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American Morning
House Passes Stimulus Package With No Republican Support; How the Stimulus Bill Will Impact You; Ways the Stimulus Could Work; Obama Faces Great Expectations From African-Americans; New Science Enables Parents to Pick Their Child's Gender; Government Porn Scandal; Scary New Evidence of Brain Damage in Teens; The Obama "It" Girls; Stimulus Plan Passes House
Aired January 29, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Breaking news. The president's $800 billion stimulus moves to the Senate.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill is passed, without objection and motion...
CHETRY: Without a single House Republican supporting it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the worst abuses of power I think that we've probably ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Democrats are like, they're on steroids with spending.
CHETRY: Today, whether the bill will put you back to work, put money in your pocket, put food on your table and what it could cost the president, politically, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. One down, one to go when it comes to passage of that bill. It's Thursday, January 29th. Thanks for being with us. No Republicans signed on, though.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they're expecting maybe a couple more in the Senate, well, indeed in the House but definitely along party lines. So much for bipartisan support. We'll see if this is an indication of things to come in the next couple of years.
We begin with breaking news this morning. President Obama's massive economic stimulus plan right now on its way to the Senate, and the president's full court press to win over Republicans will no doubt continue after not a single Republican in the House, as Kiran was saying, broke ranks to support it. In just a moment, we'll break down what the bill's passage means for your job, your home and what if it doesn't do the trick.
The postal service looking to save money by stamping out Saturday delivery. The postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday it faces a projected $6 billion in losses this year, attributing part of the debt to people e-mailing more. But some lawmakers say cutting back services should be a last resort because businesses will look elsewhere for mail delivery.
And new questions today surrounding disgraced pastor Ted Haggard, who resigned after a gay sex scandal two years ago. A male volunteer at Haggard's former church now claims that he had an inappropriate relationship with the once powerful preacher. Haggard is out promoting an HBO documentary on his fall from grace. He appeared in "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Wednesday and tried to answer the big question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Did you think and do you think you're gay?
TED HAGGARD, FMR. EVANGELICAL LEADER: No, I don't think I'm gay. I did wonder about that. After this crisis, when I went to therapy, I said, I need to know, am I gay, am I straight, am I bi, what am I? And my first therapist said, you are a heterosexual with homosexual attachments, so we processed through that. I wasn't sure what that meant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And Ted Haggard's redemption tour continues tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, we begin with breaking news this morning. President Obama is setting his sights on the Senate after the House passed his massive stimulus package. No Republican support in the House, however. But the plan is expensive, $819 billion. Democrats say it's designed to quickly infuse life into the cash and credit- starved economy.
This morning we're also looking beyond the typical headlines. We're looking at what the bill means to you, the job that you might have lost, the paycheck you will collect and the school your kids attend. We're also talking about the political capital here. Not a single Republican again voted for this bill, making it a bittersweet victory for President Obama, but he is not shifting his focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All we can do, those of us here in Washington, is to help create a favorable climate in which workers can prosper, businesses can thrive and our economy can grow. And that is exactly what the recovery plan I proposed is intended to do and that's exactly what I intend to achieve soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning. Is the administration disappointed at all by the lack of Republican support? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, Kiran, they are disappointed. The president did use some political capital. He got personally involved, picking up the phone, reaching out to Democrats to try to craft and shape his legislation that would be more acceptable to Republicans. He also went on that listening tour on the Hill with Republicans on Tuesday. But the thing that they want to emphasize here is that they believe this is part of a process. It's the beginning of the process.
They're trying to set a tone that is more civil. He's trying to reach out to them, show them that he is actually available here, and that this is going to take some time. So while people say there's a lot of political capital that he put in this, they actually say look, you know, he's been in office for, what, eight days now. He's got more political capital to spend. So, you know, there's a second round here. Obviously, he's going to be reaching out to the Senate.
CHETRY: And do they expect -- does the White House expect that things will change in the Senate in terms of getting more GOP senators to sign on to this?
MALVEAUX: You know, they actually think that they're going to have an easier time in the Senate, that there's a little bit more compromise already, a sense of bipartisanship that the mood is different in the Senate as opposed to the House. But one of the things, Kiran, that the president is doing, we saw it last night when he invited two dozen lawmakers, House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans for cocktails here at the White House. He is trying to develop personal social relationships so that people can work with each other in that sense.
He did it when he was an Illinois senator. He had these weekly poker games that he was involved with. When the Republicans and Democrats sat down at the same table and one of his opponents last night, House Republican John Boehner joked to reporters saying look, I don't know why he invited the skunk to the party but I'm going to show up and I'm going to smile. That's the kind of thing that the president wants. He wants people to just start talking to each other again in kind of a social way. Perhaps they'll see things a little bit differently when it comes to the context and content.
