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Pulling the Pork; Truckloads of Food Aid for Elkhart, Indiana; Sunday was "Death Day"; Pres. Obama on Education Reform

Aired March 10, 2009 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Eyes on the little guy and the big house on the hill. Happening today a plan in the works to help small business owners.

Plus, showdown on congressional pay raises.

Short-term, tall orders. What the president has done in his first 50 days.

Frigid home invasion. Lake houses in an ice jam. We'll show you other places where winter still rules.

It's Tuesday, March 10th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We get started with breaking news out of Iraq this morning. For the second time in three days, a suicide bombing. At least 33 people are dead. The attack happened in western Baghdad close to where Shia and Sunni Arab tribal leaders were meeting.

Some of those killed were Iraqi soldiers. Nearly 50 other people were wounded.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Baghdad. He'll join us shortly with the very latest.

Now the first 50 days of the Obama presidency. Is this still change we can believe in? Since his inauguration, the challenges have been enormous. A crumbling economy. The nation's financial system teetering on collapse. The costs too high for most of us to even wrap our minds around.

Billions of dollars, even trillions, coming from Americans who are worried about their next paycheck. This morning, we're stepping back a bit and taking a wider view.

CNN's Christine Romans looks at a new plan we're hearing about right now, help for small businesses. And Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House. She begins our coverage with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Out of the gate, a bold agenda. Some say too ambitious. Check out the score card. One of President Obama's first official acts -- an executive order to shut down Guantanamo. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists.

MALVEAUX: A pledge to end torture.

OBAMA: I can say, without exception or equivocation, that the United States will not torture.

MALVEAUX: Billions to bail out the banks and $780 billion more to rescue more than 3.5 million jobs.

OBAMA: My bottom line is to make sure that we are saving or creating 4 million jobs. We are making sure that the financial system is working again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there, right there.

MALVEAUX: Oh, and by the way, Mr. Obama says he's also taking steps to end the war in Iraq.

OBAMA: Let me say this as plainly as I can. By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.

MALVEAUX: CNN political analyst David Gergen, who has served as top adviser to Democratic and Republican presidents alike, offers this report card for the new guy in charge.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the foreign policy overall has been an A. The handling of the economic crisis, it seems to me, is an incomplete.

MALVEAUX: As Mr. Obama himself admitted, he's already made some serious mistakes. Two of the president's high profile appointees had to bow out over tax problems.

OBAMA: I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up.

MALVEAUX: And despite Mr. Obama's efforts to woo Republicans, those in the House unanimously rejected his economic stimulus plan and his GOP pick for commerce secretary walked away from the job offer, unable to stomach the president's economic policy.

But Mr. Obama, embracing his mandate for change, is moving full speed ahead to roll out his bold agenda for reforming health care, energy, education, and stem cell research. And the new president heads into his next 50 days with challenges that are equally daunting, with the markets tanking and more Americans losing their homes and jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now live from the White House.

So Suzanne, it is an awful lot to be taking on, obviously. But what is the administration doing to assure people that they are really focused on the economy?

MALVEAUX: Well, one of the things we see the president doing, he's traveling the country. At least once a week or so he goes to this -- kind of has these town halls or at least addresses real folks saying, look, this is what we've got on our plate.

We also saw, as well, that he dispatched his treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, on the hill late yesterday to meet with Democrats to tell them, look, I understand, as members of Congress, there are a lot of constituents coming to them, Americans saying, look, you know, when is this going to work, you've put a lot of money into this, essentially to be patient. That was the message.

So, obviously, trying to convince people it's a tough time, but eventually it's going to turn around.

COLLINS: Yes. And we're also hearing a lot about health care reform, obviously, and this, today. The president has an address on education this morning.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. He's going to talk about one of the things in the budget is looking at education, early childhood education, grants that go in that area. Also paying teachers who perform well, schools that do well. The No Child Left Behind, that a holdover from the Bush administration.

