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American Morning
World Markets Drop Again; Paying Your Mortgage Even After You Lose Your Job; Still Searching the Gulf for Missing Boaters; Jonathan Krohn: Conservative Wonder Kid; The Key to Finding True Love Revealed?
Aired March 03, 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 now and -- on the most news in the morning. A lot to cover this hour. Here's what is on the agenda right now.
Markets across the globe taking another big hit after the Dow drops to levels not seen since 1997. What could happen to your money today?
Plus, brand new details just in of a plan to help people pay their mortgage if they end up losing their jobs. Our Christine Romans and the CNN money team dialed into all of it. We'll break it down for you this morning.
Also this morning, President Obama about to meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. An urgent meeting aimed at attacking the economic crisis from an international front. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House with the latest on the plans and what to look for today.
Also developing this morning, a desperate search for three boaters missing at sea in the Gulf of Mexico. Two of them, pro football players. The Coast Guard rescued a fourth boater on Monday. He was clinging to their capsized fishing vessel off of the Florida Coast. John Zarrella following that story for us this morning.
But we begin with breaking news. And markets overseas reacting to the brutal day on Wall Street Monday. The Dow arrows lining up from Asia, the down arrows, rather, lining up from Asia to Europe today after the Dow dropped 300 points on Monday finishing below 7000 for the first time since 1997. It's been quite a slide from the Dow's peak of 14,000 a year and a half ago.
And the panicky concerns spilling over into prime time. Last night on "LARRY KING LIVE," actor and economic commentator Ben Stein said he is alarmed and offered his solution to the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN STEIN, COLUMNIST, COMMENTATOR: It's a terrifying situation. The hopes in retirement dreams of an entire generation are being wiped out. I have never seen a more scary situation for savers and investors in this country.
A drastic action is required. I don't see it coming. I don't lay this crisis at the foot of the Obama administration. It started with Mr. Bush but Mr. Obama is the president now. He's got to do something about this.
Mark to market has got to go, he's got to get the banks stabilized, stop this wild trading and credit default swaps. The speculators are killing the honest citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: CNN's Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." She joins us now live.
So take what he said earlier about this idea that the retirement dreams of an entire generation of Americans wiped out. I mean there is not a lot of time to recoup those losses for people who are nearing retirement.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. And for people nearing retirement, they've been hit by a housing crisis and then the deterioration of their retirement wealth. They don't have 30 years to go back in and to dollar cost average, to buy stocks again and try to recover that.
They just don't so that's very, very painful for the baby boomers. They've been hit on two fronts. And for younger investors, people who've been investing for 10 or 12 years, what have they seen from their stock investments? They've seen it now back to where they were in 1997.
So you have a very conservative younger generation that now isn't quite so sure about stocks. Rightly or wrongly but that is very concerned about putting more money in the stock market as well. So you have a whole generation of people starting from people in their 30s all the way to people who are close to retirement who are very, very concerned here and have every right to be.
The Dow has been cut in half since it hit those highs back in October of 2007. Since we have the stimulus, since the inauguration, since the federal bailout of the banks, you've seen nothing but declines for the stock market.
ROBERTS: Now look at those numbers.
ROMANS: The numbers are really -- look, since the financial bailout the Dow has lost another third of its value and back then there were people who were telling you oh, you know, the bottom is near. I mean be very careful about people calling the bottom of this market. We have no idea what's going to happen next. So this is why people need to be careful.
ROBERTS: Well, we do know that there is a bottom, right?
ROMANS: Oh yes, we don't know...
ROBERTS: Zero.
ROMANS: We don't know where it is. Right.
ROBERTS: Zero could be it.
ROMANS: Right. I mean listen, this is a very tough situation and we don't know the extent of the economic damage or how long it's going to last. This is why the market is so unnerved and closed below 7,000.
The good news is, this morning, it doesn't look like there's a huge sell-off, at least in the works right away. The futures are flat but we also know that things can change quite quickly. We know as well that we're going to get a lot more economic data this week, John and Kiran. That is expected to paint a pretty grim picture.
The question is when do people look through that and start to get some confidence? This is all about returning confidence for consumers, for the markets. Confidence in some kind of a plan in Washington and we haven't seen that yet. And you know, and I don't know. I don't know how to measure, you know, how much confidence to put into a budget or a stimulus or the likes.
So that's what is so complicated about it. But people have every right to be feeling unnerved right now and Ben Stein is right. The investors and the savers have really been punished. And I think right now people have every right to be concerned. But we also know, John, as you pointed out earlier, and as Kiran pointed out many, many times, we have recovered from really dramatic sell-offs and from bear markets before.
