Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
More Disappointing Jobs Numbers; Obama Salutes Police Cadets Whose Jobs Were Saved; Spring Breakers Cautioned against Mexico
Aired March 06, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Pushing forward on a road that only gets steeper, longer and rockier. The jobless rate is the highest in 25 years. The sheer number of unemployed Americans has never been higher.
Is a new job waiting in your in-box? Maybe, but most of those work-at-home scams are really spam scams. Pushing forward without falling prey to fraud.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our focus today: jobs and finding you the one that you want. But here's other stories that got our attention.
Are you a fundamentalist male seeking a fundamentalist female? Do you like long walks in the park and reading the Koran? Well, this guy can help.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA YOUNG, HUSBAND DEPLOYED IN IRAQ: It's heartwarming and gut-wrenching at the same time. Because I know what those families are going through, what they're experiencing. And at the same time it's like, oh, darn, I wish that was me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, she's the face of welcome for dozens of troops. Now she's the target of a big surprise. Sometimes wishes do come true.
But first, we knew it was coming, but it's still a blow. The latest report from the labor front, another 651,000 jobs that fed families and supported communities, gone in the month of February.
The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 8.1 percent, the highest since 1983.
Here's one way to look at the scope of the crisis. In the past three months alone, the economy has shed more jobs than there are people in the city of Philadelphia: almost 2 million. And overall, the number of Americans who want to be working or used to be working tops 12 million. And that's a record. Well, pushing the story forward from all directions. Our Dan Lothian is in Ohio, where President Obama says the stimulus is paying off with more jobs and safer streets. And in New York, our Christine Romans breaks down the latest batch of numbers. And Susan Lisovicz shows us how they're playing on Wall Street. And Gerri Willis is in Yonkers, New York, this hour in search of opportunity.
Well, every statistic tells a story, and that's Christine's beat.
Christine, what did we learn from these pretty awful figures?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those statistics are a person. Every one of those is a job, and you're right: every one of those jobs is something that people needed to support a family and a lifestyle.
And what we've learned is that it's even worse over the past three months than we thought. December was worse than they thought, the government revising those numbers up. January, the same. And we know that February was another ugly month. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost now for this recession; 4.4 million jobs lost. There are now 12 1/2 million people unemployed in this country, 4.4 million jobs lost since the beginning of the recession.
Look at this, as well, Kyra: 2.1 million people want to work but can't. They can't find a job. Another 8 million people are working part-time but would rather be working full-time.
You just saw there where some of the jobs lost were construction, manufacturing, anything related to the consumer or to retail. A lot of jobs lost across the board.
Couple of bright spots: health care and also in government jobs. But those were just very small job gains compared to the overall job loss for February.
But let's push it forward. What does it mean going ahead? Is this the worst of it? Have we seen three horrific months, and now we're going to turn it around? Not a single economist I've spoken to today -- and I've talked to an awful lot of economists today -- think that this is the end of it. In fact, a lot of folks are saying we should be preparing ourselves for a very tough 2009 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Christine, thanks so much.
And let's keep pushing it forward. Wall Street has been waiting all week for this jobs report. And now that it's here, how are investors reacting? Let's go to Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange for that.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
Well, 651,000 jobs lost in one month is horrible. It is very, very bad. But it was in line with estimates. So we actually saw a rally: triple-digit gains for the Dow at the open. We're also coming off of a terrible rout yesterday.
But what wasn't factored in was the revisions to December and January. Sharply higher for both of them. The unemployment rate, we did expect that to rise, as well, but it took a bigger jump than expected, from 7.6 percent to 8.1 percent.
We got an omen on this report on Wednesday. We got a private sector survey that showed 700,000 jobs lost for the private sector.
Big-term picture -- big-time picture here, Kyra, these numbers translate into more pressure on the housing market, consumer spending, manufacturing. So they're already under tremendous pressure. And that's the kind of thing where you don't see a lot of optimism, and so the rally did not hold. And in fact, all three major averages right now under pressure.
And GM, we have to single out again. GM shares trading at a 75- year low. GM shares at their low today, $1.27. And prices we haven't really seen since the 1930s, Kyra. You know, I heard a term for the first time today: This is not a recession; this is a decession. That's the kind of, you know, picture that a lot of folks are painting at this point.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan, thanks.