CHETRY: I got you. The skunk at the garden party, that's what he called himself, right?
MALVEAUX: Yes.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning, thanks.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
ROBERTS: And this morning, it's not just politicians debating the stimulus package. It's also becoming a big topic of conversation in coffee shops and offices.
"LARRY KING LIVE" last night spent a big chunk of time talking about it, and actor and economist Ben Stein let John King know his take on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Your reaction to the stimulus plan, is it going to help or will this huge price tag on top of the bailout and the more money coming help ruin it?
BEN STEIN, ECONOMIST, "NEW YORK TIMES" COLUMNIST: I don't think it will ruin America, but it's an awful lot of money. When you think that they just spent $819 billion with less than 24 hours of deliberation about it, it's kind of terrifying. You could get -- there are four million long-term unemployed in America. You could have given each one of them $200,000 for that. That might have helped, too.
I think it will work in the sense that there will be some stimulus, although it would have been better if it had been more immediate. And I think Mr. Obama is practicing nothing more than standard pork barrel politics. I'm sure if the Republicans were in charge, they would have done something similar only on the tax side. But I'm thinking to myself, we've got a credit crisis. We've got a bank crisis. I think the way out of this is to get loan guarantees to increase the amount of credit flowing out of banks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ben Stein did go on to say that there are some signs of hope, including a slight rally in home sales and a stock market that seems to have at least temporarily bottomed out.
Many people, though, are embracing the stimulus bill including educators at some of country's most rundown schools. The master repair work could create thousands of jobs.
CNN's Ted Rowlands show us one school district that is ready to spend the stimulus and do its part to jump-start the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even from the outside it's easy to see that Humphreys Elementary School in Los Angeles needs help. Windows are so badly worn many of them are nailed close. The roof leaks, the asphalt is broken.
School district officials estimate Humphreys needs about $7 million in repair work, and they think it's a great way to stimulate the economy. The windows require carpenters, painters and glazers, replacing this ancient fire alarm, needs electricians to run wiring, people to install wire housing throughout the school, technicians to install the new system and people to remove the old one. Replacing the boiler requires electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers and lots of labor.
GUY MEHULA, L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: We're ready to go.
ROWLANDS: Guy Mehula is the chief facilities executive for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He says the district has already developed the plans to fix dozens of schools. They just need the money to do it. If the stimulus plan goes through, he expects L.A. will get enough cash to create as many as 9,500 jobs.
MEHULA: Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, all of those things, but in addition to that, it's the architects, it's the engineers. They have to put it together so it does have a multiplying effect as we look at other supporting industries.
ROWLANDS: The stimulus plan calls for $20 billion to be invested in school modernization projects around the country, saving or creating an estimated 250,000 jobs while saving schools like Humphreys from falling into even greater disrepair.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Schools, of course, are run by local governments and state governments and critics of the plan fear that adding another layer of government will produce more waste. Even district officials say the key to making this work in terms of stimulating the economy is to have zero red tape or very little red tape. They say they've got to get this thing moving. They're ready to go. They just need the money to do it -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Ted Rowlands for us this morning, thanks.
And Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business." She's looking at some of the ways that the stimulus can work for you depending on where you are in your life, if you have a job...
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: ... if you don't have a job.
ROMANS: And remember, there are a lot of ifs here, like if they can get the mechanics down and they can get the tax cuts into your paycheck right away, if they can get this stuff moving right away and if it goes through the Senate and the Senate agrees. So good morning, everyone.
These are some of the things that the stimulus is going to mean for you. If you have a job, that tax cut, that $500 per person, $1,500 per couple if you make $75,000 a year or less on your own or $150,000 a year or less as a couple that's going to be showing up right in the withholdings in your paycheck right away as soon as they can get the mechanics of it worked out. Maybe $12 or $13 of paycheck. It's a little unclear exactly how much, but that's going to be something you're going to feel right away.
If you've lost your job, right away we're talking about $25 extra in every unemployment check, and an extension of emergency benefits through the end of this year, so $25 extra right away.
If you're buying a home, a first-time home buyer, that means you haven't owned a home, a primary residence in the past, three years and you have a standard deductions. That's going to be $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers, something right away. A little different than what we saw in the other housing act of last year. You had to pay that back. This is permanent. You have to pay it back. It's $7,500 tax credit there.
If you're getting food stamps, it's going to mean that little debit card you get is going to have between $60 and $80 more on it every month for spending it there at the grocery store. So right away they're trying to get money into the economy. Those are the ways that you would feel it most immediately outside of the infrastructure, outside of the spending, outside of the jobs.