Right now it feels really ugly. We just don't know when that will be and how far out.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Christine.
And as Christine mentioned, the global economic pain hasn't ended and we still don't know when it will. And right now, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in Washington and in just a few hours he's going to be meeting with President Obama and he's going to be pushing for a global new deal to tackle the financial crisis.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House with more details on this meeting for us.
Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.
Well, it's not the first time these two leaders have met. When he was candidate Obama he visited Europe. The two sat down together. But it is very clear today that for both of these men, the stakes are a lot higher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice over): President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are determined to change the game. Turning from partners in war to partners in peace. On the eve of this historic visit, Brown had this to say.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I knew that past prime ministers have gone in times of war, to talk about war. What I'm going to do is to talk about how we can work together at climate change, the economy and security for the future.
MALVEAUX: Their new focus, the economic crisis that plagues both nations. Brown comes armed with a so-called global new deal. Ideas on how to reform the crumbling financial institutions in London and New York.
BROWN: If America and Britain did the same or similar things to deal with the economy, then the effect of that will be magnified by all of us doing it together.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama is listening. After all, it was Britain that took the lead in recapitalizing its own failing banks. The U.S. followed suit.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The impact of this recession is real. And it is everywhere.
MALVEAUX: But both countries are in trouble and Obama is eager to set a common agenda with Brown before he visits London in April for a global economic summit. The two leaders will also try to find common ground on climate change, fighting poverty and the war in Afghanistan.
"The Times of London" says Gordon comes bearing a gift for Mr. Obama. A wooden ornament carved from a British ship that was used in the 19th century to suppress the slave trade. It replaces the last gift from Britain that sat in the oval office, a bronze bust of the war leader Winston Churchill who President Bush adored. President Obama had that removed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: John and Kiran, we'll be looking at the body language as well as the language of these two leaders to see what they say specifically about moving forward when it comes to dealing with a global economic crisis - Kiran.
CHETRY: And also brand new this morning, Suzanne, details of a letter that President Obama sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. It was regarding the missile defense shield, Iran's nuclear ambitions. What are you learning about those conversations?
MALVEAUX: Well, I've spoken with three senior administration officials this morning and essentially they know that Russia has been threatened by the idea of the U.S. putting a missile defense shield right in its own backyard and Poland and the Czech Republic.
So the message that Obama was giving to Medvedev, he was essentially saying, you don't have to be threatened by this if the threat from Iran, the nuclear threat is reduced or eliminated and that perhaps Russia can play a role in that, clearly offering kind of an incentive for Russia to get more involved in influencing what Iran does and its behavior with its own nuclear program.
CHETRY: All right, Suzanne Malveaux for us, thanks.
ROBERTS: A brand new plan to help struggling homeowners just announced and confirmed to CNN this hour. If you're a Citi Mortgage customer and you've lost your job and you're worried about losing your home, you may be able to get some major relief. At least temporarily.
Christine Romans is back now to explain how these new plans go to work. We're all ears.
ROMANS: And -- I know. And Citi Mortgage is for people for who are Citi Mortgage customers. So here's what you have to be. A Citi Mortgage customer. If you've lost your job, and can prove that you're getting unemployment insurance, you have to be 60 days or late on the mortgage, and according to Citi Mortgage, they hope to help thousands of their customers in this position.
They would lower, on average, to your monthly mortgage bill to about $500 for three months. And then you'd be able to sign up for an extension if you can prove the need for another 90 days or so. The idea here is to keep people in their homes in the near term while they try to figure out what they can do to fix these mortgages.
Now you have a problem here. The first problem is a lot of mortgages were written originally at the start of the foreclosure crisis that, you know, mortgages people would never be able to pay. People who could pay their mortgages now are starting to lose their jobs and so now you have the second sort of shoe to fall.
And these are terrible cliches. So Citi Mortgage is hoping to help, what they say, thousands of people.
ROBERTS: Is there a limitation on the size of the mortgage?
ROMANS: I don't know about limitations on the size of the mortgage, but I can tell you one thing, that we have seen plans like this that have not on a broad scale really worked for a variety of reasons because there are a lot of technicalities.
This company hopes that they help people. They want to keep -- it's cheaper to keep people in the home and try to work it out than it is to foreclose on the property and that's something that the servicers and the banks are starting to learn here. We haven't seen the big broad-scale foreclosure mitigation plan that has worked yet. But...
CHETRY: But might this work better if individual companies are taking upon themselves to figure out a way to work with their group of customers and might other banks and mortgage lenders follow suit?
ROMANS: For more than a year and a half, the private lenders have said that they were working with their own people and trying to buy...
