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Foreclosure Prevention Plan Poll; Targeting Rush Limbaugh; Health Care Reform; Escalation in Mexican Drug War Killings
Aired March 05, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have uninsured people. They just (INAUDIBLE) not provided insurance. They can't afford health costs. They can't afford ER visits. They can't afford ambulance rides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A paramedic talks about health care concerns in his town. Today, President Obama and others talk about treating the system.
The president's mortgage reform plan gets heavy push back. Taxpayers outraged now over picking up the bill for homeowners who can't pay.
Plus snapshot of our times. Long lines for work. We'll go live to one job fair.
It is Thursday, March 5th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
This morning, we begin with a prescription for change. Today, President Obama launches his effort to overhaul the nation's health care system. His goal? Making sure Americans all have coverage. The huge undertaking that has failed before.
Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House this morning where the meeting is about to get started. It is, of course, happening today. And senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is looking at the details of the plan.
So we begin this morning with Suzanne.
Tell us, Suzanne, what is this health care summit going to focus on specifically?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, obviously, it's about lowering the costs. You're talking about $634 billion health care fund. That, obviously, to put forward health care coverage for most Americans.
The other thing is that they are going to be looking to cover all Americans, talking about 46 million who don't have health care coverage. Now, the question is, of course, how is this going to be any different than what we saw 15 years ago when Hillary Clinton, as first lady, took on all of this to try to overhaul the system?
Well, that is the question I put to the domestic policy director Melody Barnes this morning to ask her, what are they going to do different this time that's different...
COLLINS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: ... than it is from last time. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELODY C. BARNES, DIR., WHITE HOUSE DOMESTIC POLICY COUNCIL: Everyone who has a stake in this to have a conversation with the president put their cards on the table and talk about how we are going to move forward. We also know it has to be transparent. The American people have to see what we are doing so they understand where we're going. Those are two of the most important things. That's what's going to happen inside the White House today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And one of the things that making this whole transparent is going to be live on C-SPAN so people would be able to see the breakout sessions.
COLLINS: Yes, right.
MALVEAUX: There are going to be a lot of people that are actually involved in the process. And so she says she believes that that is really going to help people figure out, OK, that's a good idea, that's not such a good idea.
COLLINS: Sure.
MALVEAUX: That type of thing.
COLLINS: Specifically then, who is going to participate in this?
MALVEAUX: Well, just about everybody, if you can think about who's in the health care industry. There's about 150 folks or so but you're talking about members of Congress, doctors, nurses, people who represent hospitals, but also, Heidi, people who are vehemently against all the idea of overhauling the system 15 years ago, they've also been invited to participate.
So we'll see how all of that comes together. A lot of different ideas...
COLLINS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: ... and this is just the beginning. They say it's just the beginning of a dialogue here but that's one of the lessons learned, include everybody, get everybody's opinion and then figure how they're going to work all of this out later.
COLLINS: Absolutely. I think we call it brainstorming, right? (LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you, Suzanne.
Let's look now at some of the major hurdles facing the president's plan. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with that.
So, Elizabeth, what's the first thing that they'll tackle? I mean we know very well that this is something that has happened before. They've tried it before and as we said in the beginning of the show, it failed before.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And one of the things they're going to have to tackle now, Heidi, is simply how do you pay for this? There is a reason why some 47 million Americans are uninsured. It is extremely expensive to insure people. Where is that money going to come from?
And the president has talked about taxing people who make a lot of money. He's talked about getting rid of waste in the health care system and everyone agrees there's a lot of waste. But it's going to have to be more than that, of course. And so how are you going to pay for this?
The second question is, and Suzanne talked a bit about this, is that there are many interests here. You know the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies are, you know, they're doing pretty well with the system the way it is. Do they want to be a part of changing it?
There's also something else that Melody Barnes from the White House said this morning that I want to read to you. She said everyone can have a seat at the table. She's talking about insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, et cetera. But no one can own the table and that's why we're bringing in the doctors, the nurses and the hospitals, the people who fought health care reform tooth and nail 15 years ago.
They fought it 15 years ago and now they want to bring them back to the table and ask them to play nicely this time.
COLLINS: Maybe what they would have done differently? But, I mean, what I hear you saying is, you know, everybody has a seat at the table. There's also the thought that, you know, too many cooks in the kitchen kind of thing.
COHEN: That's right. I mean somebody will probably be unhappy. That is very likely. When you're overhauling something as huge as the health care system, there are going to be some stakeholders here who are not going to be happy and the president is going to have to deal with that.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: And staying on the health note, former first lady Barbara Bush recovering this morning after open-heart surgery. A family spokeswoman says Mrs. Bush is fine following the surgery at Methodist Hospital in Houston. She is expected to stay there for seven to 10 days.