And the president salutes a class of police cadets whose jobs were saved by the stimulus. Dan Lothian traveled with him to Columbus, Ohio.
Dan, 25 jobs is 25 jobs. Right?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, it's only a drop in the bucket when you look at how many jobs were lost; 651,000 jobs. The president calling those numbers today astounding.
But he really wanted to focus on these 25 jobs, these cadets, who back in January were given pink slips, because the city simply did not have the money to pay for their salaries. They were kept on the payroll for almost another month. And about two days before that money was to run out, they got the news that this stimulus money would be coming to their city and their jobs would be saved.
The mayor had been pushing hard for this. He went to Washington, pushed the president and other officials in Washington to try to get some of that money here. He was able to get for that program $1.25 million.
Now, the president wanted to highlight this as an example of how this stimulus money really is being put to work quickly. And he addressed his doubters today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For those who still doubt the wisdom of our recovery plan, I ask them to talk to the teachers who are still able to teach our children because we passed this plan. I ask them to talk to the nurses who are still able to care for our sick and the firefighters and first-responders who are still able to keep our community safe.
I ask them to come to Ohio and meet the 25 men and women who will soon be protecting the streets of Columbus, because we passed this plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, it's only a temporary reprieve, because the stimulus money will only hold these jobs through the end of the year. So the question is, what happens after that? A public safety official, also the mayor saying their only focused on the now; they're not worried about the future. They'll deal with that later.
And some of the cadets, who are now police officers, told me that they're hoping that by then the economy will turn around, or that there'll be additional older officers who will retire, and they can move into those slots, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks.
Well, you're hired. If you're out of work, you want to hear those words. And CNN can help. We're going to go live to a job center to show you where the jobs are.
Plus, you want to find a job fair near you? It's just a mouse click away, and I'll show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARA JONES (PH), IREPORTER: Hi, my name is Kara Jones (ph). I live in Yonkers, New York. And I'm currently looking for a position in production, whether it be capital (ph) associate or whether it be anything in production. I love production. I went to school for that. So I'm a great candidate, because I worked on many sets at D.C. Universal. Done many castings for a lot of independent films and I've also done my own film. So pick me! I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, iReporter Greg Gardner (sic), your community certainly isn't alone. People across the nation out of business, out of a job. And if you're one of them, well, we want to push you forward straight back into a job.
You can actually start on our own Web site, CNN.com, where we have an interactive map here. Basically go to CNN.com/jobs, and you'll see all these number of stories that are popping up, from turning to trucking. That actually is a job that's become very popular, specifically in the northeast. We're talking about jobs for brewers, nurses, chocolate-makers. That's out in the Midwest. So you can see the variety of stories that we have here.
But this is what we want to take you to in particular. Job fairs, find one near you. You actually can hit that, but I've already got it popped up here. And here's what we've done. We've put together a map of all the job fairs from all around the country.
So for example, you come over to Washington, if you're from Washington. There you go, Seattle, Washington, March 20 and June 26, Washington State Convention and Trade Center, 800 Convention Place. Gives you the time, and it's also going to be coming up May, July and October. All right?
Another state to give you an example, how about Arizona? Here in Phoenix, Arizona, there you go: May 28, Phoenix Convention Center. There's going to be a huge job fair on North 3rd Street. Also April, July, October some other job fairs coming up.
So there you go: CNN.com/jobs. Just click onto the job fairs, and you'll see what's happening all across the country.
Well, some people are cobbling together a pretty good living these days. And I mean that literally. Cobblers are actually reporting a boom in business, as more people opt to patch up their old shoes instead of buying new ones.
Cobblers like Brent Greene from North Carolina. Well, he says lately poor middle-class, even rich people are bringing their shoes to his shop. Cobblers can also shorten belts, fix luggage, re-lace baseball gloves and refinish leather coats.
Where have all the partiers gone? Spring break turns silent on some Mexico beaches. Drug wars are raging, and travel warnings are in effect. But tourism officials insist that all is well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, an Army wife gives back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: This is my way of serving my country. This is -- the way he serves his country is differently. I serve my country by keeping things, you know, settled here at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: How her good deeds made for a great day on the job. We'll tell you her story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, some potentially big news this hour on the fate of accused Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff. A new court filing indicates that Madoff may be moving closer to a plea deal.
A court filing entered today suggests that Madoff's defense team may soon waive the right to a grand jury indictment. That's a common first step when a plea deal is in the works.