CHETRY: Right. ROMANS: Buy loans and stuff and we still are seeing a foreclosure crisis worsening. But what I can tell you is that for Citi Mortgage customers they're very interested in what this means for them and are trying to figure out.
And of course, we will be closely watching and talking to the company to try to see if we can follow any of these people who have started 60 days late in their mortgage, lost their jobs, getting unemployment benefits, and see that $500 bill every month and see if it can help them.
ROBERTS: Great idea. We look forward to that.
ROMANS: Yes. Yes.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
Well, from fired to hired and happy. Carol Costello joins us for the story of Americans now finding new and successful careers after being let go. Yes. They're out there.
And the odds may be against them but the Coast Guard is not giving up on the search for two NFL players and a fishing partner still missing at sea. Our John Zarrella live in Miami with this developing story for us this morning.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirteen and a half minutes after the hour. And time to fast forward to some of the stories that you'll be hearing about on CNN all day today.
Senator John McCain looking to get to the bottom of the financial turmoil. At 3:00 Eastern, he and Senator Byron Dorgan will introduce legislation to create a select committee to investigate the causes of the crisis and make sure to the best of their abilities that it doesn't happen again.
In a couple of hours, former British prime minister, Tony Blair, will be on Capitol Hill. He'll be talking climate change, joining key senators and company CEOs at a press conference to discuss economic opportunities from U.S. climate policy.
And now to the search for two pro football players and a fishing partner missing at sea for three nights in the Gulf of Mexico. A Coast Guard cutter spotted their boat on Monday 35 miles off the coast of Clearwater, Florida. They rescued a fourth boater who was clinging to the capsized fishing vessel.
CNN's John Zarrella is following this developing story for us live in Miami.
The Coast Guard continues to go out there, fairly large search area, though they've said they've narrowed it down and nothing yet. Hello, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Narrowed it down, down to 3,500 square miles. That's still a lot of open water. Three are Coast Guard cutters out there. There are helicopters are out there. There's a C-130 aircraft all still looking for those three men.
A little bit of good news. The weather has calmed down. The water a little bit calmer. But right now this morning the families of three men still praying while one family is rejoicing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice over): The U.S. Coast Guard found Nick Schuyler cold, wet, and alive.
CAPT. TIM CLOSE, U.S. COAST GUARD: The boat was overturned. And he was on top of the boat.
ZARRELLA: For the search teams, Schuyler's rescue is bittersweet. He was alone. These Coast Guard photographs show him sitting on top of the 21-foot boat as it bobbed in the choppy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Schuyler's friend William Bleakley and NFL players Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper were not with him.
CLOSE: We now know we're looking for persons in the water, not the boat. So they're doing search and rescue planning and we started to hit that area very hard.
ZARRELLA: The boat was found 35 miles off Tampa Bay. The Coast Guard believes the current in the area would have carried the missing men southeast toward the coast line.
Schuyler was hoisted in a basket from the Coast Guard cutter Tornado to a helicopter and air-lifted to Tampa General Hospital. He was alert and sitting up as he was placed on the stretcher. When she heard her son was alive, Schuyler's mother said she collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I passed out. I went down. We're ecstatic. I mean we couldn't ask for a better ending for us.
ZARRELLA: Schuyler told the Coast Guard that a large wave capsized the boat on Saturday. All four went into the water and all four were, at least, for a while, clinging to the boat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went and saw him first and he told me, "Mom, I kept saying you're not going to go to my funeral." He said that's what kept him hanging on.
ZARRELLA: In the Coast Guard photographs, you can see Schuyler wearing a yellow rain coat and a red life vest. It's believed his friends were, too. But, for them, time is not on their side.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ZARRELLA: Now because these men are either current or former football players, authorities say they have a better chance of still being alive after three days in the water. But quite clearly, hypothermia and dehydration are beginning to set in -- John?
ROBERTS: And again, John, that water, what, about 68 degrees?
ZARRELLA: Yes. At the top and about 68, mid-60s to tops to high 60s, but that's still pretty chilly after three days.
ROBERTS: It's chilly after three minutes. All right, John Zarrella for us.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
ROBERTS: John, thanks so much.
CHETRY: And still ahead, surviving and succeeding after a layoff. Carol Costello will join us live on how you can turn a pink slip into maybe a new and exciting opportunity.
Seventeen and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. In the midst of all these bad economic times, there has to be a silver lining and it's because some people down on their luck are realizing there's actually a better life after being laid off.
CNN's Carol Costello was live in Washington to explain how someone are turning this negative into a positive.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. It seems impossible, doesn't it? So many people are losing their jobs. It's tough to see any kind of silver lining, especially if you've worked in one field your whole career, but if the worse happens, ask yourself, did you really like your job? Do you need that job to be happy?