Now the surgery was scheduled after doctors found hardening in one part of her aorta. Her aortic valve was replaced by a biologic valve taken from a pig. What?
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, talked about the procedure earlier on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands of these types of operations are performed every year in the United States and typically, they're in people of this age group because they're the people who develop this problem, which is hardening of the aortic valve, calcium deposits on this major outflow valve from the heart, and as you point out, it is a pig valve. In this case, a biologic valve.
And what happens is that when the valve becomes hardened, it can either open fully nor close fully. So the heart has a much harder time pushing blood out of the heart that can cause the heart failure down the road. It can cause the blood building up in the lungs, that can cause a shortness of breath which it sounds like she had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The heart surgery was not related to Mrs. Bush's November surgery for a perforated ulcer. You remember that. Back then she went to Methodist Hospital's emergency room complaining of severe abdominal pain. A doctor determined she had a perforated ulcer in her small intestine. Surgeons repaired the ulcer, a biopsy taken and ulcer was found to be benign.
To the opening bell now on Wall Street just a few minutes away. Can the Dow build on yesterday's rally? The Dow climbed, as I am sure you're well aware, 150 points and rebounded from that nasty 12-year low. NASDAQ and the S&P each gained more than 2 percent. And that's snapped a string of five straight losing sessions. Early numbers today, though, not so hot.
CNN's Christine Romans is in New York this morning for more on that.
All right, so, Christine, it seems like it is such a tease, you know? We had this one good day and you just want to scream because you -- obviously, we want more of that.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I think it's one and done, Heidi. It feels like one and done this morning. You're right, the futures are pointing lower. And the Dow futures are just above 6700. It just kind of makes your stomach turn, doesn't it?
COLLINS: Yes, it does make your stomach turn. But here's the question I have for you on a day like this. You know, back when we were -- when the stock market was beginning to fall, if you will, I can't remember how long ago that was, but I do remember when we were close to 14,000 and 15,000, people started saying hey, don't obsess about this. You know? You can't watch these numbers every single day. But, now, we've been obsessing, if you will, for so long, I wonder if that's just kind of a throw-away term?
ROMANS: Well, you know, there's the stock market and then there's your life, and they are two different things. And usually, I would say the stock market, watching it every day, you know, you make yourself crazy, what are you talking about? You know it's just, it's just a number every day, except the number tied to your retirement wealth. And it's a number tied to your financial future.
COLLINS: Right.
ROMANS: And that's why I know that when people look at that number, they get so upset.
Heidi, the Dow is down 52 percent since it hit that -- above 14,000, that number you're talking about. Retirement wealth has been decimated. Even after last fall the market has continued to climb moving -- decline, not climb. And the market remains incredibly volatile. I mean you look at yesterday. One day up and people are like, is this the bottom? Come on, I mean, we got a lot of problems in the economy.
COLLINS: OK. So you're saying the Dow has fallen more than 50 percent, more than half?
ROMANS: True.
COLLINS: In a year and when you combine that with your worries about your retirement, you do what? More sitting back and trying to relax? Or, you know?
ROMANS: Sitting back and trying to relax. I mean I think you can control the things you can control, if you can. Your job, your savings, what you spend, and I think people are starting to realize that they have to control these things on their own and, in some cases, you can't control your job.
Some people are losing their job through no fault of their own and it's a little bit nerve wracking. Yesterday the Dow was up and a lot of people took a lot of hope in that but remember we still have a confidence problem in the economy.
And I was talking to you earlier this morning about confidence and patience. These are two things that are impossible to quantify and we don't have them, we don't have them in the market right now and that's because the numbers for the economy keep coming out so grim. We have jobless claims today, as you pointed out, that were -- you know, there's just nothing great about 639,000 people filing for unemployment benefits every week.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: It just isn't.
COLLINS: And the monthly report comes out tomorrow as well.
ROMANS: That's right.
COLLINS: Not expected to be very good.
ROMANS: That's right. So...
COLLINS: All right, so confidence and patience and watch the numbers, but don't obsess.
ROMANS: Put it in perspective.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean you've already lost 52 percent. If you're just starting to freak out now, where were you last September?
COLLINS: Yes, good point.
ROMANS: You know?
COLLINS: All right, Christine Romans, part of our money team in New York. Thanks, Christine.