Madoff, of course, is accused of defrauding thousands of investors in a massive $15 billion Ponzi scheme.
Well, a warning now for college students on spring break. You better think twice before you choose Mexico as a destination. A deadly rise in drug violence is prompting many people to have second thoughts.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spring break on Mexico's northern Pacific coast...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Totally relaxing. What we needed after finals.
TUCHMAN: ... where it feels like heaven -- unless you make the drug traffickers angry. Then it feels like hell.
When you hear a police siren in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, these days your heart jumps, because in the past half year, this small city of 100,000 has seen at least 30 people killed by the drug cartels. None of them tourists, but this very popular spring break location has very few tourists right now. Despite beautiful weather, we saw more horses on the wide beach than people.
And at this outdoor bar, the only spring breakers came off a cruise ship and were only here for six hours.
(on camera): You're all on a cruise now. But if they said to you, you could stay in a hotel here for a night or two, how many of you would want to do that? Raise your hand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing what we know now, probably not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the fact that the beach is completely empty.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): What they know now is this: in this town and nearby cities, like Ensenada and Tijuana, roughly 200 people have reportedly been murdered in the last six months and often beheaded as a grotesque message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom freaked out about me going to Mexico.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What did she say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said that she was really worried about kidnappings and the drug lords.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): This man was arrested six weeks ago not far from Rosarito, charged with dissolving the remains of cartel victims into barrels of acid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE
TUCHMAN: Santiago Meso Lopez (ph) was asked how many people he had done this to. He declared 300.
Alerts and warnings have been issued about traveling to Mexico by the U.S. State Department, the ATF, even colleges.
(on camera): The good people of Rosarito find themselves living along a lucrative drug trafficking route. Among the 30 people murdered over the past few months, seven police officers, all shot gangland style. It's not a job for the faint-hearted.
(voice-over): The mayor of the city says about 75 cops in Rosarito were either fired last year for working with the cartels or killed. About 150 more have now been hired. They're being paid better salaries, given lie detector tests, helping ensure they stay honest.
Officer Karina Valdez (ph) is 20 years old.
(on camera): SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The situation is bad, but there are people who need us.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres believes his city has never had more honest and brave police officers.
HUGO TORRES, MAYOR: Beginning of January of this year we have no killings at all.
TUCHMAN: And in the larger city of Tijuana, they were saying the same thing.
(on camera): But the relative quiet is now over. At around the same time we were riding in the police car, authorities announced they had made a horrifying discovery.
Near this bullring, about 20 minutes north from the city of Tijuana, we're only 100 yards away from the California border. They got a call from two joggers who said they saw something terrible right here, right under that graffiti, on the ground. Police arrived. they saw three bodies, without heads, without hands and a note that said "snitches."
(voice-over): The Tijuana newspaper had a picture of the scene on the front page with the headline "The Wave of Violence Returns."
Eighteen miles away within the city limits of Rosarito, there still hasn't been a killing since the beginning of the year. The mayor thinks tourists should be comfortable coming back, and he's hoping for bigger crowds next week when spring break starts to peak, although he himself has to be accompanied by armed guards when he travels throughout the city. (on camera): What's to stop somebody from driving by and shooting us while we're walking?
MAYOR HUGO TORRES, ROSARITO, MEXICO: Well, I don't know. I guess nobody can. If somebody wants to kill you, they kill you. I know that for sure.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The mayor says he has no plans to step down because of fear. He's too busy trying to protect and promote his very empty city that so many are now too scared to visit.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Tourism officials in Mexico gave us this statement in response to reporters about the violence there: "Mexico remains a safe tourist destination," it says, "and this is reflected in the 22.6 million international visitors that arrived in 2008, of which 18 million were Americans. This number represents a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year, and tourists who suffered any incidents were minimal."
Job swindle scams grow. A sad fact in this recession. Con men out there in full force preying on those without a paycheck. Pushing forward to where the scams are and where they aren't.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Jobless in America. Another 651,000 positions cut. Livelihoods lost in February alone. And since this recession began in December of 2007, 4.4 million Americans have been thrown out of work.
Almost 2 million in the past three months. By way of perspective, that's more than the population of Philadelphia. The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 8.1 percent, a 25-year high.