If the answer is no and no, that pink slip could mean a whole new happier life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice over): Welcome to one of Chicago's hottest small businesses. The Asili Chi Salon & Spa.
JENNIFER JACKSON, ASILI CHI SALON & SPA: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on a playground all day. You know? It really is. It's really, really fun.
COSTELLO: That's co-owner Jennifer Jackson who used to work in corporate America as an electrical engineer with all of the perks. But she got laid off. She tried teaching. Got laid off from that, too. It's enough to send anyone into a depression deeper than the recession, but Jackson saw it as an opportunity.
JACKSON: And I've always been a risk-taker all my life and I've always felt like unless you step out there on faith and try something different, you'll never know your true potential.
COSTELLO: So in her mid-30s with little savings, Jackson went to beauty school, found a partner, bought a salon. Her story is not unusual. Many laid off Americans are looking for work but are also discovering the answer in this recession might be to switch gears completely and do what you love.
HALLIE CRAWFORD, CAREER COACH: I'm actually finding that it's kind of a post-9/11 effect similar to that, where people, when they are contacting me, they're taking a hard look at their lives and, you know, is there life going in the direction that they want it to.
COSTELLO: Walter Kerschbaum asked himself that question after finding himself without a job after 30 years on Wall Street. He found he didn't want to go back. He wanted to fix antique clocks so he used $25,000 in savings to open up his own shop and he's never looked back.
The secret, he says, find something you love.
WALTER KERSCHBAUM, SCARDALE CLOCKS: What would make you want to get up every day and get out of bed and do something? When you come up with that answer, second question is -- is there a way I can make money out of that activity?
COSTELLO: Both Kerschbaum and Jackson aren't as rich in dollars as they once were but both say they are rich in something more important -- happiness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: They are, too. I know what you're thinking. Both Jennifer and Walter had money galore stocked away. Not true especially in Jennifer's case. She did not. She also has a 10-year- old. What both Jennifer and Walter had was a plan, an enormous work ethic, a supportive family, and the wisdom to know they did not need a corporate job to define them any longer. Kiran?
CHETRY: You're right. Yes, I mean, it's not something that everybody could do, but they really are sort of a major success story in the midst of some really tough times so that's great.
COSTELLO: I am telling you, Jennifer was so positive. I asked if I could call her every week just for a pep talk. Because she just -- she believes anything is possible and I think that sometimes it's nine-tenths of the battle.
CHETRY: Exactly. There you go. She has career number four now, life coach, OK?
COSTELLO: That's exactly...
(CROSSTALK) CHETRY: If she gets sick of cutting hair she is a life coach.
Thanks, Carol.
ROBERTS: Uncle Sam wants you. The federal government is hiring, despite the recession. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis tells us where those jobs are. She joins us in just a second.
It's 23 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The economic slump has businesses around the country shedding jobs by the thousands but there is one big exception. Uncle Sam. Who knew that the government could be recession-proof.
CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us now with the latest in her ongoing series, "Who is Hiring."
So the federal government, huh?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Let me tell you, it's the federal government. 41,000 jobs. Can you imagine that? 41,000 jobs. Federal government is hiring. If you want to find out about it, go to USAJobs.gov. This is a fantastic Web site. It tells you where all the jobs are.
Let's take a look at the map here and get a sense of just where these jobs are. Now you might think intuitively hey, they are only in Washington, D.C. but that's not the case at all. In fact, these jobs are all over the country.
Check it out. A thousand jobs in Charleston, South Carolina, Ft. Walton beach, all the way on the other coast, the left coast, you can see Los Angeles, California. There are a lot of jobs out there. USAJobs.gov is the Web site so you definitely want to check that out.
Let's talk about occupations now that are actually in demand. You know you can find just about any job that you find in the private sector is also in the federal government. In fact, the Web site has something they call the "Private Crosswalk" where you can find out what your federal government job title would be.
OK, let's take a look at those top occupations. As you can see here, office clerk and assistant. There are 15,000 jobs all over the country. Check out budget analyst, 10,000 jobs. IT management specialist, 9,000 jobs.
I want to drill down here now and actually look at an individual opening. As you can see here this is an IT specialist job in Washington. And you think that federal jobs don't pay any money. Look at this, six figures possibly in this job. $118,000. As you can see there is quite a bit of dough there that you can actually get if you get this job.
Now, let's also take a look at which agencies are hiring here. Because this is an important part of the story. They, again, are all over the country but you see the Air Force Personnel Center hiring some 39,000 people. Navy field offices. They are all over the country and all kinds of jobs. Army Corps of Engineers, that, clearly, all over the country. Some 3,500 jobs.