Under the microscope now and on Capitol Hill. Next hour, lawmakers look at the growing taxpayer bill for insurance giant AIG. So far, more than $162 billion of your money has been funneled into what was the world's largest insurance company. Many economists say AIG's failure could trigger a total collapse of the financial system and government experts are expected to testify in today's hearing but not anyone from AIG.
What's up with that? We'll keep our eye on that for you.
Opponents of California's Proposition 8 are gathering near the state Supreme Court this morning. Many of them also held vigils last night like this one in San Francisco. The California Supreme Court hears arguments today on Prop 8, the state law banning same-sex marriage.
Voters passed the ban by a slim margin back in November. That vote led to a large anti-prop 8 demonstration. Many demonstrations, in fact. But court proceedings get under way around noon Eastern.
A sign of the times. Job fairs and long lines. This one is in New York this morning. Thousands of people are expected to show up. Resumes in hand. And we'll take you there coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A sight all too familiar these days. Long lines of people looking for work. One is forming in the heart of New York City right now as we speak.
CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is in the middle of it.
So, Allan, tell us about how many people you think are there behind you, number one. And number two, who is sponsoring this one?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Monster.com is sponsoring this. And Heidi, just have a look behind me at these folks. I mean you can see from just taking a look over here. These are no slouches. That tells you a lot about what's happening right now during this recession.
Just the number of people who are out of work. 3,500 people pre- registered for this job fair and we're anticipating that many more, perhaps hundreds, even thousands, more will actually appear here at a hotel here in Times Square. There are about a thousand positions available, about 90 different companies, advertising over here, recruiting here.
But it's not just about recruiting. It's not just about those companies. It's also about people learning how to hunt in a recession. And among the tips that Monster.com advises, first of all, they're saying concentrate on industries where there is some growth. Work your network. Be in touch with people that you've worked with before, anybody you know, relatives, friends, et cetera. And, also, sell yourself. That's essential.
Let's talk with one of the job hunters right over here. Come on in. What's your name, sir?
JAMIE DUNST, JOB HUNTER: Jamie Dunst (ph).
CHERNOFF: And Jamie, what do you do for a living?
DUNST: I'm a graphic designer.
CHERNOFF: And right now you're out of work?
DUNST: Yes, I am.
CHERNOFF: How long have you been out of work?
DUNST: I've been on and off for a year. My last full-time job was in 2007, and I've been doing freelance work through job agencies.
CHERNOFF: Good. And you're hoping to find something here.
DUNST: Hopefully, yes.
CHERNOFF: OK. Jamie, best of luck to you.
DUNST: Thank you very much.
CHERNOFF: Heidi, as you can see just hundreds and hundreds of people already lined up.
COLLINS: Yes.
CHERNOFF: And it doesn't start for another 45 minutes.
COLLINS: Yes. But you really touched on a point, Allan. You said behind you these are not slackers and it really tells you a lot. One of the pieces of advice that was not there was what to do about the guy standing next to you, the guy who might be just as qualified for you and in a job market like this, it's like people are clawing and scratching to actually land the job.
CHERNOFF: No doubt about it. And you've just got to be really putting your hand forward, you've really got to be aggressive about it and you've got to really know your pitch. You've got to very quickly be able to sum up why somebody would want to hire you.
COLLINS: Is this the elevator pitch that we're talking about?
CHERNOFF: Absolutely. They do advise the elevator pitch. And that is that an essential part of being able to sell yourself. If you happen to step into an elevator, and by the way, here they have those fancy elevators that fly up and down and you can see out the windows. But if you step into the elevator, you've got 15, 20 seconds with a guy who might be hiring you, you want to give your pitch and be able to sell yourself in that amount of time.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes, maybe we should upgrade it and call it the catapult pitch. I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
All right, Allan Chernoff, sure do appreciate it.
Here's one story how of how the bleak U.S. job market is reaching all the way to Iraq. A Navy reservist doing a job for his country will be jobless when he gets home. Leo Pike was laid off from the New Bedford, Massachusetts Fire Department while on duty in Iraq.
The department is cutting 35 positions, Pike's included. His dad says the younger Pike was expecting to come home to a job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEO PIKE SR., FATHER: It's scary to come home and not have a chance, you know? He's been gone so he has no chance to set up another job. He's coming home to no job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now Pike is scheduled to return from Iraq in just a couple of weeks. Now for some pictures you won't believe. Take a look at this. This dump truck left standing on its rear end on a busy Connecticut highway yesterday with the driver trapped inside. Quick thinking emergency crews used a ladder truck to pull the driver to safety.