All that, he'll be talking about the need for better affordability when it comes to college, these type of things. So he's going to be talking about the economic stimulus package as well as the budget and how it all fits together.

COLLINS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, live from the White House this morning. Thank you, Suzanne.

So stick around, everybody, because President Obama is unveiling the first part of his education plan. He's supposed to begin speaking at 9:45 Eastern, that's 6:45 Pacific, of course. We will be bringing it to you live.

We've all heard the outrage. Billions of taxpayer dollars being funneled into the huge corporations, but not a whole lot of help for the little guy.

Good news, though, for small businesses. There may be a new life line for you.

CNN's Christine Romans has the details now.

So, Christine, time now to help small businesses. What is the administration trying to accomplish with this plan specifically?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the treasury secretary talking to congressional members yesterday, Heidi. You know, sources telling us that indeed he was pushing. Look, we know that there is a lot of popular backlash about helping the big guys but we do have a comprehensive plan for helping the little guys, small business.

We know that this market -- the liquidity hasn't been there, though. The money, the ability to borrow money hasn't been there and they're really trying to -- on a number of levels, try to make sure that people know that they are working on that, Heidi. COLLINS: OK. So specifically, that's what the small businesses need, right?

ROMANS: Yes. I mean, small businesses in this country create the bulk of the jobs. And by some estimates some 75 percent of the jobs. So you know you need to get help to the small businesses right now who are hurting. We've heard -- we've seen the iReports. We've heard from people about the store fronts on their -- in their main street that are closing down.

So what they want to do, essentially, is get liquidity going.

COLLINS: Right.

ROMANS: Have guarantees for some of these loans, get more money out there. We should be learning more about a definitive plan on that front in the next week or so. We do know that they have already launched and promised some things. We know that there's $700 million in the proposed budget for small business.

We know there's $730 million in the stimulus bill for small business and we know that in the middle of February, the administration said that they were going to try to get lending back, get the lending back...

COLLINS: Right.

ROMANS: ... and try to figure out how to get -- how to guarantee these small business loans in the secondary market without getting too wonky, which would allow the money to keep flowing to the small businesses. So they promise, and then promising congressional members yesterday, promising that they are going to try to really work on getting money flowing to small businesses now.

COLLINS: Yes, before they can really do anything with that money, they've got to get their hands on it.

ROMANS: That's right.

COLLINS: All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much. Live from New York this morning.

So your tax dollars at work. The government is due to run out of cash tomorrow. At the stroke of midnight. So the Senate is expected to step in today with a new spending bill. It will cost $410 billion and contains about 8,000 pet projects of lawmakers. That's why Republicans held up approval last week.

On Friday lawmakers were forced to pass a stop-gap measure to fund the government for give days and this is day three. Defending and promoting reform. The task today for some key economic advisers. Next hour, Peter Orszag faces the Senate Finance Committee. He heads the White House Office of Management and Budget. He's also expected to talk about funding health care reforms.

And Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations this morning. His topic, reforming our bank regulatory system.

Could this be part of Ford's road to recovery? The United Auto Workers Union says its members have approved changes to their contract with the automaker. Now some of the cost-cutting concessions are these. Wage freezes and cuts in benefits.

Ford is the first U.S. automaker to strike such a deal with the union. Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford has not asked for any money from the government.

Suspected swindler Bernie Madoff expected in court today. A federal judge could decide to remove Madoff's attorney for conflict of interest. The attorney's late father is former Madoff investor. Madoff is accused of bilking billions from investors. He's been charged with securities fraud. Madoff is expected to plead guilty at a hearing Thursday.

The U.S. and China squaring off over a run-in between ships in the South China Sea. We told you about it right here in the NEWSROOM yesterday. The U.S. says Chinese boats acted aggressively trying to intentionally damage the USNS Impeccable, getting close to ramming to the ship and dropping pieces of wood in its path.