So just a fascinating list here if you go to USAJobs.gov of jobs you can get, where you can go. It's really astonishing. And the nice thing about this Web site is that you can actually set up a system where they send you jobs to your e-mail inbox.
ROBERTS: Interesting. So a terrible job market for so many people, also for students graduating class not only this year but last year as well. Would you suggest students look at some of those jobs?
WILLIS: Let me tell you a little known fact that you really want to know about. If you have a lot of student loan debt, you're graduating this year, guess what? As a signing bonus, Uncle Sam will forgive some of that debt as much as $10,000 a year.
ROBERTS: Wow.
WILLIS: Sixty thousand is a limit to a single employee. So think about that. If you've got a lot of student debt out there, it's federal debt, it can be forgiven, find one of these hiring agencies. And this was news to me. I just found this out recently. And I think it's something people out there, students, in particular, who are having a hard time finding a job, should really know this.
ROBERTS: Yes, that's a good -- that's a very good deal. Unfortunately, there is so much competition for those jobs.
WILLIS: Absolutely. Well, and the nice thing is there's also tutorials on that Web site to tell you how to apply for a federal job. So if you've never done it before, it's very different from applying for a job in the private sector. It tells you how to do that.
ROBERTS: Great. Gerri, some good tips this morning. Thanks so much for that.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: All right. Well, time now, 29 minutes after the hour. We have a lot to cover this morning. And here's what we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Sri Lanka's cricket team attacked. At least six security guards were killed when masked gunmen in Pakistan ambushed the Sri Lanka's cricket team. A civilian also killed and 18 members were injured. Visiting Sri Lanka players were headed to a match against Pakistan's national team.
Also new developments now in a story we first brought you earlier this morning. Moscow and the White House confirming now that President Obama sent a secret letter last month to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. He asked for help to stop Iran from developing long- range nuclear weapons and in exchange Mr. Obama suggested that he would back off plans to deploy missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
Moscow denies that any deal was requested.
Also the family of a man killed by a former transit police officer has filed a $50 million lawsuit against officers involved in that shooting. Oscar Grant, 22-year-old unarmed man, was shot in the back and killed on a train platform by a former transit cop in Oakland, California. That new year's day shooting was captured on cell phone video.
Also developing this morning. Major new signs of a serious shift in U.S. policy towards Syria. This morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that the U.S. will send two envoys to begin diplomatic dialogue with Damascus.
CNN's Jill Dougherty is traveling with Secretary Clinton and joins us live from Jerusalem this morning.
Hello, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.
Well, you know, it is a series of signals that the United States and Syria are thawing their relationships and these two diplomats, in fact, a senior official tells CNN that they are Jeffrey Feldman. He is the top state department official on the Mid east and also Dan Shapiro of the National Security Council. They will be going to Damascus and beginning this preliminary discussion.
You know, the U.S. still has several concerns. One is what they say is serious support for terrorists and its desire or pursuit of nuclear weapons and other things, but Secretary Clinton, today, here in Jerusalem, said there is no way to predict what relations will develop and how the future, what the future will hold.
But she said it's a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary discussions. She also said that the Syrian track, as it's referred to in Middle East peace generally, will be something she'll be discussing with the new Israeli government when that is formed.
So, again, a couple of good signs. This one and then last week, we had Jeff Feldman meeting with the ambassador from Syria in Washington. Then congressional delegations have been going through Syria as well -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jill Dougherty for us, traveling with Secretary Clinton. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Well, would you take political advice from a 14-year- old? The conservative young man who spoke to the same crowd Rush Limbaugh did joins us. See why he says the Republican Party is listening to him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JONATHAN KROHN, CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR: I want the American people to understand the conservativism is not an ideology of feelings of romanticism as some people like to say. It isn't ideology of protecting the people and the people's rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well that was Jonathan Krohn, addressing the same conservative group, CPAC that Rush Limbaugh spoke with this past weekend. He is only 14 years old, and he turned 14 on Sunday, but he is already being hailed as a conservative wonder kid after receiving a standing ovation, after he did speak at the conference.
And here with some advice for the Republican Party is the author of "Define Conservatism" Jonathan Krohn.
Thanks for joining us, Jonathan. You really speak very well. And I know that you feel very, very strongly about what you believe in. You say you're a conservative first and a republican second. How did you, first of all, even become interested in politics and then sort of how did you find out where you stood ideologically?
KROHN: Well, look, the way I got involved into politics was really because of a democrat filibuster in the United States senate. I started listening to conservative talk radio, to hear about the history and the senate rules and I started learning a lot and started branching out into other areas of politics and started understanding principle as my base for the things that I did.