So where on earth are the jobs? Gerri Willis knows. She's our personal finance editor. And today she's at that job center in Yonkers, New York. We've gone there a number of times.
And Gerri, we've even watched people get jobs via our live shot. So we're glad you're there.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. You know, it works. Let me tell you.
Yes, I'm in Yonkers. And we've been talking to people all day about what they're doing to get jobs. This is the first stop you make in Westchester County. If you lose your job, you're getting unemployment, you're required to come here, get a little help. It's not a bad thing. I want to show you, though, there are jobs. Check this out. This is the jobs board here. You can see, registered nurse opening right here. Driving instructor. Call center service rep. Receptionist. I'm looking around the board. There are a ton of these all over the place. Personal care aids. Home health aide. You name it, it's here. Safety monitors. Part-time administrative person right here in Yonkers. Cashiers. There are jobs here.
Of course, people we're talking to say it's not always as easy to actually land them.
I have Jonathan here, who's looking for a job right now. And he has really a variety of experience, Kyra.
Tell us about your experience, Jonathan.
JONATHAN JARAMILLE, JOB SEEKER: Yes. I have 25 years' experience in hotel and restaurant management, which falls into the customer service category, as well. I have a certificate in medical billing and coding.
WILLIS: And I think that's great, because here's somebody who has a lot of flexibility in this job market and can do a lot of different kinds of jobs.
Now Jonathan, I want you to tell us a little bit about how long you've been looking and how competitive it is out there.
JARAMILLE: I've been looking for pretty close to a year, and basically, I've only got called for two interviews. So I'm basically here almost every day, but there's a lot of competition out there. A lot of businesses also are closing down, or their business has slowed down quite a bit.
WILLIS: And of course, you're looking sort of in a consumer field. When you talk about restaurants, you're relying on people spending money each and every day. And as we know, Americans are saving money right now, not spending it.
But you said something really interesting to me, Jonathan. You said that you're keeping positive and that you think that's really important. How do you do that?
JARAMILLE: Well, it's important to stay positive for the simple reason that, if you get called to an interview and you're not too confident with yourself, people tend to sense that when they do the interviews.
With my experience in hotel and restaurant management, I interviewed a lot of people, because I used to do the hiring, as well. And I could automatically just sense if they were confident or not or if they really wanted the job or not.
WILLIS: Yes, there's nothing like fear. People sense that right away. I want to talk to you a little bit about what you're doing to find that job. Are there Web sites you're going to? Are you pounding the pavement? What's your strategy?
JARAMILLE: Well, I pretty much have done both. There are Web sites like Monster, indeed, CareerBuilders, Yahoo! HotJobs. And I've also gone to businesses on foot just to drop off my resume. So, you know, it's been quite a battle.
But like I said, it is very competitive out there. Now with the economy, everything has slowed down so it's a lot more difficult. I've noticed that there's less postings on the computer, as well.
WILLIS: So you're continuing your search. You're doing it online. You're doing it on foot.
You know, Kyra, here's someone, Jonathan, who's really trying very hard to get that job out there. And the good news is, is he has experience in a lot of different arenas. So he can really take a job in like three or four different categories. And a lot of people out there, they forget they've got to be flexible here. I think it's a good lesson, good moral of the story for anybody out there searching for a job.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious. He actually met with a counselor there?
WILLIS: Absolutely. Let's talk to him about it.
Jonathan, we want to hear about your experiences with the counselors here. What is that like? What do they help you do? Do they give you assistance?
JARAMILLE: Yes, they do give assistance. They help you with the resume workshop. And any time you need assistance here, like with the computers and stuff, because a lot of people come in here that, you know, aren't computer literate. And they'll sit down with you.
They also give you quite a few suggestions. And they also pull out the jobs, for example, like the ones that are on the job board. You know, if they see something in your field, they make sure and bring it to your attention. So they work very closely with everyone, and it's a great thing to have.
WILLIS: That's awesome. You know, I've talk to people here who are maybe older. They don't have computer skills. You know, a lot of boomers, the last time they had to really look for a job might have been decades ago. You know, it's changed the way you land a job these days. It's online a lot. You've got to make sure you've got an e- mail address. It's less important to be firing out resumes all the time.
Kyra, I have to tell you, I heard the other day that a lot of companies, what they do with these resumes, they have a software program that goes through them and rejects some of them. So a real human being might not even see your resume. It's more important to make sure that you have those online skills sharp and ready to go so you can get that next job.