The Impeccable is an unarmed submarine surveillance ship. China countered this morning, though, saying the U.S. needed to cease activities in what they are calling, quote, "a special economic zone." The U.S. says the run-in took place in international waters.

A warning about possible new attacks being planned in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden talking this morning about the, quote, "deteriorating situation," in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Biden says extremists allies are rebuilding and could pose a direct and dangerous threat to western countries.

Do you get an automatic pay raise every year? Well, Congress does. One lawmaker says with so many Americans struggling it is time to change that policy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A suicide car bomber, at least 33 people are dead. Dozens more wounded. The deadly attack happened in Baghdad just a matter of hours ago.

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is actually at the hospital where they took the victims.

So Nic, tell us what's going on and what you're seeing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, at the moment the city security chief has slapped a ban on any media reporting inside the hospital. That's because this is the worst and most deadly attack inside Baghdad so far this year. 33 people killed, 46 wounded.

It appears it's been a carefully planned suicide car bombing attack targeting a National Reconciliation Meeting. This is a meeting that the government put together, the Shia-dominated government put together to try to encourage the Sunnis to join forces with the government.

There were a lot of Sunni tribal leaders there from the west of Baghdad. Sunni community leaders there. It was when they were coming out of this reconciliation meeting, that's when the car bomber struck. Detonating explosives immediately after reports of heavy gunfire poured in from surrounding buildings on the army who were there.

We also understand two journalists who've been there covering the event for a Baghdad TV station. Two local journalists killed and one wounded. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Nic Robertson there, likely just outside then the hospital in Baghdad.

Again, 33 people dead, dozens more wounded. We'll keep our eye on how this story develops throughout the day.

Thank you, Nic.

Looking for ways to help stop Mexican drug violence. House subcommittees are considering pending requests for security along the U.S.-Mexico border. Homeland Security Department officials are attending hearings today to talk about staffing to secure the Mexican border and the 670-mile fence there. The lawmakers also looking at what role homeland security might play in combating border violence.

Weather. Quite a mess in some parts of the country right now. In North Dakota, a 100-mile stretch of I-94 closed because of blowing snow. It's the second punch of a storm that could bring at least a foot of snow to some areas. Snow making it challenging for drivers in northern Utah, too, and keeping highway patrol really busy. Officers say people driving too fast or sliding off slick roads have caused a few accidents.

And cleanup under way in southeast Missouri after a tornado. It leveled a large shed, tore off roofs and left piles of rubble behind. You can tell from all that video.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Does Washington feel your pain? One senator says with so many Americans struggling, Congress should no longer get automatic pay raises. Is this is a noble gesture or political grandstanding?

CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From 2008 to 2009, members of Congress saw their pay go up almost $5,000 to $174,000. But Congress didn't even have to approve the pay raise. It went up automatically.

SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: Everything is going to hell in hand bask, yet members of the Congress get an automatic pay raise virtually every year and people find that really, really offensive.

KEILAR: Louisiana Republican senator David Vitter says if lawmakers want bigger paychecks, they should vote for them each year. He wants to tack that change on to an overdue funding bill that would fund the federal government for the rest of the year. It's got a $410 billion price tag. An 8 percent increase in spending which Vitter opposes.

Democrats like Daniel Inouye say Vitter is playing politics, noting Congress had pledged to scrap its 2010 pay raise and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned the Senate not to change the House past spending bill.

SEN. DANIEL INOUYE (D), HAWAII: This amendment is about trying to make it appear as if members are against prohibiting a pay adjustment for themselves.