Principle as my base for the policies that I believed in. Principle as my base for when I interpreted politics and principles first. I started understanding the difference between conservative and liberal and I really developed some very big interest in politics.
CHETRY: And how do you define the difference between conservative and liberal yourself?
KROHN: Well, first of all, I think that in many ways, there are a lot of liberals especially in Congress these days, who a lot of them they have put power over politics and principle. They put power over principle in that they want government to have more interference. Government gets more power. Government gets more power.
And when government gets more power, governments are only going to abuse that so they can get more power. I think that that's really the liberal point of view. Whereas the conservative point of view is we want to limit our lust for power. We want to limit our thrust and our belief that government should have more power to solve the problem because we believe that government is the problem.
More government is always going to be the problem. So as a conservative, I believe that it's key that we understand that. And I believe conservatives base their views entirely upon principle and I believe in four categories of principle. Respect for the Constitution, respect for life, less government and personal responsibility. CHETRY: I think that people would agree with you on some of that. Some would argue though that perhaps the reason that you're putting - you're saying you're a conservative first and then a republican second is that many people would argue that in the past eight years, those principles were not followed in the Bush administration.
KROHN: I do think so. I think, especially we saw a taste of the American people starting to see that the Republican Party is not always conservative. They are not synonymous always. They saw during 2006, during the immigration, when the immigration bill came up. The American people went stark crazy mad and they were upset and rightfully so. Because it was not common sense and the thing was there were a lot of republicans and people who said they were conservatives who were out there supporting that bill and who ended up voting against it.
But I think - I think that with the stimulus package, the American people started seeing a change of heart in the Republican Party and going back to conservative principle.
CHETRY: I want to ask you because we're showing a picture right now of Rush Limbaugh who was speaking at that conference and generated a lot of the headlines out of that conference, I guess you could say. Did you see him there? And what was the feeling and your opinion about whether or not he is the de facto leader as many are saying of the republicans right now?
KROHN: Well, I don't think Rush Limbaugh himself has ever said that he is the leader of the Republican Party. In fact, whenever I've heard him reference to it, he says he is not the leader of the Republican Party. He is there to help conservatism and help define conservatism and talk about conservatism and promote conservative values.
CHETRY: Did you get to meet him?
KROHN: I did not get to meet him. I did not get to meet him but I was in the room for a speech. You know, I think that he gave a good speech against government tyranny and government interference and gave a good speech about conservative principles and talked about promoting them. And I think that the real important thing is that Rush Limbaugh is out there. He is going to help Michael Steele.
Michael Steele needs to do his job and I think he is. I think Michael Steele needs to get out there and understand that he is the leader of the republican party and he needs to continue to let other people help him, too.
CHETRY: All right. And Jonathan, one bit of advice for republicans to get more young people into the tent. How do they get more kids like you excited and engaged in the party?
KROHN: Well, I think that the most important thing, they need to go back to conservative values. I know that a lot of kids who say that they can't get involved in politics because they can't vote. We need to encourage kids to get involved in politics now. Not just tell them that they're not 18 yet so they can't vote and, thereby, they can't make a difference in politics.
You can't promote that. That's not how we get people to get involved and that's not going to help the Republican Party. We need to get them in now. We need to get involved now in politics because when they understand conservative views they will be able to understand the logical sense that conservatism makes and how it helps the people and the people's rights. And I think that promoting conservative views going back to that is key to anything that the republican party is going to do in the future.
CHETRY: All right. Did people tell you about the show "Family Ties" from back in the '80s?
KROHN: I get that a lot.
CHETRY: Alex P. Keaton, I love it. All right. Good for you. A smart young man, home schooled by the way and you've already written your own book. Well, good luck with everything. Jonathan Krohn, author of "Define Conservatism." Thanks for being with us this morning.
KROHN: Thank you.
CHETRY: It's 40 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Why we fall in love is one of the most complicated mysteries in the history of man and woman. Well now someone claims she has finally cracked the code of love and this morning she is sharing it with our Lola Ogunnaike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: OK. So tell me how you two met.
JOHN STIFF, MET FIANCEE ON "CHEMISTRY.COM": We met online through chemistry.com.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was from New Jersey and I'm from New York and he came over to my side of the river.
STIFF: I thought she was very attractive. I loved her personality and found her very interesting.
HELEN FISHER, PHD. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLIGIST: There is a lot of chemicals in the brain but there's only a few that actually create personality traits and I call these four very broad personalities styles. The explorer, the builder, the director and the negotiator.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
OGUNNAIKE: The explorer is directed by dopamine. They are risk takers, curious and adventurous.