PHILLIPS: All right. Showing up in person, like Jonathan's doing...
WILLIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... and really trying to get something, yes, right there face-to-face.
All right. We'll keep talking throughout the day, Gerri. Thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: You can also check out CNN.com to see who's hiring in your area and across the nation. Plus, tips on how to land and keep a job. That's at CNN.com/jobs. A special online report where the jobs are, only on CNN.com.
Now, we know this isn't just America's crisis. Here now, three of our international correspondents pushing the story forward and bringing it home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in Moscow. The global economic storm has battered few countries harder than Russia. Just six months ago, this was one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Now official estimates put the number of unemployed and looking for work at over 6 million people.
And that figure is rising fast as more companies across this vast country close down. It's Russia's mining industry, its steel works, it's also manufacturing and its chemical plants that are being hardest hit.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Boulden in London. Three sectors of the British economy are being particularly hit hard: housing, banking and manufacturing. House prices fell hard in February and are now down around 20 percent compared to the peak of August 2007. In banking, two big banks and this mortgage lender have had to be rescued by the government.
In manufacturing, there are worries some 140,000 jobs will go on factory floors. The auto sector is being hit particularly hard. And that's one big reason why unemployment is now over 6 percent at a 12- year high.
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Emily Chang on a roadside in Beijing. All of these trucks are parked here waiting for work. They normally haul construction supplies from one place to another. But since the beginning of winter, these truck drivers tell us demand has slowed down dramatically. Most of these truck drivers are migrant workers, the group hardest hit by the economic crisis.
The Chinese government officially claims about 20 million migrant workers are unemployed, but some experts believe that number is more like 30 million. China has said it wants to maintain unemployment at about 4.6 percent, but again, some experts believe it's actually more like 10 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right, well, so maybe you have insurance, but what about the people who don't? Guess what? You're paying for them, too. A surprising look at what the uninsured are costing all of us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Work at home. Make thousands of dollars. No experience necessary. You've probably seen those lines way too often in your e-mail lately. It is a pretty sad reflection of the recession, actually. More people are without a paycheck, so more scam artists are preying on them.
And no one's immune. Check this out. My producer got this e- mail within her system. And it actually is an online -- there you go. "Congratulations, Sonya." That's who my producer is. "Positions currently available in Atlanta, Georgia. Read the report below immediately. Check this."
Well, it goes on and on, and you can make all this kind of money. You can do it from home, and then finally there is actually a place you can click to. And that's when it asks for all your personal information. Right? There is a place. They tell you -- sometimes even ask for money. Right there. That is a sign.
So, what do you think? Is it a scam or not? Let's go ahead and go to Christine Durst. She's co-founder and CEO of Staffcentrix, a career-building firm. She separates the tricks from the truth.
Now, Chris, a number of us get these type of e-mails. And usually we put them into our junk mail because we're lucky enough to have a job right now. But we went back and pulled some of them out because we wanted to see what you thought of them. What about the one that Sonya got today? Is it a scam or is it for real?
CHRISTINE DURST, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, STAFFCENTRIX: It is definitely a scam. Matter of fact, it is one of the hottest scams on the Internet right now, or the hottest, the rebate processing scams.
PHILLIPS; How did you know it was a scam? How did you vet it?
DURST: Well, actually, this is one we've been looking at for quite some time. It actually started out in November of 2007, reached its peak around August of 2008, where their sites were getting about 5 million visitors each month. But to take a look at it, they're making promises I believe of about $390 per day, working about an hour.
Al Capone didn't make that kind of money, so we know that that's a little suspect. They're looking for personal information. There are just a lot of bells and whistles there. The pictures of the luxury vehicles, the luxury homes. All of those things are the earmarks of a scam. And this particular one, when we dug in deeper, we found out that it's very dirty.
PHILLIPS: All right. I appreciate that. Well, let's go ahead and go to your Web site. I want to show viewers how they can actually get more information. And you have so many of these types of e-mails on here as examples. Staffcentrix, "Rat Race Rebellion." I love it. "No Commute, No Regrets."
Now, on the front page of your Web site, Chris, I just want to go down here, you've actually got tips for spotting scams. You've got a number of them on here. Why don't you give me two really good ones for folks right now?