There's a lot in here, folks. I mean, Ben Stein, when he said it was terrifying, it is terrifying. It is a huge, huge plan with a lot of different things. We're still kind of combing through to see what are all of these little things and how are you going to feel it first. Those are some of the things I just pointed out to you that you would feel first.
CHETRY: It's great, I mean, the unemployment part of it, some of these checks were about to dry up. And now they're being extended so that makes a big difference for people that are facing these -- trying to look for a new job right now.
ROMANS: Right. It's $25. It's something. It's something.
ROBERTS: But talk about terrifying be it unemployment benefits, you can't find a job and knowing that your benefits are about to run out.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly.
ROBERTS: That's terrifying.
ROMANS: Right. Well, terrifying is, you know, Or getting on the phone to make an appointment to get the unemployment check interview, we're having some problems with that, too, that's frustrating. Irritating, that's right.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
His approval ratings are sky-high but President Obama's honeymoon could be short-lived with a surprising group of supporters, African- Americans. We'll tell you why.
And you decide, boy or girl. Technology making it easier for parents to pick their newborns' gender, but the new science is raising new ethical questions.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
He came into the White House promising change that people can believe in. Expectations for Barack Obama's presidency are high, particularly among African-Americans. But some of the president's most ardent supporters may be in for a letdown.
Jason Carroll is following the story. He's here this morning. Now I talked with Jesse Jackson about this the weekend before the inauguration and he said he's one man, he can't do it all.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He cannot do it all and clearly he's got a lot on his plate. So some are going to end up being disappointed. You know, President Obama has to deal with an economic crisis and not one, but two wars. Even with those challenges, some still have a long to-do list they want him to achieve during his presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK THOMPSON, HOST, "MAKE IT PLAIN WITH MARK THOMPSON": Breaking news at this hour.
CARROLL (voice-over): It's a modern version of "great expectations."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should create a, you know, viable socioeconomic situation for people who have been marginalized, a lot of them black or Hispanic or other minorities.
CARROLL: Callers voting in with hopes of how President Barack Obama will change their lives. Sirius XM radio host Mark Thompson has heard it all.
THOMPSON: People are really feeling good about things. In spite of all of the problems, there still is a feeling that there are solutions on the horizon.
CARROLL: One recent poll showed 98 percent of African-Americans approve of Obama so far. Is it optimism, unrealistic expectations headed for a letdown or both?
MELISSA HARRIS-LACEWELL, PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: I know the line is everybody wants such great things that we will be disappointed but, you know, Obama is, in certain ways, fulfilling what I see as a very common trope (ph) or narrative in black communities, the son that makes good.
CARROLL: But the black community is not monolithic in its thinking. Allison Samuels says some hope Obama can fix the myriad of problems facing the community, high incarceration rates of black males, access to quality education, ending discrimination. Samuels explored the issue in a "Newsweek" magazine article, "The Audacity of Hoping."
ALLISON SAMUELS, REPORTER, "NEWSWEEK": Some were saying, you know, hey, look, I think my whole world is going to change because Obama is in office. I think that he's going to be able to get me a job. He's going to stop my foreclosure. He's just going to change my life.
CARROLL: Unrealistic expectations, Samuel says needing a reality check.
SAMUELS: We're coming off such a disastrous administration, where hopes were just, you know, down to nothing. So we're expecting him to sort of do so many different things that I think are pretty unrealistic.
CARROLL: Obama is facing many problems, the economy, two wars. African-American scholars say some in the community may not realize if he can fix those, everyone benefits.
ELLIS COSE, COLUMNIST, "NEWSWEEK": Is his presidency going to disappoint some people? Of course it is. But it has less to do with the fact that he's black, I think, than with the fact that he comes in at a time where there is just so much to be done and so many expectations about him doing it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And many of the African-Americans we spoke to for the story say another point is while Obama received overwhelming support from the African-American community during his campaign, he did not want to make race the cornerstone of his campaign. He wanted to represent all the people, so a lot of these people out there who may say that he can fix whatever problem, have to remember he's out there to try to fix the problems for the country, not just for one group.
ROBERTS: People have to have reasonable expectations. It's not going to be pennies from heaven forever.
CARROLL: Not any time soon.
ROBERTS: Jason, thanks so much. Great piece this morning.
CARROLL: All right. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Sixteen and a half minutes now after the hour.