And officials say the accident happened when the truck left a construction site with the rear end still raised. The truck stayed upside down for about an hour as crews carefully worked to stabilize it.
Reynolds Wolf in the weather center now to talk a little bit more about the dump truck. No, just kidding.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Scary times. You know, I remember one time leaving a wallet on top of the car, and I thought that was a big deal.
COLLINS: Yes -- no.
WOLF: Kind of think it serves a bigger deal when you have a dump truck and you leave the top up and you get caught on a sign.
COLLINS: Yes, I guess -- I guess he got caught on the sign, exactly.
WOLF: Yes, you think he noticed that maybe? I think that's...
COLLINS: After.
WOLF: ... (INAUDIBLE) your attention a little bit.
COLLINS: Yes.
WOLF: Goodness gracious.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: Let's send it back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: I love the sound of that. All right, Reynolds. Thank you.
New president, same old pork. Congress still squeezing earmarks into a spending bill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Partying at the White House. It's become a Wednesday night tradition with President Obama. Last night, he invited about 200 Democratic and Republican lawmakers and their spouses to dinner. It's all a part of the president's charm offensive as Congress considers his $3.56 trillion budget proposal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are not always going to agree on everything, but given how hard so many of you are working on both sides of the aisle, day in and day out, we thought it was important for us to be able to step back for a moment, remind ourselves that we have things in common, family, friends, laughter, and, hopefully, we'll have a chance to appreciate each other a little bit, take a time-out before we dive back into the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Obama pledging to root out Washington's wasteful spending but his allies in Congress are still piling on the pork.
Here now CNN's Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to sell mixed messages in this town. Just last week, during the president's speech to Congress, he sounded like he turned a corner in the fight against pork barrel spending.
OBAMA: I'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks and I want to...
JOHNS: But some in the audience were saying you got to be kidding me.
SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R), TEXAS: There was just a roar of laughter, because they were earmarks.
JOHNS: And now more comic relief as the president hammers away at reducing wasteful spending and saving taxpayers' money, his buddies over at the capital are hammering out a monster spending bill loaded up with more than 8,000 earmarks worth nearly $8 billion.
According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that monitors government spending, that includes about $1.6 million for pig odor research in Iowa, $143,000 for a natural history museum in Las Vegas, and $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii.
All in a bill that's supposed to just keep the government operating. Many senators openly defend the earmarks because, for one thing, they are a tiny fraction of the overall bill.
SEN. JAMES INHOFFE (R), OKLAHOMA: Earmarks, if you total them up, are less than 1 percent of the $410 billion. So we're not talking about that huge amount.
JOHNS (on camera): You both have earmarks in the bill?
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Yes. Good ones.
JOHNS: Good ones? Authorized ones?
LIEBERMAN: Most -- not all of them, no. But they're good ones. And I'd be prepared to stand up and defend them if somebody raised the point of order.
JOHNS: But critics say in a time of exploding deficits, Congress should be tightening up and many Republicans who, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, control about 40 percent of the earmarks in the bill, are saying that if the president is so committed to rooting out wasteful spending, he'd veto this thing.
HUTCHISON: So it's just not credible to say that we're against earmarks and then sign a bill that has earmarks.
JOHNS (voice-over): Truth is, the president probably can't afford to pick a fight right now with congressional Democrats who are getting about 60 percent of the earmarks. These are guys who can either drag his massive agenda over the finish line or drag it down to defeat, so the White House and its defenders say this bill is just last year's unfinished business and, next time, it will be different.
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: The president's budget will take up in a couple of months. This is a leftover from last year.
JOHNS: But when it comes to earmarks, the tradition has been the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Unfair. Bad rap. That's what some people are saying about the president's new foreclosure prevention plan. What's really in it for all of us? Find out right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Wall Street finally sustained a rally yesterday with all of the major averages jumping more than 2 percent. But sadly we are not expecting any follow-through today at least at the open.
It's kind of like, Susan Lisovicz, hey, it's really great. No, it's not.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the key word there "was."
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: Was. Past tense whether it was a...
COLLINS: Such a small word with so much meaning.
LISOVICZ: Oh, yes. Whether it was a bear trap or a suckers' rally, we are not expecting any positive mo at the open. Yesterday, talk of a new stimulus plan and trying to push U.S. stocks higher, snapping a five-session losing streak but that hope may have premature or down right wrong. And we are expecting a lower open.