DURST: Well, since you've hit on the spam, let me start with that one. If a job offer arrives unsolicited in your e-mail inbox, it is likely a scam. People don't know that you're out there looking for work. And beware of the ones that say that they've found your resume on one of the big boards like Monster or Career Builder if it's a position that you didn't apply for.
Oftentimes scammers are using those job sites to fish for victims, if you will. So, be suspicious an check them out. Secondly, watch out for beaches, palm trees, Maseratis, mansions and piles of money that they're putting on these sites. Those are the come-ons. It's the carrot on the stick.
And always go to Google. Go to your favorite search engine. Type in the name of the company with the word "scam" and see what turns up.
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's true because the BBB puts a lot of that stuff online, right?
DURST: It does, and people who have been scammed can't wait to talk about it, so you'll find out what they have to say, too.
PHILLIPS: I like this, too. You have the classic scams. Still reeling in unsuspecting job seekers. Interesting -- stuffing envelopes, typing and data entry. Two of the classic scams that you mention. So, what you're saying, if somebody says, hey, we're going to pay you half a million dollars to stuff envelopes for 15 hours a day, then you know it's not for real. Is that right?
DURST: That's right, Kyra. They have machines that do that, and they do it a lot faster than a human being possibly can. So, if somebody's offering you big money to do something that can be done otherwise for less, it's a come-on.
PHILLIPS: All right. Craft assembly. Send money for a startup kit with all the materials you'll need. Earn money for every item, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the first sign that something's not right because they're asking you for money, and they're giving you a start-up kit.
DURST: Right. And in some cases it is legitimate. They want everybody who works for them to have standard materials to make the products with. But check the companies out thoroughly. There are very few legitimate home-assembly jobs. We do have a couple listed on our Web site. We don't put anything on there until it's been thoroughly vetted. But be very careful about that particular arrangement.
PHILLIPS: Yes, let's do that. Because if you go up to the top of your page and you click here for today's screened job leads, this is all the legitimate work. And you come down to the right side of the page, and it says here for March 6, 2009, you basically vetted and have all these opportunities to work from home. Tell me about your vetting process. How do you do it?
DURST: We do everything really depending on how extreme the scam might be. We look at between 4,500 and 5,000 job leads every single week to come up with the ones that we post to the site, Kyra. And our researchers do everything from -- do Google searches to find out of people who have been scammed. And also, they'll go so far as to apply for a job and find out if there's a hidden scam after the fact. So, looking for those flags, the red flags that we have indicated on our Web site and even sometimes going through the application and interview process.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I just clicked on to this one for online teachers and distance learning. This is the one that -- one of the ones that you posted for today. All right, Chris. Love it.
This is such a great resource and appreciate you coming on, because it is really -- we didn't really -- it's interesting, you get all these e-mails talking about all these various scams. And then I've been seeing these articles recently talking about how so many people are falling prey to it because people are so desperate right now. And it just breaks your heart that people are looking for every opportunity to take advantage of people right now.
DURST: Absolutely. And the 8.1 percent unemployment rate isn't going to help, unfortunately.
PHILLIPS: Chris Durst, always appreciate your time. Great Web site. We'll see you again.
DURST: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, he's not just reciting the Koran. He's into the book of love. A matchmaking mullah? Oh, yes, now we've seen it all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, those of us with health insurance might wonder sometimes how the debate over the 46 million who are uninsured, how that all affects us. Well, we sympathize with their plight, of course, but there are also practical reasons that we should care. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now. So, for those that have insurance, right, this health care reform, tell me how this all plays out.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, we should all thank our lucky stars we have insurance. I'm going to start there.
PHILLIPS: That's true, as we have learned, it's very expensive.
COHEN: As we have learned because it is very expensive. So, people -- plenty of people have asked President Obama, gosh, what does health care reform mean to those who already have insurance and are really pretty happy with their health care? And here's how he answered it yesterday at the health care reform forum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If somebody has insurance they like, they should be able to keep that insurance. If they have a doctor that they like, they should be able to keep their doctor. They should just pay less for the care that they receive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Pay attention to that "paying less" part. So, what he's saying is, sort of, don't worry, be happy. If you have insurance and you like it, you're going to be able to stick with it, stick with your doctor, and you might even end up paying less for insurance.