KEILAR (on camera): Defenders of the annual pay raise say lawmakers must be able to afford a residence here in Washington as well as in their home state and without that cost of living increase, only wealthy Americans would be able to serve in Congress.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A high-risk surgery on a 7-year-old girl and she is both the donor and the recipient. Amazing story and Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains at all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A pharmacy owner in Alabama gave his employees quite a shock when he introduced his own stimulus plan. They thought he had called a staff meeting to hand out pink slips.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LONNA JACKSON, PHARMACY EMPLOYEE: We all sat there with our mouths open. We cried because it was just such a shock and then he tells us to spend it, give 15 percent to a charity and use our local businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Instead of pink slips, they got $2 bills. $16,000 worth. The idea is that they will use the money at local businesses, as you heard. Now the employees are hoping he calls another staff meeting next month. Probably not a bad idea.

Listen to this now. Doctors are expecting a 7-year-old girl to be discharged from a New York hospital this morning after a daring surgery performed last month where they removed six organs in order to save her from a baseball-sized tumor in her abdomen.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining me now to talk more about this. It's so incredible. I'll let you get to what they did in a minute. But first, we want to know how she's doing.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She is doing great. This operation was back on February 6th. We've got a very good report from the doctors and her family as well, saying she's doing really well.

It is an incredible operation. It is a good story. It's a good news ending as well. A 23-hour operation. And she had a type of tumor that sort of encases several organs in her abdominal cavity. Wrapped itself around blood vessels.

COLLINS: Cancer, obviously?

GUPTA: Yes. It needed to be removed. It was sort of baseball- sized and has already starting to infiltrate into some of these organs so not a lot of options here. And something like this, as you say, has never really been done before in a child.

What you're looking at there is sort of the contents of her abdominal cavity. And every organ on there, all six of them, were removed.

COLLINS: So...

GUPTA: Her pancreas, her liver...

COLLINS: I'm sorry, go ahead. Yes.

GUPTA: Pancreas, liver, spleen, her small intestine, large intestine and her stomach. All those essentially removed for this operation so they could get at this tumor.

COLLINS: Wow.

GUPTA: Now what they found was that they -- the tumor had sort of infiltrated the pancreas and the stomach and the spleen so they could not put those back in. They did put the liver back in, her small and her large intestines.

So she's going to be, essentially, a diabetic without a pancreas, needed to take digestive enzymes. She's also going to need a pouch made for her stomach so sort of a -- sort of rudimentary stomach that is going to be made. But she's doing really well.

Can I say one more thing that really struck me?

COLLINS: Yes, I have so many questions. OK, go ahead.

GUPTA: Her dad was on stand-by the entire operation to be a living donor should she need it.

COLLINS: Wow.

GUPTA: Incredible story. Incredible father/daughter sort of story.

COLLINS: And so wait, what would they -- what would they have been able to take from him?

GUPTA: Maybe the liver, if for some reason they couldn't get the liver back in, then they have taken a piece of his liver and put it back into her. Can you imagine what that must have been like for that dad to just stay in there?

COLLINS: No. Twenty-three hours standing by.

GUPTA: Twenty-three hours just waiting and, you know, waiting to see what would happen.

COLLINS: So clearly there's -- obviously, it's ridiculous to say a lot of science, a lot of medicine that went on here to make this body function without those organs.

How do they do that? I know they created like you said this pouch for the stomach?

GUPTA: They created a pouch for the stomach. But the biggest rate limiting step here was probably the liver. They needed to get the liver in and out as quickly as possible. So while the operation took 23 hours, they probably shortened the amount of time that she was without a liver as much as possible.

Sort of think of it like operating on an engine of a car while the engine is still running. You don't want to stop the car. You got to keep it still running, slow it down as much as possible, and trying to do your repair work as quickly as possible. That was the goal.

Same surgeon, by the way, did this on an adult last year. This is the first time he's done it on a child. And as far as we can tell from our research this morning, maybe the first time it's been done on a child, period.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, and that's what I was going to ask you. Because you said the first time on a child you and I just didn't remember it ever happening on anybody.

GUPTA: Yes.

COLLINS: Because it's so incredible. Well, we will continue to follow her progress. Yes?

GUPTA: She's cute.

COLLINS: Yes. She's adorable.

GUPTA: She's doing well.