CHETRY: Designer babies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MINDY HARRISON: I come from a family of four girls, so I thought it would be nice to have a son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Handpicking the gender of your baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be opening the door to society where there are new kinds of inequality and new kinds of discrimination, a world that we really would not want to live in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The booming business and the big controversy it's creating, ahead on the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour now, and time to fast forward to some of the stories that you'll be hearing about on CNN later today.
This morning at 10:00 Eastern, President Obama will sign his first major bill into law. The measure makes it easier for workers to sue for unequal pay based on gender, race or age no matter when the discrimination happened. Currently, suits must be filed within 180 days of the first unfair paycheck.
Later on today, the Army is expected to release a report showing the suicide rate among soldiers is at a record high. The report is expected to show at least 128 suicides in 2008. The Army also planning to launch new efforts to study the problem.
And the Illinois Senate voting at 10:45 this morning to decide if they should let Governor Rod Blagojevich give the closing argument in his own impeachment hearing. The governor submitted his request yesterday after a whirlwind media tour protesting the hearings. He is not expected to testify or submit himself to cross-examination.
By the way when I said 10:45, 10:45 Eastern time so that will be 9:45 Central -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the question is asked of almost every expecting parent, do you want a boy or a girl? Thanks to the miracle of modern science a growing number of parents now have the ability to choose their child's gender but should they? Here's CNN's Dan Simon?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, predetermining the sex of your baby, it may sound like something out of science fiction but it's happening right here and right now in this Los Angeles fertility clinic, and the doctor performing the procedure says it's become a booming business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg is a fertility specialist who has developed a niche. He allows couples to choose the sex of their child.
(on camera): How many of them want boys? How many want girls?
DR. JEFFREY STEINBERG, THE FERTILITY INSTITUTES: It's an interesting question, and it really turns out to be about 50/50.
SIMON (voice-over): Dr. Steinberg advertises to an international audience and indeed, patients come from all over.
STEINBERG: Business is up literally 80-fold from seven years ago.
SIMON: Steinberg says his Asian clients overwhelmingly favor boys because of cultural pressures. Canadians favor girls but he doesn't know why. He says his American patients mainly come for "family balancing."
M. HARRISON: I come from a family of four girls, so I thought it would be nice to have a son.
SIMON: Bob and Mindy Harrison of Utah had four daughters but felt like their family wasn't complete.
BOB HARRISON: I love playing with dolls, but sometimes trucks are fun, too.
SIMON: So they went through an in vitro fertilization procedure at Dr. Steinberg's office, an environment that required us to wear specialized outfits to prevent contamination.
(on camera): This is the lab and where the eggs are fertilized. Once you have a viable embryo, a single cell is extracted and then looked at under a high-powered fluorescent microscope to see if that embryo is a male or female.
(voice-over): Gender selection is considered controversial. Most countries have banned it. One of the fears is that it could manipulate the ratio of boys to girls. Though it's legal in the United States, the country's leading fertility organization discourages it.
Some religious groups, meanwhile, don't like doctors interfering with what they consider God's plan. Other critics worry about the future, designing babies based on societal preferences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be opening the door to society where there are new kinds of inequality and new kinds of discrimination, a world that we really would not want to live in.
B. HARRISON: I guess we just don't see an issue with it. We feel that as technology advances we can take advantage to enhance our lives and the lives of others, it's a good thing.
SIMON: A good thing, because Mindy and Bob now have their boys, twins.
B. HARRISON: Hey!
SIMON: Trevor and Tristan are now 8 months old.
B. HARRISON: If we hadn't have gone through this procedure, these two little boys wouldn't be here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Dr. Steinberg says the technology is moving so fast that in addition to choosing things like hair and eye color, parents will be able to have babies that are healthier, taller and maybe even more athletic.
And Dr. Steinberg says he has absolutely no qualms of trying to give those parents exactly what they want.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Wow. Dan Simon this morning.
You know a lot of people think that it borders on eugenics.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: But personal choice, too, for the parents, right?
CHETRY: Yes. It raises a lot of questions, the same questions about embryonic stem cell research as well, because he was talking on how they have to fertilize or they have to create embryos and then they check the sex, so what happens to the ones that aren't the desired sex, you know? Same questions.
ROBERTS: Well, every in vitro fertilization you're going to discard embryos but it's the reason why you do it. You know, some embryos are discarded because they're not as viable as others but it does raise a whole lot of moral and ethical questions.
CHETRY: It sure does. All right. Interesting piece, by the way, Dan. Thanks.
Well, next stop for the massive economic stimulus bill, the Senate. How will it help the economy and average Americans? We're going to talk with an economist who says that the stimulus could do more harm than good.
Also, surfing for porn using your tax dollars. Federal workers accused of downloading smut instead of advancing science. The latest on the investigation.
