
VOICE OF OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: I think I could be senator, too. I'm just not interested.
MOOS: What were interesting were all the cuckoo questions.
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: I said cuckoo once. I'll say it again. Cuckoo! Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to ask what it's like to hear Mayor Daley call you cuckoo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You and your wife are potty mouths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those tapes sounds so tacky.
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": Why is that? Family doesn't seem to be crazy about you. For your own dignity, wouldn't it be better if you resigned?
BLAGOJEVICH: No. That would be the worse thing I could do.
MOOS: Those were great questions. But they don't compare to the grilling that the governor got as he left a Manhattan restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was dinner? How was dinner? Good?
BLAGOJEVICH: It was good. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you have for dinner?
MOOS: For the record. It was pork loin with spinach and mashed potatoes and were told the governor had his table mates in stitches doing an impression.
BEHAR: He does a fabulous Nixon impression. Do it for us. BLAGOJEVICH: Who said that?
BEHAR: Somebody told me. Come on! Just say, "I am not a crook." Do it!
MOOS: Governor Blagojevich declined. He did say.
BLAGOJEVICH: Let me make this perfectly clear! I didn't do anything wrong!
MOOS: To paraphrase Nixon.
PRES. RICHARD NIXON: I am not a crook.
MOOS: Blagojevich is not a bleeping crook. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: We may determine the (speaking in foreign language) of the story within the next couple of days to find out exactly what's going to happen with him.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly, but he doesn't seem to have a care in the world...
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Not at the moment.
CHETRY: ... with all of the TV appearances.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here again bright and early tomorrow.
CHETRY: All right. Now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