COLLINS: Yes. Wish her the luck of the world, definitely.

GUPTA: Yes.

COLLINS: Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: Dealing with an unemployment emergency. Truckloads of aid coming to Elkhart, Indiana this morning. We'll tell you why and we'll talk with the mayor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: The Dow and S&P 500 hit new 12-year lows yesterday, but that could give investors a reason to buy stocks today.

Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange now with details on what we are expecting to happen.

I don't know. Stephanie, what do you think?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm thinking we may have a better opening here, after weeks...

COLLINS: OK.

ELAM: I know, I know. I realize it's very difficult after weeks of unrelenting selling. We're expecting a good rally today, at least at the open. Obviously, things can change during the day but right now, we're looking for a solid start.

In the meantime, reassuring news as Citigroup is helping to lift bank stocks. In a letter to employees, Citi's CEOs said that in the first two months of the year the embattled bank had an operating profit more than $8 billion. The letter is encouraging investors who had said Citi stocks tumbling under $1 a share just last week.

And in the auto sect, Ford union workers approved contract concessions like freezing wages and allowing the automaker to pay into a union-run health care trust with stocks instead of cash. The agreement could serve as a template for GM and Chrysler. This comes as Fed chief Ben Bernanke speaks about overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system.

He also said major financial institutions would not be allowed to fail. So we got the beginning numbers here. Let's take a look. The Dow up 24 points, 6583. NASDAQ better by more that 1.5 percent already. And the S&P 500 up 2 points right now. So we'll be keeping our eyes on that.

And finally, Heidi, one thing I got to tell you about. We talked about it last week, but any time we can help out people looking for jobs, it's worth repeating.

COLLINS: Yes.

ELAM: All 1,600 FedEx office locations are offering free resume printing today. Each customer can get free 25 copies of their resume so you can head on out to any of those stores and get your copies and get out there.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. That's a nice idea. Stephanie Elam, thank you. We'll check back later on.

ELAM: Thanks.

COLLINS: To Capitol Hill now. Time and money are running out. The reason? An emergency measure to provide five days of money for the government is now on day four.

Today, the Senate is expected to pass a long-term spending bill worth about $410 billion. Republican lawmakers had held up the measure mainly because it includes some 8,000 pet projects they consider wasteful. Those wasteful spending projects also known as pork. What's the deal with all those earmarks?

CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Last year, John McCain vowed to end earmarks for special interest projects that members of Congress add to spending bills, often at the requests of lobbyists or contributors.

Barack Obama said...

OBAMA: I want earmarks reform just like John McCain does.

SCHNEIDER: Congress now has to vote on this year's budget. What's in it?

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We've got 9,000 earmarks that the House passed last week, $7.7 billion. Four thousand of those earmarks are from Republicans.

SCHNEIDER: Republicans say they're changing their ways.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: Leader John Boehner and I have taken a public position advocating that all of our members adopt a moratorium on earmark spending.

SCHNEIDER: It's old business, the White House says. We'll be good from now on.

PETER ORSZAG, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: Would we like to get the earmarks down further? Yes. Would we like to make them more transparent? Yes. Will that happen in the future? Yes.

We've been in office less than eight weeks. This was negotiated before we came into office.

SCHNEIDER: House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer said it would undermine the constitutional responsibilities of Congress if it were to, quote,"...abandon its right to add items that it believes are priorities for our country and for the communities we represent." Hoyer added, "I don't think the White House has the ability to tell us what to do. I hope you all got that down."

McCain insists the process has gotten out of control.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm saying that the process is broken completely, and many of these earmarks are put in without anyone's knowledge. We have recently, in the last few weeks, had people indicted who were involved in this process. It's corruption.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Indeed, some earmarks in the current bill were added last year by lawmakers who have since been indicted for corruption or retired or lost their bid for re-election or died! But the earmarks live on. In Congress, there is life after death.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A city in need. Dealing with the devastating effects of this slumping economy. We are talking about Elkhart, Indiana. It's home to most of the nation's RV manufacturing. President Obama you may remember was there about a month ago to talk about the loss of jobs. Today, truckloads of food aid are coming in. It's a charity for the growing number of unemployed.