It's now 25 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven and a half minutes after the hour now. And here's a check of the top stories this morning.
President Obama hoping to build bipartisan backing for his economic stimulus plan. It passed the House last night without any Republican support. The final tally 244-188. Eleven Democrats also voted no, by the way.
Republicans say the bill was filled with too much government spending that would not stimulate the economy. It's now up to the Senate to approve the $819 billion package. A lot of people think that the Senate will make some tweaks to it, then will have to go to the conference committee to get resolved.
Police in Phoenix are investigating a school bus crash that caused more than two dozen injuries. The driver lost control of the bus on Wednesday afternoon. It crashed into several cars. Police say 12 other vehicles were involved in the mile-long accident scene, a mile long. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
And investigators in the Bernard Madoff fraud case are sifting through boxes and file cabinets stuffed with documents that could reveal more clues in the alleged Ponzi scheme. The material was being stored in a New York City warehouse phase (ph) rented by Madoff's firm. Madoff is accused of losing more than $50 billion belonging to investors.
CHETRY: Well, back now to our top story. The $819 billion stimulus package that passed the House, a final plan is expected to be signed by the president by mid-February. It's a lot of money and there are a lot of questions about how it will help the economy and the average household.
Joining us now is Jeffrey Sachs. He's the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, also a special adviser to the United Nations.
Good to see you this morning.
JEFFREY SACHS, DIR., EARTH INST. AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Thanks a lot. Good to be with you.
CHETRY: This plan, it's about a half trillion dollars in spending, another 275 billion in tax cuts. What will the average person see first?
SACHS: I think the average person is going to see a very tough year. There will be some direct transfers, the tax rebates and the tax savings of a few hundred dollars per person, but this is going to remain a very tough year despite this stimulus. And in fact, we're going to have a budget deficit as well of about $1.4 trillion. The numbers just keep adding zeros at the end.
CHETRY: Right.
SACHS: And so we're not quite in control yet of the situation.
CHETRY: The Congressional Budget Office is saying that about 65 percent of the money will be spent by September of 2010, but there are analysts that argue the economy might be making its way out of recession by then anyway. How can we gauge whether or not the stimulus is effective or whether we would have been able to get ourselves out of that ditch anyway?
SACHS: Well, this will probably provide some cushion but a modest one actually, even though the numbers are so large because the shock that we've had of losing perhaps $15 trillion or $20 trillion of wealth in housing and in the stock market is going to keep consumer spending very low. And what the stimulus bill will do is put a little bit more money back in the system but also create a lot of uncertainty because the budget deficits are going to be at historic highs, and we've not heard from the administration or Congress what the plan is to get this situation back under control.
There's a lot of money flying fast and loose right now, and it's quite disconcerting. Especially you see Wall Street paid itself $18 billion in bonuses despite needing to be bailed out by the government, so billions are just being thrown one way or another. And we don't have a framework yet that is giving confidence about how we're really going to get out of this in the medium term.
CHETRY: Right. So you say that they're ignoring basically the spot -- the next five to ten years that these trillion-dollar deficits, where is the plan to make sure that that gets addressed.
SACHS: I think we should have a framework when we're talking about trillions of dollars now of deficits to restore confidence in the economy. We need to see coherently where we're heading year after year, not just the short term, not just the next month, not just the next six months, but how we're going to get out of this crisis because by doing so, we give a lot more confidence to investors and to the consumers to know that there really is a way out. It's all very short term right now.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about this, a small vocal group, many of them libertarians dubbing themselves the do-nothings who oppose this package, arguing that, you know, a painful recession is actually the best way to destroy the root of why we got into this situation, which was irresponsibility and debt. What would as an economist, I know you're not in favor of this, but what would doing nothing right now mean?
SACHS: I think that would be a huge gamble on the other side that the economy really could just continue to tumble. We don't want pain for pain's sake. What we want is a coherent way out. So there's a difference of doing nothing, that's much too extreme, doing only very short term things, and that isn't going to create the framework, and more systematically thinking through how we're going to get out of this in the medium term. That's what I think we need to do.
CHETRY: And finally, the banks are saying they're going to need more money. Apparently, it looks like well they have $350 billion as we know, and they're saying we may need more until we can lend again. When does this end? Or what do we do about that problem?
SACHS: The administration may be coming back for even $1 trillion of next round of banking. We don't know because it's all just in private discussion right now, but it's going to be a vast additional request. And how can you give that, when you see banks paying themselves billions of bonuses even though they're making huge losses? This situation is not yet convincingly under control. That's for sure.
CHETRY: All right. Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
SACHS: Pleasure.