And here's why. What a lot of people don't realize is that when you have insurance through your employer, you're actually paying to help care for the uninsured. So, for example, Kyra and I, the policies that cover ours an our families are probably around $14,000 each. Out of that $14,000 that CNN and that we pay for each of our policies, out of $14,000 per family, $922 of that, approximately, is spent to cover the uninsured. So we're paying for the uninsured, you and I. We just don't necessarily realize it.
PHILLIPS: But how does that happen?
COHEN: OK, here's how it happened. This is a tough economics lesson. I'm going to try to boil it down here. What happens is that when someone who does not have insurance lands in the emergency room for care, they get, well, basically free care. And so, the hospital spends thousands of dollars treating them, and then the hospital says, we just lost a lot of money. How we going to make that up?
So what they do is, they raise prices for the rest of us who do have insurance. So then, insurance companies end up paying those high prices, and the insurance companies say, hey, wait a minute, we're spending all this money on all this care. How are we going to make up for those losses?
So, they charge their clients more. They charge employers and people like us more money for the insurance. So, the cost gets passed down, as it were.
PHILLIPS: Well, will the quality of insurance change after the health care reform?
COHEN: OK, this is really a huge question. Because if people who have insurance fear that health care reform is going to make their insurance somehow not as high quality, that's going to be a problem for the president. So, let me tell you what some conservative lawmakers told me yesterday.
They said, look, President Obama wants to start this huge public insurance program where anybody can get insurance through the government. And you won't have to do it, but it will be there.
So, the fear is that once the government make their own insurance program, that employers are going to say, wow! That's an inexpensive option. I'm going to go with that. I'm going to ditch the private insurance that I've had for my employees, and I'm going to go with the government option.
And if the government option is not great health care, then that will affect you. So the concern is -- and I know this gets a little bit confusing. The concern is that if the government gets more into the insurance business than it already is, that it will somehow make -- it will somehow persuade employers to buy that insurance, and that insurance might not be terrific.
PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, Elizabeth. Thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, on the mend after heart surgery in Houston, doctors say that former first lady Barbara Bush making an excellent recovery after aortic valve was replaced with a pig valve. Her husband, the former president, choked back tears yesterday at a hospital news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It went so well. And I've been a nervous wreck about it. Today, we heard from four presidents of the United States. Obama, Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush -- George W. Bush, and me, five. And I think there is a lot of interest because of who she is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Mrs. Bush, who's 83, is expected to be released from the hospital's intensive care unit tomorrow.
Heart problems also sidelined actor and comedian Robin Williams. Like Mrs. Bush, he's going to have an aortic valve replaced. He checked into a hospital this week complaining of shortness of breath while on tour with a one-man show. No word on when the surgery will be done.
Lonely, looking for love, looking for someone to pray toward Mecca with? Well, the matchmaking mullah might be able to help you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hey, baby, why don't you let your burqa down? Can I buy you another cup of tea? Those pick-up lines don't exactly come easy in Iran. Matter of fact, they could get you picked up by the police. But now, thousands of young singles have found their own Cupid in the form of a cleric. Here's our Reza Sayah in Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-seven-year-old Ahmad (ph) is single, living in Iran. He asked not to show his face, but on a notepad he writes he's "searching for true love." And to find love, he's going to this man. A mullah matchmaker.
(on camera): Now, I know what you may be thinking. This man doesn't exactly look like a matchmaker.
(voice-over): But matchmaking is precisely what Islamic cleric and philosophy professor Jafad Ardabili does with a Web site and an office in Tehran.
JAFAD ARDABILI, ISLAMIC CLERIC, MATCHMAKER (through translator): First they say, wow. Then they usually take a closer look and decide, since he's a cleric, we have faith in him.
SAYAH: Adrabili made his first love match ten years ago, when he set up one of his students. It worked so well, he and his wife started the Amin (ph) International Family Institute. In Iran, Islamic law restricts singles from interacting in public. Ardabili offers an alternative.
ARDABILI (through translator): You can't just go after someone in public and say, would you like to live with me? Especially the women, who often don't have any right to choose their companion.
SAYAH: For a $100 fee, Ahmad (ph) submitted his picture and personal information to Ardabili's matchmaking service. He now has access to thousands of other applicants. I want a love that lasts forever, he writes.
(on camera): Once the two applicants approve of one another's pictures and information, this little room is where the first two meetings take place. The two applicants get to know one another, and then report to Dr. Ardabili, who sits right next door.