So joining me this morning to talk a little bit more about the situation in Elkhart is our mayor there, Dick Moore. Still setting up the camera there, as you can see.

Mr. Mayor, if you can hear me OK now -- are you there with me?

MAYOR DICK MOORE, ELKHART, INDIANA: Yes, I am.

COLLINS: OK. Terrific. I just wonder if you can give us your first thoughts when you consider what's happening today in your city. I mean, you're seeing food aid arrive. I'm imagining it's something you've never seen before?

MOORE: Well, it certainly is. And it's one of those things where it seems like we have to get into a problem too often, but it brings out the best of us. And this is what we're seeing here today. People helping people. And, you know, we're very, very appreciative of feed the children coming in here. We've had many organizations had been coming into Elkhart and helping us, especially, you know, on a temporary basis of providing food to our food banks and to our shelters. So just a great, great thing for us to have.

COLLINS: Yes. It's really a remarkable thing. Mainly because when we look at some of the numbers here, which we should probably remind everybody of the situation, we're talking about an 18.3 percent unemployment rate. That's for January. Now, with the population that you have there, just under 200,000, again, this is for Elkhart County, it's about 35,000 people who are unemployed in that county alone. How much will this help? How much will this food aid help?

MOORE: Well, it helps, you know? There's a lot of things that we have to do. You know, we're helping ourselves as well. But, yes, it's a big help. You know, every one of these boxes I understand feeds a family for a week. You know, we have people coming to our food banks who have never had to do that before. You know? They regret the fact that they do, but you do what you have to do. So, you know, our food banks have been drained and strained to the point of needing this kind of help. So this is just a great time for us to have an organization like this come in and attempt to re-supply us.

COLLINS: Mayor, quickly, who qualifies to get some of this aid.

MOORE: Well, it's my understanding that vouchers were distributed. People had to show their requirements and their need for the food. Vouchers have been distributed to the various churches and other organizations around Elkhart County. And with that voucher will get you the box of food or the number of boxes of food that you need.

COLLINS: Yes. You know what? It was almost exactly a month ago, obviously. I'm sure you won't forget the day that President Obama was there in Elkhart, Indiana. Are you surprised or disappointed that one month later, this is still the situation and that you're seeing what you're seeing today?

MOORE: No. If I understand you, I'm not surprised at all. We've got somewhere to go yet. In the City of Elkhart, we are at 20 percent unemployment. That means that one out of every 5 of our work force is unemployed and needs some additional assistance. So, no, I'm not surprised.

We will probably face a little bit more downturn before we face an upturn, but we're going to see that upturn. And we are doing everything we can to attract people to relocate here, to bring business here, and also working diligently with the stimulus program, the American Recovery Act to do everything we can here for Elkhart, Indiana.

COLLINS: As a mayor, though, I bet people come to you all the time, don't they? And they want to hear some encouraging words from you, too. What are you able to tell some of the people of your city when you talk to them?

MOORE: I didn't quite understand the question.

COLLINS: What are you able to tell people of your city when they come to you, and they say, Mr. Mayor, you know, this is -- this is really tough, I need to hear some encouraging words.

MOORE: Well, you know, we have an awful lot to offer here. We're sending out letters currently across this country telling people what we have to offer. Obviously, right now, we have a ready, willing, able work force ready to go to work, so, you know, we're saying come and take a look at us. You know, we've got a really great community here, a really great people as you can see by what's happening here this morning. So come and take a look at us. We're ready to go to work, and one of the things we have to do in Elkhart County and city is diversify and bring in industries that are not quite so dependent upon what we have here currently.

COLLINS: Understood.