ROBERTS: Surfing for sex on your dollar -- got your attention? Federal workers punching the clock and prowling for porn. You have to see it to believe it. And new research suggests some young athletes are at increased risk for brain injury. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the harmful fallout from repeated concussions. You'll be surprise what he has to say.
It's 33 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Wow, here's what you got to hear to believe. This morning, a government agency that stands to get $3 billion from the stimulus bill is now at the center of a porn investigation. A number of officials at the National Science Foundation, of all things, are accused of surfing for smut on your dime. Now lawmakers are naming names and demanding answers.
CNN's Joe Johns is following this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no way to tell how pervasive the problem is. Employees at the National Science Foundation surfing for porn on computers paid for with your money. What we do know is the inspector general took a look at just one of the foundation's computer servers and discovered, quote, "six cases of employees viewing, downloading, saving and/or sharing pornographic images and videos." And on top of that, one case of extensive participation in pornographic chat Web sites.
(on camera): But what's attracted attention on Capitol Hill is this case. A man described as a senior foundation official apparently a big shot who retired after being told he was about to be fired. He was allegedly spending up to 20 percent of his official work time over a period of two years viewing sexually explicit images and engaging in explicit online chats with various women.
The IG also took a looked at this guy's salary and figured his personal time online at work, exploring the Internet's wild side was worth about $58,000. Senator Charles Grassley calculates that as eight hours a week of wasted work time over 24 months, and now he's writing letters and demanding explanations.
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: He was either fired or he quit before he was fired so he's no longer there so he's not doing it. But what is the oversight of people higher up, that seniors, executives can be spending so much time doing nonproductive work when they're on the taxpayer's payroll.
JOHNS: In a statement the foundation said that it has new controls on its computer system, that "The small handful of employees found to have engaged in the type of conduct highlighted in the IG report were notified that they were either going to be dismissed from the agency or suspended." And that, quote, "NSF employees and contractors know that because they are using taxpayer resources they can expect no right to privacy for any information used or shared on an NSF system." Senator Grassley is wondering what these guys at NSF are doing with your money because they do get quite a bit of it.
GRASSLEY: But it is disconcerting when you have an agency that gives out $6 billion, and you also have that same agency getting $3 billion on top of that in the stimulus package.
JOHNS: Grassley says the government is looking at other computer servers at the foundation to get a sense of whether anybody else is surfing for sex instead of science.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Young athletes risking their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES ORRIGO, SUFFERED BACK-TO-BACK CONCUSSIONS: He cross-checks me with the throat, which had so much force behind that it lifts me up in the air and I smashed the back of my head off the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Scary new evidence of brain damage in teens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Were you surprised to see this degree of change in an 18-year-old?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What gets me the most angry is everyone saying, oh, it's just a concussion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the sobering reality of contact sports and kids. Ahead on the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Live picture this morning, looking out over the Hudson River toward New Jersey and New York. It's pretty cold out there right now, about 28 degrees. Not too warm today either. It will be sunny with a high of about 33 degrees.
This morning in Upstate New York, they are digging out after yesterday's winter storm. Buffalo got hit with more than six inches of snow. In Buffalo, that's typical for this time of year. One local 911 center reporting more than 30 traffic accidents during the (INAUDIBLE).
Further southwest in Oklahoma, the ice and freezing rain leaving more than 21,000 people in the dark. The state's highway patrol also reporting more than 1,100 traffic accidents yesterday.
CHETRY: That's out there. Well, kids and sports, they seem to go hand in hand, but often we don't think about the potential for serious injuries. Now a new study has doctors worried about the risk of brain injury in these young athletes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look in our special medical series -- "Concussion and the Brain."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Lacrosse was once the center of 18-year-old James's Orrigo's life until the game when he suffered back-to-back concussions.
(on camera): So when's the last time you actually had a chance to pick up a lacrosse stick?
ORRIGO: Probably over a year ago now. Besides it's kind of weird, it brings back some pretty vivid memories. The other teammate comes up and so we become a team and he comes and he cross-checks me with the throat, which had so much force behind that it lifts me up in the air and I smashed the back of my head off the ground. So, that was the first concussion and then the same kid and he comes and he hits me in the side of the head, when I wasn't ready for it and this boom, and snaps my neck down, and I go right down.
GUPTA (voice over): James didn't know it yet, but within minutes he'd suffered two concussions.
(on camera): If he'd suffered a third, what would have happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he probably would have died or had severe brain injury.
GUPTA (voice over): A new study suggests the risk of brain injury in young athletes with concussions is real.
I recently spoke with one of the study's authors, neurologist Dr. Ann McKee.