In addition, General Motors raising the specter of bankruptcy. In its annual report the nation's largest automaker says its auditors have serious doubts about GM's ability to continue operating. GM says Chapter 11 is a possibility if it can't execute a major restructuring. The Obama administration is now reviewing the automaker's request for another $30 billion in federal loans. GM shares were down 16 percent in the premarket to about $1.85. Yes, that's where they are right now.
COLLINS: So, wait, Susan, let me just ask. You may not have the answer here, but we see all this money going in to the auto industry. We see more that is slated to go in, most likely. The stock is down, down, down, as you just stated. When do we see some of that turn around? When do we see some of the effect of these billions that are being pumped in?
LISOVICZ: It's an excellent question, Heidi. And, you know -- I mean, GM is, you know, it's hampered by so many things. It's own -- it's own huge cost structure. You know? What it pays its workers, the legacy costs from those continuing to collect health care benefits who have long been retired. The fact that Toyota and Honda had been eating its lunch. But even they are suffering because we're in a global recession.
So I don't know if anyone can give you that answer. The fact is it's getting much, much smaller, and in the meantime, so is its stock price, because there are a lot of doubts about whether it continue -- can continue to operate on its own.
COLLINS: Who is going to buy that stock?
LISOVICZ: Well, right now, not too many people. They are getting a very good price. Shares are down 16 percent. It's $1.85. This is the largest automaker in the country. I mean, it's just -- it's a tragedy. It's down right tragedy. And it's got -- it's not only the economy. Obviously, it had its own problems and there are plenty of problems that it had on its own for years. Not making cars that people wanted to buy among them.
COLLINS: Certainly.
LISOVICZ: And ignoring fuel efficiency. Can I give you some good news on the jobs front?
COLLINS: Yes, please do. Because I'm looking at the Dow right now, and after that 150 deposit of yesterday, look at where we are right now, right out the gate.
(CROSSTALK)
LISOVICZ: Well, we've almost wiped out the gain. We've almost wiped out yesterday's gains in two minutes of trading. New unemployment claims declined last week to 639,000. And after five straight weeks of record highs, continuing claims also fell slightly, Heidi, but are still near the all-time high of 5.1 million.
So, yes. You took a look at the big board. We also got some retail figures. Wal-Mart continues to be the place to go, but what people are buying are essentials like groceries and health care products. What people aren't buying on Wall Street, stocks right now, we're seeing broad-based sell-offs of the three major averages all down at least 1.5 percent, Heidi. So no positive mo here. Not in this bear market.
COLLINS: Yes. And we're going to keep those numbers on the screen for everybody so they can check throughout the morning and the rest of the day here.
LISOVICZ: We were getting close to 7,000 yesterday, Heidi.
COLLINS: I know.
LISOVICZ: We were getting real close, but now it's getting further in the rearview mirror.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we are watching. Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: I'll be back.
COLLINS: And tomorrow night, an "ANDERSON COOPER 360" special, Ali Velshi and some of the sharpest minds in money take on the February jobs report. It's coming out tomorrow, you know. Who is firing, who is hiring, and what it means to you. Get answers with "CNN MONEY SUMMIT." That's Friday night at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
This morning, President Obama's news $75 million plan is in place now to help struggling homeowners stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure, some of them anyway. Well, now, a new national poll shows most Americans think it's unfair.
The Quinnipiac University poll found 64 percent of those questioned think the program is unfair to those who pay their mortgage on time. While 28 percent say it is fair. And there's a lot of outrage with people feeling their tax dollars will be used to bail out homeowners who bought a house they couldn't afford to begin with. CNN's Jim Acosta now has a follow-up on one woman's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MINTA GARCIA, HOMEOWNER: We're going to lose the house. We're going to lose everything.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You think you're going to lose everything?
GARCIA: Yes.
ACOSTA (voice-over): When we introduced you to school bus driver Minta Garcia, she told us her bank was threatening to foreclose on her $800,000 home in suburban Washington. She could no longer afford the house which is now worth less than her mortgage.
How much was the house when you bought it?
GARCIA: Eight hundred. ACOSTA: $800,000. And how much is the house worth?
GARCIA: Oh, right now, it's like $675,000 on the market.
ACOSTA: Since then she's become the target of bloggers who say she's the poster child of America's housing crisis.
You feel attacked?
GARCIA: Yes, of course. I never thought they're going to, you know, write those nasty comments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Craig from Jackson on 1390 a.m.
ACOSTA: Her story even spread to talk radio on West Tennessee's 1390 a.m. Callers showed no mercy, blaming Garcia and her bank almost equally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should not have to bail that kind of irresponsibility out. I mean, that's not our job.