MOORE: And that industry is coming back, too.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we certainly wish you and the people of your county and city the best of luck in Elkhart, Indiana. Mayor Dick Moore, thanks again for your time. Sure do appreciate it.

The economy now taking a toll on children, too. A new study says one in 50 will experience homelessness. That 1.5 million children, that's how many we're talking about. It may actually be getting worse with the downturn now.

Here's a look at a map for you. States are ranked by child homelessness, child well-being and the risk of future homelessness. Texas is at the bottom. Followed by Georgia and Arkansas. Connecticut, New Hampshire and Hawaii are on the good end of that list.

During these tough economic times, people are trying to eat at home on a budget, and that can really be a challenge. Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi guest hosted on "LARRY KING LIVE" and talked to TV cooking host Rachel Ray about how to stretch a dollar without sacrificing taste and nutrition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL RAY, TALK SHOW HOST: We need to go back to the way our grandparents prepared food. Instead of buying pieces of chicken, buy a whole chicken. You make that on Sunday, take the leftovers, roll that into fajitas, soups, stews, make your own stock. You've got to start thinking in bigger increments.

And then, you know, just little things like everybody has a loose change jar. It can be as simple as the whole family putting loose change into one common jar once a week or once every other week. You take it to the coin star at the bank or at the grocery store and make it your good food fund. That's the week that you can really stock up on lean meats and proteins, on veggies that you know your family likes and turn yourself into your own frozen food factory.

Every time that chicken breast goes on sale, stock up. Go home, put it in individual storage bags, pound it out nice and thin. It's a quick defrost. And that's -- you know, one of those little tips that can really go a long way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Some good tips there. Rachel Ray on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night. Ali Velshi filling in. We are waiting for the president. He is about to unveil a plan for education reform. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.

And authorities say a gunman had designs on killing more than just a pastor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Flooding causing serious problems in parts of the Midwest. In Michigan, at least 36 homes had to be evacuated in one town due to ice jams. Massive mountains of ice causing -- cause I should say from flooding. State police said some homes had ice nearly 12 feet deep inside.

Heavy rain may bring more flooding to northern Ohio. Water is at the doorstep of many homes and businesses there. The flooding has forced some people to evacuate. Dozens of roads were closed. Probably made that very difficult.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Hey, listen, stick around for this.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEROLOGIST: OK.

COLLINS: Because I know you were down there covering Ike in Galveston. So they're rebuilding some of the beaches there for spring break now. The city of Galveston, Texas working hard to get the beaches ready for the college kids. The area devastated, as you may remember, by Hurricane Ike back in September. Moving tons of sand around. The plan is getting rave reviews from shop owners who, of course, count on spring breakers' business.

I don't know, it looks like they're just moving it around? They didn't have to shift in the end or anything.

MARCIANO: I don't know. They lost quite a bit of it. But, you know, typically in a storm it goes from one end of the peninsula or island in this case to another end. So hopefully they were just able to move it around. Most of the northern end of the island is where the kind of the low-land beach communities are. That was what was most affected. And then you go across the bay towards the boulevard peninsula, where some serious homes were knocked out -- hundreds of homes knocked out.

COLLINS: I remember.

MARCIANO: So that will take much longer to recover, but we're already getting the sand in there and getting the kids down there for spring break certainly is a nice start. COLLINS: Get the economy going again. Definitely. All right, Rob, thank you. We'll check back later on with you.

MARCIANO: Sounds good.

COLLINS: Any moment now, President Obama going to be talking about the first part of his plan to change American schools. The focus -- on new approaches to help both students and teachers. But it won't be cheap. His economic recovery plan budgets $41 billion in grants to local school districts. $79 billion for states facing cuts in aid. Another $21 billion to modernize the schools. And $35 billion for building schools and training teachers.

We're keeping an eye out for the president, of course, so just as soon as he begins speaking, we will take you there live.

Emergency food aid for one American city hit hard by the bad economy, and trying to cope with rising unemployment.