FISHER: A good example is Angelina Jolie or Ernest Hemmingway.
OGUNNAIKE: The builder is directed by serotonin. They like traditions, rules and schedule.
FISHER: A very good example I think is Colin Powell.
OGUNNAIKE: Testosterone drives the director. They tend to be analytical, decisive and tough minded. It's their way or the highway.
FISHER: Donald Trump is a good example. A woman who is a high testosterone type would be Hillary Clinton or Margaret Thatcher.
OGUNNAIKE: Negotiator types run on estrogen. They are intuitive, emotional and have great people skills.
FISHER: A very good example I think is Bill Clinton, Oprah. Oprah Winfrey is a wonderful example. She is very intuitive, very verbally skilled.
OGUNNAIKE: So you also said that explorers tend to date explorers?
FISHER: Explorers go for explorers. They want somebody who is equally adventurous, creative and spontaneous. The builder also goes for something like themselves. They are traditional and they want somebody who is going to be traditional with them. They want a help mate.
Directors, on the other hand, go for their opposite, the negotiator and the negotiator goes for their opposite, the director.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see the explorer in him because you know, he does like to do exciting things. He likes to race cars and he likes to go kayaking and sailing and do sort of exciting things.
STIFF: I say probably maybe 50/50 with her. Maybe a little bit more towards director, I think, but a lot of builder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I get stuff done.
OGUNNAIKE: So what if it turned out you all were compatible according to this book?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too late now. We're already together. We live together and we're getting married.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: So she has got it all figured out.
OGUNNAIKE: We determined that you're an explorer, right, John and Kiran, what do you think you are? CHETRY: Anything like Oprah, please!
OGUNNAIKE: OK. A negotiator. I'm a negotiator too. My husband is a director and we're compatible, apparently but if I was a negotiator and he was a negotiator, it wouldn't work out.
ROBERTS: What about two explorers?
OGUNNAIKE: Two explorers are meant to be with together. Brad and Angelina. Perfect explorers. So if you're on the hunt for someone...
ROBERTS: Looking for an explorer.
OGUNNAIKE: I say that is going to be the new single line in the club. Hey are you an explorer? Hey, I'm an explorer too, baby. Forget your sign. I'm a Virgo. No, I'm a negotiator!
ROBERTS: Can explorer apply to you?
OGUNNAIKE: Explorers and negotiators do not go together.
ROBERTS: All right.
OGUNNAIKE: Just friends, John.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM just minutes now. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. So what type are you, honey?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know. I'm going to refrain. I'm going to stay out of that one.
ROBERTS: All right.
COLLINS: I like the no tie, though.
ROBERTS: Take the fifth.
COLLINS: Exactly. Here is a check of what we're working on in the NEWSROOM today. Time for a climb. Well the Dow starts the day in a 12-year hole. We've got market checks, plus advice from the experts on what you should be doing at this point.
Medical tourists in the O.R. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta scrubs in for innovative brain surgery. We'll bring you that story.
And trying out for the Dodgers. Thousands vie for stadium jobs. We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Heidi. Thanks so much.
No recess for you. Many elementary schools give students little or no play time and it could lead to more childhood obesity. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his "Fit Nation" report coming up.
Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
When it comes to physical activity, many schools are failing their students. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is talking recess this morning in his "Fit Nation" report live at the CNN Center this morning.
Are we not getting our kids enough play time these days, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're not. I think it's safe to say that. There's lots of programs out there. One of them is called Rescuing Recess, trying to address that very concern. I think there's a larger issue here is how much do we value play time, especially in a young child's life? What are the benefits and if you recognize some of those benefits, why is it being cut? We decided to investigate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Monkey bars, kick ball. We all remember recess but according to a recent study for the Center for Disease Control, in some communities, those memories is all that is left.
SARAH LEE, CDC RESEARCHER: Nationwide we know that 67 percent offer recess every single day for all students in their schools, for at least 20 minutes.
GUPTA: CDC researcher Sarah Lee says that leaves more than a third of schools offering recess to just some students or not at all. And the reason may surprise you.
LEE: Definitely schools are crunched for time and one of the biggest reasons is because the pressures for improving test scores within core academic subjects.
GUPTA: But long with higher test scores may come higher obesity rates.
LEE: The equation for the increase in obesity, we've seen over the last two decades is lack of physical activity, combined with higher intake of energy through food. The more activity kids can get through physical education and through recess, the better.
GUPTA: So in an effort to bring attention to the problem, Lee has joined with the Cartoon's Network's Get Animated Program to spread the word and she is starting to get some major league help.