MIKE SLATER, TALK RADIO HOST: The people who are most upset about these are very self-reliant people and they don't automatically turn to the government to help them get out of their problems.
ACOSTA: Talk radio hosts are staging Boston Tea Party-style rallies across the country, protesting the nation's bailouts for banks and homeowners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're spending money we don't have on social programs we don't need.
ACOSTA: Garcia says she and her husband are construction workers, simply want their bank to lower the interest rate on their mortgage, so they can try to make their payments.
So if people say, oh, Minta, you were irresponsible.
GARCIA: They say that because they don't know. I never asked for people to pay my mortgage or pay, you know, my vehicle or something.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: This plan will help homeowners meet their mortgage obligations.
ACOSTA: She's waiting to find out if she qualifies for the president's housing plan.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: And I know it's frustrating. But, boy, at the end of the day, you know, you got to think, how are we going to dig out of this?
ACOSTA: CNN personal finance guru Gerri Willis cautions allowing troubled homeowners to go down in flames could leave everybody burned.
WILLIS: You know how this is. You get one foreclosure in a neighborhood and all the prices near that property start going down. You get two, the prices go down further, faster. It affects us all.
ACOSTA (on camera): The White House insists its housing plan does not bail out irresponsible home buyers. In order to get help, homeowners have to meet certain requirements to show they can't afford to stay in their houses, a process Minta Garcia will have to begin to right away.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: We are going to get some reaction from someone who helps borrowers modify their loans, coming up in just a minute. But first we do want to remind you of just what is in the president's new housing plan, and what it means to you.
For program one, you qualify if you're paying your mortgage, but cannot refinance because of falling home prices. Your loan is held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That's very important. And that you have sufficient income.
You don't fall under that category, look at program two. If you qualify for this, if you are behind on your mortgage payments. Your mortgage is your primary home on your primary home, and your monthly mortgage bill is more than 31 percent of your monthly gross income. So, of course, you have to do some math there. And it is a lot to digest.
We want to talk a little bit more about this housing plan with John Taylor. He's president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
And I guess, John, I should probably ask you right off the top, what the heck is that? I mean, we know that there are 600 institutions that you work with, right? Tell us who you're hearing from.
JOHN TAYLOR, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT: Sure. So we work with nonprofit organizations, local governments, churches. Basically, institutions who are trying to make sure that people are able to build wealth, take advantage of a capital system and progress and be successful Americans through our economy.
COLLINS: OK. So what kind of feedback are you getting from them now?
TAYLOR: Well, I think there's a lot of relief and optimism right now, because we've watched 14 months of a lot of rhetoric, a lot of encouragement by the previous administration to have something done, but nothing coming to the table that was going to help stop the foreclosures which are not only hurting the families who have these mortgages, who got them perhaps, most of them in a very unfair way. But it's actually hurting neighborhoods and communities and taxpayers across the country as it continues to lower values and drive down the economy.
COLLINS: Yes. So does it help enough people, this plan? Your group is confident that it helps enough people?
TAYLOR: Well, we'll see. I mean, I think -- again, optimism because we are looking at probably somewhere between 3 million, 4 million, 5 million families who could be helped by this program. It's still going to depend on the engagement of the industry, of services of banks and manage these portfolios, manage these loans, cooperating with the borrowers and with the government to try to keep people out of foreclosure.
COLLINS: Yes, all right. So it's going to be a while before we really, really know. I think everybody is clear on that. Listen, I want to get to a couple of e-mails...
TAYLOR: Sure.
COLLINS: ...I've gotten. And have you answer this. Coming in from Robert. He wants to know this. "Is there anything in this plan to help people who have lost their jobs and that are current on their mortgage? At least temporarily, it sounds like. No bank seems to want to help anyone who had lost their jobs."
I mean, a lot of people are asking this question. And we heard some verbiage yesterday, kind of from analysts and so forth saying, well, actually those people are too far gone because they don't have a job.
TAYLOR: Well, you know, it's true that losing a job is monumental hurdle to try to help somebody maintain home ownership. I saw a day before yesterday, Citibank announced that they were going to have a temporary moratorium on foreclosures for people who have --
COLLINS: Yes, three months.
TAYLOR: Yes, which hopefully, they could find another job. Hopefully, other lenders would do that. Give people a chance to find a job. But I think there you have to look to the longer term strategies of the Obama administration for job creation to help people who are losing their jobs.
COLLINS: OK, so the answer is no, not yet?
TAYLOR: Not in this plan, though.