DR. ANN MCKEE, BEDFORD VA HOSPITAL: So this is a case of an 18- year-old who played multiple sports in high school and sustained several concussions.
GUPTA: The brown tangles seen here, evidence of brain damage.
MCKEE: It's not just a few tangles. It's actually a lot of them.
GUPTA: This new evidence of tangles in an 18-year-old's brain echoes evidence McKee and colleagues already found in the brains of seven former NFL players who suffered multiple concussions.
(on camera): What is the significance of this?
MCKEE: Well, we think this is how chronic traumatic encephalopathy starts.
GUPTA: Were you surprised to see this degree of change in an 18- year-old?
MCKEE: Shocked.
GUPTA: Are you back to normal?
ORRIGO: Yes.
GUPTA: One hundred percent?
ORRIGO: Just a few headaches, but that's only if I do, you know, too much working out. Yes. But besides that, it's good.
GUPTA (voice-over): James no longer plays contact sports. Instead, he plays the guitar. And he educates other young athletes about concussions.
(on camera): And you mostly watch sports in television. You probably watch the Super Bowl.
ORRIGO: Right.
GUPTA: What goes through your head now when you see somebody get, as you say, laid out?
ORRIGO: See it all the time happening in these games. And the announcers who what gets me the most angry is everyone saying, oh, it's just a concussion, you know, he'll be back into play or something like that. And it's just -- it's just scary to think about that. There's no real urgency.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: But as you can see, we know more than ever about the vague term concussion, but more importantly what happens deep inside the brain. But I can tell you, after being here, this is just the beginning. Over the next several years, they're going to look at hundreds more brains and hopefully get more answers.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thanks.
Quick note about Sanjay's story yesterday on the effect of concussions on NFL players. The story suggested that the NFL wasn't doing enough to educate players about the effects.
The NFL has since given us a statement saying, quote, "Hundreds of thousands of people have played football and other sports without experiencing any problem of this type and there continues to be considerable debate within the medical community on the precise long- term effects of concussions. We are currently funding an independent medical study on retired NFL players on the long-term effects of concussions which we hope will contribute to the overall understanding of the issue."
It's 46 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Actor Steve Harvey on what President Obama means to black America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HARVEY, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: It's hard to say now that the man is holding me back, when you are the man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Plus, relationship advice from one of the original kings of comedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY: The biggest misconception that women have is that men are going to return their love the same way that they give it to them. It's not in our DNA to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Steve Harvey, unplugged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY: And if you need us, call us. That's really our nurturing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: He is an award-winning actor, comedian and radio talk show host, but that's not enough for Steve Harvey. Now, he's on a mission to help millions of women by giving them advice in a new book called "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment." Steve Harvey joins us this morning.
Talk about the book in just a second. But first of all, let's reflect back on what happened last Tuesday, inauguration of Barack Obama. What were you thinking about the whole thing? One of your listeners told you about the sense of responsibility that they feel that he has to them.
HARVEY: Wow. You know what? Not so much a sense of responsibility of what he has to them, but what they have to him.
ROBERTS: Really?
HARVEY: There's been like a gauntlet laid down, that now there are no more excuses that those of us especially in African-American community can look at our children and say, OK, now, anything is possible. I know I've been saying this to you, but guess what? It's all doable now, because there's no more excuses.
You know, Jamie Foxx had a quote, those really amazed me. "It's hard to say now that the man is holding me back, when you are the man."
ROBERTS: Yes.
HARVEY: It's kind of tough.
ROBERTS: So you think it's a real change in America?
HARVEY: I really, really do. You know, there's a lot of work to be done, but this has been a great step for everybody. It's really been amazing for race relations in this country, and just how we view each other. It's kind of refreshing to know that so many people of all different genders really, and races felt this way about this change.
ROBERTS: There's always a lot of work to be done in relationships, and you're trying to help people out here with this book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man."
You write in the book, you say "If there's anything I've discovered during my journey here on God's earth is this, A, too many women are clueless about men, B, men get away with a whole lot of stuff in relationships and C, I've got some valuable information to change all that."
What's the best advice that you have for women that you're imparting on this book?
HARVEY: Well, two things. You know, first of all, the biggest misconception that women have is that men are going to return their love the same way that they give it to them. It's not in our DNA to do that. They're nurturing. They're great communicators. We're not all of that. You know, we're that in small increments and degrees, but it's not in our being, DNA to nurture you back to health.
You know, look, we'll go fill the prescription and we'll go heat up a can of soup, but we're not going to give it to you. We're going in here watch CNN and ESPN, and if you need us, call us. That's really our nurturing. A woman will lay you in her lap, hold you, lay next to you, make you feel well, and that's very different. So I've got to share with women how men really exhibit their love, and I call it the three Ps or the three pros, we profess it, we provide and we protect.
