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Midwest City Stages Food Giveaway For Unemployed Citizens; Team Obama Rolled Out A Frenzied First 50 Days Tackling Country's Problems, Contentious Issues; Senate's Spending Bill Chock Full Of 8,500 Earmarks From Both Democrats - And Republicans.

Aired March 10, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We head to the heartland to push forward on the economic crisis, with the unemployment twice the national rate. An emergency food drop draws a crowd. Our Susan Roesgen live from Elkhart, Indiana.

And to remove her cancer, they had to remove her organs. Six of them taken from a little girl's body. Three of them put back in.

I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Americans feeding Americans, pushing back against hunger in the heartland. Elkhart, Indiana has been a poster city of this recession. It's hoping for recovery, but today, folks are ling up for charity. Our Susan Roesgen is there. Susan, what's it like now?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, after nearly three hours of a steady crawl, you can see the cars are gone. We are now at the end of this give-away. Thousands of pounds of food and toiletries - things that people need to get by, because so many people here have lost their jobs. Kyra, you called this sort of a poster city for this country today in the recession, and that's probably because President Obama came here just a few days after the inauguration to talk about what he was going to try to do to pull this country up out of recession.

I want you to meet one of the people here, who got some of the food today. This is Cathy Trost and her daughter. Cathy, tell us about what's happening to you. You lost your job how long ago?

CATHY TROST, WAITING FOR FOOD: I lost my job right before Christmas, at a day care. I've worked there for 14, almost 15 years.

ROESGEN: What did that do to you? And what are you looking for now? Are you actually looking for work?

TROST: Yes. And it's very difficult. Day care has been hit really hard. People don't think about that. But it's the trickle down that people lose their jobs, and they pull their children out of day care to take them to other friends and relatives. They get vouchers. And that will cover the expenses.

ROESGEN: I know you're just one person here today, but if you could kind of sum up for us what life is like now in this city? A city of 200,000 people, I know that, RVs, recreational vehicles, is a main industry here. And yet as you mentioned, other industries are suffering because not so many people can afford to buy an RV these days. What's it like for your neighbors, your family and the town as a whole?

TROST: It's kind of depressing, I suppose. My son-in-law, my husband have their hours cut back. I know people that are losing their homes. They have to move out of apartments because they just can't afford the rent. And it's very difficult. So I hope some things pick up now because of this.

ROESGEN: Do you see a light at the end of the tunnel? Have we hit bottom yet?

TROST: No, I always see light at the end of the tunnel. Obama's visit helped a lot to get the ball rolling, I hope. So, all over the country, I just have to think things are going to happen and it will turn around.

ROESGEN: You've got to think that way. Thank you, Cathy.

I see that you got some of the food. I want to show folks what they got here today. These were 25-pound boxes. Looks like we've just got a few more people here, Kyra, coming in. So you've got cornflakes, and macaroni and cheese, and mayonnaise and different sorts of canned vegetables and fruit.

One more thing, Kyra, this was a food give-away organized by Feed the Children. They call themselves a Christian nonprofit organization. They're not affiliated with any church in particular, but here's one little thing that folks got in these packages. It just says, there is hope. And it says whatever your hardships may be, even if it seems it gets longer by the minute, remember that God overcomes tragedies. And it also talks about, you know, you might be saying, why me? Why anybody? I think in this day and age there's no shame in being unemployed. Lots of people are. It could happen to any of us at any time. So people here just grateful to have free food and a little bit of hope, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Grateful, humble and also full of faith. Susan, thanks so much.

Health and education, war on terror, recovery and reinvestment, a frenzied 50 days for the new administration. It only sets the stage for the next 50, and the 40 plus months after that. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux looks at team Obama's many works in progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Out of the gate, a bold agenda. Some say too ambitious. Check out the scorecard. One of President's 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 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 SR. 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.

(On camera): And the new president has until the next 50 days with challenges that are equally daunting. With the market tanking and more Americans losing their homes and jobs. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The daily briefing at the White House is scheduled to get underway a short time from now. Probably around 2:30 Eastern Time. We'll listen to it live as soon as it gets underway.

Rare smiles on Wall Street as investors celebrate surging stocks. Taking a look at the Big Board, right now, Dow industrials continues to go up, 301 points right now. That climb started after troubled Citigroup said it operated at a profit during the first two months of the year.