DWAYNE WADE, MIAMI HEAT: I mean recess is where everything started for me, you know, when it came to loving sports. And I just wanted to be active and I wanted to get out there with the rest of the kids.
GUPTA: Lee and Dwayne Wade agree. Recess can be do as much for a child's brain as it does for their bodies.
WADE: Not only it just about sports but you get to meet other kids and you get to, you know, to form game relationships.
LEE: There is evidence that shows recess can actually improve classroom attentiveness and concentration and time on task.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So think about it. There is this demand, this desire to improve test scores and they start cutting things out, recess is one of the first things to go. You've seen some impact on the arts and humanities courses as well. You can sort of see the problem there. A lack of time is what a lot of these people that we talked to cite as the reason. John.
ROBERTS: So much evidence though, Sanjay, the beneficial effects of exercise. You wonder how anybody in their right mind could ever cut any of it out.
GUPTA: Yes, not only for the body but for the mind as well. I think there's this real belief that you know, if you're doing recess, or physical education classes as well that is taking away from the sciences, the math courses but there's enough research now especially the early childhood level that adequate play can improve your performance on the same test scores and same performance overall that people are so worried about. John.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Doc, good to see you. Thanks so much.
GUPTA: All right, John.
ROBERTS: It's 53 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice-over): Think it's hard selling a house these days? Try selling your cave!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look. It's amazing!
CHETRY: The cave sellers are motivated. Jeanne Moos on cave drive.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, who would be in the market for a nice cave?
CHETRY: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A shot of our busy control room this morning. Well, you know that the housing market is in a slump across the country. So when a family is at risk of losing its cave, what does a family do?
Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS (voice-over): If the economic meltdown has you feeling like crawling into a cave, have we got a deal for you -- a unique cave home for sale on eBay. The latest bid?
CURT SLEEPER, CAVE HOUSE OWNER: I had an offer for $450,000 show up in an actual contract form.
MOOS: Curt Sleeper needs to sell or refinance because he can't come up with the $83,000 balance he needs to pay off by May. In the words of his son...
PERRY SLEEPER, SON OF OWNER: eBay having to sell the cave, that would kind of suck because, look at it, it's amazing.
MOOS: Sure, naysayers laugh when Sleeper first said he would turn this cave in Festus, Missouri into a home five years ago.
C. SLEEPER: And all of the same people now look at the house with -- you know.
MOOS: Three bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, luxury bath.
C. SLEEPER: Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, MC5.
MOOS: There's even a stage used for concerts back in the '70s. Now, the 215 Cave Drive, yes, that's its actual address, is up for sale. Sleeper is being deluged with inquiries. People make cave puns without realizing it. "What is your rock bottom price?" Joked another, "This will go great with my Batmobile."
ACTOR PLAYING BATMAN: To the bat cave.
MOOS: Those two were always sliding down the bat poles and zooming out of the bat cave.
Actually, the bat cave entrance isn't nearly as impressive as this one. Sleeper is a website developer, irony alert, developing websites out of a cave.
(on camera): Now, who would be in the market for a nice cave? An experienced cave-dweller. I've got just the guy.
(voice over): We kid, but the most common kidding Curt Sleeper gets is about his kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you named your children Bam-Bam and what was the girl's name?
MOOS: Don't' throw pebbles to people who live in glass caves.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Pretty good looking house.
ROBERTS: Yes, if you want to live in a cave. It's a great place.
I'm still intrigued by what Lola was talking about this compatibility...
CHETRY: Are you still an explorer?
ROBERTS: Yes. Totally an explorer. Have you figured out what you are yet?
CHETRY: Nope. I want to go on the website and take a quiz. You can have one though.
ROBERTS: You got to sign up for it and then they start sending you all these stuff. You know if you want to date somebody. So you got to be careful with all of that.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
ROBERTS: Hazards of on-line dating, right?
CHETRY: That's right.
Hey, coming up in NEWSROOM in just a couple of minutes, we told you the amazing story of one of the four men that were on that boat.
ROBERTS: Nick Schuyler.
CHETRY: Yes, off Clearwater, Florida, clinging to that boat for 36 hours. He is recovering in a hospital. They're going to talk to his dad in just a moment.
ROBERTS: That's great. Two Schuylers.
CHETRY: Yes. Just a couple of...
ROBERTS: Well, we heard from his mom, too. Who said that he kept going because he just kept thinking in his mind he didn't want his mom to have to come to his funeral. So...
CHETRY: That family lucky and three other families still holding out hope that their sons are going to be found.
ROBERTS: And the Coast Guard is still out looking for them as well. Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here again tomorrow.
CHETRY: Right now, here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