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COLLINS: We are learning more now about the man charged with the shooting and killing of a pastor in Illinois, including evidence he may have targeted others in the church. CNN's Jim Acosta now with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors say a day planner found in Terry Sedlacek's home marked Sunday as "Death Day." And investigators now say he came prepared to deliver, carrying enough ammunition to kill 30 people. He managed to fire four rounds, the first deflected by Pastor Fred Winters' Bible, another hitting the man most called Pastor Fred in the heart. After that, the gun jammed and Sedlacek was tackled by two men who jumped from the pews.

KEITH MELTON, SUBDUED ATTACKER IN CHURCH SHOOTING: I just ran and got behind the guy, managed to get my arms around him and pull him off the pastor. That's, you know, and then the struggle there somewhere within that struggle he was able to stab me.

ACOSTA: Investigators think Sedlacek arrived early, parking his jeep closed to the door. Once inside, witnesses say he walked straight down the aisle right up to the pastor.

MELTON: As we were enjoying our church service, this gentleman just walked in, walked straight down the center aisle of the church, up to our pastor and our pastor paused to greet him and asked him if he could do anything for him and he opened fire.

ACOSTA: Investigators still aren't sure if the two knew each other. In an article published last August, Sedlacek's mother told the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" her son had been diagnosed as mentally ill in high school and at one point had been taking up to 18 pills a day. Neighbors say they would sometimes see him running around like a ninja.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His karate moves and stuff and yelling and screaming.

ACOSTA: The church says it's keeping Sedlacek in its prayers, even sending a pastor to visit his family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We actually pray for him. We pray that he apparently has a second chance.

ACOSTA: On the church's Web site, members have been posting memories of Pastor Fred, part of it with growing the congregation through his almost 22 years there. And his sermon Sunday was about finding happiness, similar to the one he delivered just a week before his death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, get happy. And we've been talking about keys to happiness in our life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Wow. Jim Acosta joining us now from Washington this morning. So, Jim, the mother of the gunman blamed her son's mental illness on Lyme Disease. Is that possible? I know they found out about this sort of after the fact.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's a strange claim, Heidi. And we asked our CNN medical unit about it, and they say, as well as the experts say, that this kind of link is sort of strange and unusual. The CDC is even throwing cold water on this, saying that it's not really possible. Lyme Disease can result in some neurological issues, but mental illness is not one of them. I read a quote from one expert out there who said, Lyme disease does not cause people to shoot people, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, OK. All right. Well, obviously, from your reporting, and some of these details that will come out now, it sounds like the situation could obviously have been much worse.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. If those two men had not jumped in there and stopped this man from doing what he was about to do, this would have been a much worse situation. There would have been much more bloodshed. Now, those two parishioners are saying, we're not heroes, we just did what we had to do in that moment.

COLLINS: Yes.

ACOSTA: But their community thinks otherwise. And it's just remarkable to see this church community and the way they're expressing their grief, they're even trying to reach out to the gunman's family, which is a remarkable expression of their faith, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, especially this early on.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

COLLINS: All right, well, good for them, and thinking of them today, obviously. Jim Acosta for us in Washington. Thanks so much, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet.

COLLINS: Soldiers have swarmed into cities and villages in Tibet, and much of western China on alert now. Today marks 50 years since the failed uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama has been in exile ever since. Today the spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhist described his homeland as, quote, "Hell on earth under the Chinese." Thousands of young Tibetans have marches across India, South Korea and Australia.

Actor and human rights activist Richard Gere says what's happening in Tibet should make all Americans stop and think. He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer yesterday, it's a very small world and we all have to live together. He has high expectations of President Obama who, by the way, I understand is making his way into the room.

We're going to be hearing more about his education plan. Let's go ahead and listen in to what he has to say.

(LIVE COVERAGE CONTINUED IN FULL IN FOLLOWING HOUR OF CNN NEWSROOM)