ROBERTS: So you really think that this will help women understand men?
HARVEY: I'm absolutely convinced.
ROBERTS: As simple as we are?
HARVEY: Hey, look, you know, this is not a clinical study. These are not some doctors that got together, because you know how guys are. Once you ask us something from the clinical standpoint we give you a clinical answer. This information comes from real guys, guys that you're really married to. You're not married to a Dr. Phil, you're not married to Dr. Ruth, you're married to this guy.
And what I've learned how to do over my 52 years of living, I've compiled all this information from men from all walks of life and this is the truth. This isn't what sounds good to you. I just put the truth together. And it is really -- I mean, people who have read the book, reporters doing stories on it are absolutely blown away with the authenticity of it.
ROBERTS: It's a fun, little book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man." Steve Harvey, it's great to see you.
HARVEY: Thanks a lot, man.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Thanks for dropping by. Wish you continued success.
HARVEY: Absolutely.
CHETRY: $800 billion divide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bill is passed without objection and motion...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why the president's recovery plan scared away every Republican and a few Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush doubled the national debt on his watch, and this is just more of the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And whether you should worry, too.
Illustrating Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he, you know, starts acting more goofy, maybe I'll draw the ears a little bigger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The challenges of poking fun at the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a long and terrible history in this country of racially offensive cartoons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The president and the first lady promised to protect their daughters' privacy and their right to it. But they're now the "It" girls, and many are looking to make a buck off of Sasha and Malia. And some are saying while that may not necessarily be a bad thing.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins us now to explain.
Hi, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Kiran.
Well, you know, the reason it's not a bad thing is that they're the most visible, exciting family in America right now. This beautiful black family in the White House. And experts say Americans really want to identify, find some sort of connection. That means a shift in the way Madison Avenue sells products.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): When it comes to fashion, there's nothing like a powerful brand to boost sales -- especially if that brand is a dynamic first family.
MARLENE WALLACH, WILHELMINA KIDS & TEENS: We have gotten several calls for look-alikes.
FEYERICK: Marlene Wallach is president of Wilhelmina Kids and Teens.
WALLACH: It's a trend because what little girl doesn't want to emulate the first kids?
FEYERICK: The modeling agency represents six-year-old Ariel Vance (ph), who recently scored big in a Benetton ad.
(on camera): Is that Tyra Banks?
ARIEL VANCE (ph), CHILD MODEL: Yes.
FEYERICK (voice-over): She then scored as a first daughter look- alike to faux Obama mama Tyra Banks in September's "Harper Bazaar."
(on camera): This could really open up a lot of possibility for your daughter, for other different ad campaigns.
DAWN CROOKS, ARIEL'S MOTHER: I think it will and hope it does.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Unlike the Bush twins or Chelsea Clinton, global branding experts say the appeal of the Obama girls is unique and infinitely marketable.
DAVID ROGERS, GLOBAL BRAND EXPERT: Marketers are finally waking up to it. You know, black is beautiful. It's just going to become part of the fabric of the fashion imagery, of pop culture, which is a great thing.
FEYERICK: After the first kids appeared in their J. Crew outfits Inauguration Day, the company's Web site got so many hits, it crashed. But when a toy company recently tried selling unauthorized Sasha and Malia dolls, first lady Michelle Obama's office called it inappropriate. Still, many companies believe the look-alike effect will rub off.
WALLACH: You know, if all these young tweens are aspiring to be these girls, I would assume that that's their intention.
FEYERICK (on camera): And often that works?
WALLACH: And often that works.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Which will likely mean more work for kids like Ariel Vance (ph).
VANCE (ph): I actually have a go see for you guys to go to right now. It's for Saks. They're looking for five to six girls.
FEYERICK: Some branding experts say there's a fine line between positive marketing and being tacky, but the feeling is because of the Obamas, there will be an increase in the number of African-American models in fashion magazines and ad campaign, taking diversity to a whole new level.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): Now, some branding experts of course say there's a fine line between positive marketing and tackiness. But the feeling is because of the Obama's, there will be an increase in the number of African-American models in fashion magazines and ad campaigns taking diversity to a whole new level. So it really is an exciting time on this right now.
CHETRY: We were just saying, can you imagine if they had another baby in the White House?
FEYERICK: Forget about it. Forget it. The whole Gap line would be enormous. You know, little bitty baby.
CHETRY: I know. The girls are so adorable that you just can't help it. Deb, thanks so much.
FEYERICK: Of course.