COLLINS: OK. And then also, coming out of North Carolina this question, "If I call to apply for loan modification under this new program, will this information be shared with other creditors. My fear is that my credit card rates will increase as a result of applying for loan modification.
Credit card rates, OK, that's one issue. Should you be using the credit card if you're in this situation? But I think it brings about another point which is your credit score. Is that something? I mean, we hear people talking about that. You kind of have to have perfect credit right now in order to be able to get some of these loans, it seems like. TAYLOR: Well, not perfect credit under this program but, right. In the free market right now, they've raised the credit score so high, people are going to be surprised who doesn't qualify. But as far as applying for this program, how it's going to ding your credit score, it probably is not, because the ding occurs when you're a delinquent or in default. Clearly, that's going to be reported. But just applying for this program.
In fact, if you're not delinquent, and you do apply and you get a loan modification, it's not going to ding your credit score. It's going to show you being a responsible borrower.
COLLINS: OK, excellent. John Taylor, sure do appreciate your time here today. The CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. You got to shorten that name.
John, thank you.
Also a lot of talk about the tit for tat between Democrats, Republicans and Rush Limbaugh. The conservative talk show host has said he wants President Obama's policies to fail. Recently GOP leaders have criticized him, some of them anyway, and then apologized to him.
Well, now some Democrats are trying to portray Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party, the de facto leader. Republicans say it's all a distraction created by the White House.
Limbaugh points a finger directly at President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. He talked a lot with long-time Democratic strategist James Carville, Paul Begala. And last night Begala talked to CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": You, allegedly, Paul, have daily phone calls with Rahm Emanuel, an old friend of yours, as well as James Carville. This is all what I have read. It's been reported. So, clearly, the light bulb goes off with you and Carville about Rush Limbaugh and his high negatives. Is that something you tell Rahm Emanuel? Because, all of a sudden, this weekend, Rahm Emanuel, out of the blue, unprompted, started talking about Rush Limbaugh.
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you have to ask Rahm what prompts him to do anything.
But, you know, we're very close friends. But I don't take orders from -- I love Rahm. He's dear friend of mine. I don't take orders from him or anybody else. I don't work for any politicians. I work for CNN. And -- but I don't take orders from anybody.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But, clearly, clearly, if you're talking to Rahm Emanuel every day on the phone, and this light bulb has gone off in your head and James Carville's head, I find it hard to believe you didn't say to Rahm Emanuel: Guess what? Look at these poll numbers.
BEGALA: Oh, I don't know. I don't keep careful notes of these things.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: My view is, I keep private conversations private, Anderson.
COOPER: OK.
BEGALA: And that's part of what I do to try to figure out what is going on in the world.
But, also, I mean, I talk to my friends about any number of things. But here's the secret. I don't like Rush Limbaugh. Here is the other secret. He is the most powerful person in the Republican Party today, bar none.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Also should let you know the woman that you saw in the beginning there, Anderson also spoke to Republican strategist and former Bush administration communications person Nicole Wallace in that.
Senior administration official from the current White House calls talk of any Limbaugh strategy, quote, "ridiculous."
The father of an NFL player missing at sea is holding out hope his son is still alive. We'll hear from that father and the families of two others who disappeared after a boating accident off Florida.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Unfortunately, back pain can get worse as you get older, but there are simple ways to reduce that pain no matter what your age. CNN's Judy Fortin takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Roesler is a business consultant who's always on the road. So when his back gave out last year, he needed to find relief quickly.
STEVE ROESLER, SUFFERS FROM BACK PAIN: You actually collapse.
FORTIN: In order to avoid surgery, his doctor recommended he try a series of exercises. Now when the pain begins, Roesler can ease the problem himself with a simple movement.
ROESLER: I really can't think of anything that can get in the way of your normal lifestyle quite the way that back pain does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty percent of us will have an episode of low back pain that is efficiently severe to put us out of commission of at least three days.
FORTIN: Orthopedists say the key to avoiding back pain or more serious back problems is to catch it early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have an episode of back pain and you're in your thirties, forties and fifties, if it certainly doesn't resolve within 48 hours you should at least talk to your family physician.
FORTIN: Back pain can be caused by all kinds of things, from poor posture, to minor accidents, to too much unnatural twisting, turning and bending.
Exercise can keep the back limber, but exercise with care. When you're younger and more active, learn how to stretch the body correctly and exercise responsibly, this can avoid muscles spasms. And stretching can help you stay flexible as you age.
Watch your posture at work. Your back can take a beating from sitting all day long.
As you age, especially in your fifties, degenerative and herniated discs can become a problem. And arthritis begins to develop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we age, the discs tend to shrink a little bit they become a little bit more brittle.