ARDABILI (through translator): When there's no connection, they look like wrinkled potatoes.
SAYAH: But when love is in the air...
ARDABILI (through translator): They look like a happy ice cream cone.
SAYAH: The third meeting between the couples takes place outside the institute. If all goes well, Ardabili arranges for the families to meet. Then, the couple ties the knot. Out of more than 50,000 applicants, Ardabili says 2,117 couples are now husband and wife.
ARDABILI (through translator): You feel good, because you're serving humanity.
SAYAH: Ahmed (ph) hopes one day Ardabili will help him make a love match. From this very moment, I'm counting the days, he writes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Reza now joins us live from Tehran. He's obviously live. But is he in love? So, what do you say, Reza? Have you put your application in?
SAYAH: Kyra, I've got to admit, I thought about it for a moment, and then I said no. Let's say, when I imagine ending up with my companion, I don't imagine it being through this service. Not that there's anything wrong with a matchmaking mullah. Just in case I change my mind, I did get his contact information.
PHILLIPS: Excellent, OK. Meanwhile, it's true, the younger population is exploding there in Tehran. And they've got to meet somehow. So, how does this all fold in to sort of being progressive, but also sticking in line with the thoughts of the mullahs?
SAYAH: Well, he's found the formula. This matchmaking mullah has found the formula. As you said, there's a lot of young people in Iran. The population, two-thirds of it is under 30. Somehow, if they want to start a family, start a relationship they have to get to know one another. But those Islamic laws of restrictive.
This is so-called -- Iran's version of a dating service that abides by Islamic laws, and it gets people together, and it's working. This guy has found a formula that works.
And we've got to tell you, this could be the coolest mullah you've ever met. I called him last night to ask him a couple of questions. Guess where he was? He was in the gym lifting weights. It turns out this matchmaking mullah is also a body builder.
PHILLIPS: You've got to love it. Hey, you know, they're becoming more and more progressive. Reza, great piece. Thanks so much.
We're blowing the lid off an Asian restaurant that gives "potty mouth" a whole new meaning. Welcome to the modern toilet, with outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan. No kidding, folks. You sit on a porcelain throne, sip from a mini urinal while you wait for your meal, served on a little toilet bowl.
Cute, but I wouldn't order numbers 1 and 2 if I were you. No word if diners named John get a discount.
And chew on this one: A Connecticut man's accused of stealing to feed his habit -- his gum habit. Police say the sticky-fingered dude took hundreds of packs of gum from different stores over a three-week period. His brand of choice? Orbit. Right now, he's free on bond, but cops really hope that they can make these charges stick.
When troops deploy, it's so rough on the spouses left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we leave, they have to take over for everything that we do. So, they're full-time mom, full-time dad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Wait until you hear about one soldier's surprise gift to his waiting wife.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a Texas Army wife is used to happy homecomings, other people's, that is. But her volunteer work as a troop greeter at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport must have earned her some pretty good karma. This story now from Tracy Kornet of our affiliate KTXA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRACY KORNET, KTXA-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every few months to honor her own husband serving in Iraq, Garland teacher Alicia Young greets troops returning from their tours of duty.
ALICIA YOUNG, HUSBAND DEPLOYED IN IRAQ: It's heartwarming and gut-wrenching at the same time, because I know what those families are going through, what they're experiencing. And at the same time it's like, oh, darn, I wish that was me.
KORNET: Little does she know this morning her wish would come true. Under the guise of a story about volunteering to greet troops, Alicia's deployed husband, her school principal and the "Welcome Home a Hero" organization crafted an elaborate plan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From there, it was a web of lies.
KORNET: A plan to surprise Alicia with the unexpected return of her own sergeant, Matthew Young, whom she isn't expecting until fall.
YOUNG: I would just want to tell my husband that I love him so much. I love you so much, honey. And I can't wait until you come home.
KORNET: Moments later, as Alicia cheers on other people's sons and husbands, her own appears.
YOUNG: I need to get these people away from me because I need to get over there to him.
SGT. MATTHEW YOUNG, U.S. ARMY: I think it was a pretty good surprise.
KORNET: Mission accomplished, says Sergeant Young, for his devoted wife and mother of their two little boys.
M. YOUNG: When we leave, they have to take over for everything that we do. So they're full-time mom, full-time dad.
KORNET: Who are so happy to see their favorite sergeant come home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