FORTIN: In some cases surgery is needed but most of the time, doctors say back pain can go away with rehab or specific exercises for the back. And you need to keep at them, because relief for back pain is temporary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you've had back pain that lasts three or more days, it's likely you'll have more, particularly as you age.
FORTIN: A fact Steve Roesler is aware of all too well but can handle, now that he knows what's causing his pain.
Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Your house, your money. Both, the focus today at the White House. President Obama holding a summit to formally launch his efforts to overhaul the health care system. His goal -- making sure all Americans have insurance coverage. The cost? A down payment of $634 billion. The plan says some of that funding would come from upper income tax hikes and cuts in Medicare and Medicaid.
Surviving a horrible accident. One man hit by a truck and a train. This video is unbelievable. And living to talk about it. This whole ordeal caught by security camera.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: In the wrong place at the wrong time. One man's wild ride caught on tape in Turkey. Look at this now. Here it is. You see the truck pulling out. Across train tracks. The spotlight on a man directing the truck. Neither of them saw the train coming, and as you just saw, the train plowed through the truck and the man. You can see his white helmet flying off.
But amazingly, and the reason we're OK with showing this to you, he suffered only minor injuries. The next day he said he now values life a little more. And wants to get married. Not sure what that will do for him.
No. Turning now to the crisis in Darfur, a much more serious topic here. Sudan's president smiling and defiant one day after a warrant was issued for his arrest on war crime charges. President Omar al-Bashir told a widely supportive crowd his government had just ordered ten international aid groups out of Sudan. The United Nations estimates 300,000 people have died in Sudan's Darfur region. Close to 3 million people have been forced from their homes.
Same focus in the slumping economy today. We're talking to people in the trenches watching their livelihoods teeter on the edge. It's a snapshot across America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The U.S. government says Mexican drug distribution has reached 230 cities and towns, and not all of them are near the U.S. border. The recent crackdown in Mexico has led to an escalation in violence, catching civilians in the crossfire.
CNN's Michael Ware takes a closer look from just across the U.S./Mexico border in Juarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how American Jose Molinar knew his wife was dead. He saw these television pictures of her bullet-riddled car broadcast from just across the boarder in Juarez City, Mexico, minutes from his Texas home.
JOSE MOLINAR, WIFE MURDERED: As soon as the image came up, I saw her truck, and I knew what had happened right then and there.
WARE: His wife, Marcella, a U.S. resident and mother of two, was gunned down, doing a last-minute favor, giving a Juarez government lawyer a ride to go shopping.
MOLINAR: Wrong place, wrong time. That's the only way I can describe that.
WARE: This is the cartel war in Mexico, a conflict raging on America's doorstep, a conflict in which Juarez police officers like this one, under attack from a drug gang, are fighting for their lives, while the drug cartels are battling throughout the city for control of a lucrative drug route into the United States.
Sixteen hundred people killed in this city last year. That's three times more than the most murderous city in America, and 50 of them were police officers. This year, in just two months, 400 more already murdered.
We saw the most recent victims laying in the city's morgue, overflowing with bodies, many unidentified cartel members destined for mass graves. They'd been brutally killed by rivals: beheaded, tortured, strafed with bullets.
But now the cartels are renewing a favorite tactic: intimidating government leaders. This time they're doing it by killing cops one by one.
MAYOR JOSE REYES FERRIZ, CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO: They started killing police officers, and not while they were doing police work but when they were coming out of their homes and getting into the cars to go to the police station.
WARE: We rode on patrol with police officers out on the streets, the entire force on high alert, the cartel war grinding on.
(on camera): And it's going to be a long war with most of the advantages in the cartels' favor. Their gunmen outnumber these police, and they're better armed. And the body count continues to rise.
(voice-over): Meanwhile, over the past year, the Mexican army has moved into Juarez. Over 2,000 soldiers sent as part of a huge operation that has 45,000 troops combating the cartels across Mexico.
And though the U.S. this year is giving Mexico about $400 million to combat the cartels, officials on both sides of the border privately agree. The war, as it's fought, now cannot be won, which is something Jose Molinar's wife probably knew before she was gunned down.
(on camera): This drug war in Juarez robbed you of your mother. I mean, how do you carry that?
ALBA PRIETO, MOTHER MURDERED: Day by day, just I always think she's at work.
WARE (voice-over): And the unwinnable war that killed her mother rages on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The rise in drug violence in Mexico has led to a travel alert now from the State Department. It is telling travelers to be more careful as they head to the country.