And time is running out on a $410 billion battle on Capitol Hill. It's not another bailout or stimulus, but fairly routine budget business that should have been done months ago. One of the sticking points? Well, of course, pay hikes for lawmakers and pork. CNN's Brianna Keilar watching it all for us. Brianna, what happens if this thing just falls apart?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senate Democratic leaders say they're confident that they have the votes that will move this through a key vote this afternoon. It's expected to be close, however, Kyra. And one of the big issues that Republicans are railing against in this are the earmarks in this spending bill; 8,500 earmarks there are, in this.

But some Democrats say that their Republican's objections, are really disingenuous, because 40 percent of the earmarks in this spending bill are indeed Republican earmarks. And some of the Republicans who are railing against all of this so-called pork themselves have millions of dollars of earmarks in this spending bill, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: The other sticking point, of course, lawmakers' pay raises.

KEILAR: Yes, Senator David Vitter, Republican from Louisiana, is proposing an amendment that would change the way Congress gets its annual cost of living increase. The last cost of living increase was $4,700. Right now they get it automatically. Members of Congress are very happy to not have to go each year on the record with a vote, asking to give themselves a higher salary. And Vitter wants them to do exactly that.

This puts Democrats in a tough spot, however, because they don't want to change this spending bill as it comes through the Senate. Even though there are these Republican amendments. But imagine the signal it sends, Kyra, to vote against an amendment like this, being willing to go on the record for a pay raise when so many Americans are losing their jobs. Really paints Democrats into a corner.

PHILLIPS: Point well made. Brianna, thanks so much.

It's not something you want to see crashing into your home that's for sure. High winds actually pushed this ice into a neighborhood along Lake Huron, in Michigan. More than 30 homes had to be evacuated. We'll tell you what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a pretty incredible sight. It's all along Lake Huron in Michigan right now, more than 30 homes were damaged after high winds pushed huge chunks of ice over the sea wall. In some of those homes, the ice actually crashed right through the windows. No reports of any injuries, thank goodness. Jacqui, those are pretty incredible pictures.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Isn't it amazing?

PHILLIPS: I've been at it all morning and all afternoon. Yes, it's pretty - you don't -once you explained to me what happened, I got it. But I wonder if this has ever happened before to these folks living right there by the lake?

JERAS: I don't know about these people, in particular, but this phenomenon has happened before.

Look at that, that's up to the roof. That is some deep snow. Thankfully -snow, or Ice -it looks like snow, but it's ice believe it or not. I can't believe nobody got injured. But I guess some windows got broken out from the force of this. This is, like you said, off of Saginaw Bay, there you can see it, the town of Linwood.

I've got a Google Earth animation, actually, if you want to look at that instead. It's a little bit cooler because we can zoom in here.

What happened is that the winds were really, really strong out of the north-northeast over the weekend and yesterday. And so they come in off the lake, and they create big waves in the middle. Well, near the shoreline, everything's frozen up because it's winter, right? Well, those waves help break up the ice and then when the wind was so strong, it pushed them from the shore right into these houses. Sitting right here. Just an incredible thing.

I guess it happens a little more frequently when the water levels are a little higher. We haven't seen something like this in a really, really long time, some incredible stuff.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

PHILLIPS: A city can't live on sin alone. Las Vegas' big money is business conventions and meetings. But the recession has companies canceling left and right. The city's "what happens here, stays here" rep isn't helping either. What to do? Show the world you mean business. That's the message that Terry Jicinsky at the Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority is trying to get across.

What gave you this idea? Do we have the newspaper by chance? There we go. I want to actually -- this is what triggered the idea, Terry. We were in our morning meeting and we were going through the newspaper. And boom, "Open Letter From Las Vegas". It all drew or caught our attention. What triggered this idea to do this ad campaign to try and convince people to start coming to Vegas more?

TERRY JICINSKY, LAS VEGAS CONVENTION & VISTORS AUTHORITY: Well, you know it is very important to the Las Vegas economy that the conventions and meetings industry is healthy. And as we've gone through changes in the economy, as well as what's happening in Washington, D.C., some of our convention business started falling off. So it's important for us as a community to talk to our consumers, and our attendees that Las Vegas is still a viable place to have a meeting.

PHILLIPS: Terry, I was doing my research. Goldman Sachs Technology, that conference canceled. Wells Fargo, Citibank, cancelled, State Farm, cancelled, Automotive Market Research Council, canceled. Just last month alone, I guess, 30,000 hotel room nights booked for conferences canceled. An estimated $2 million lost to that city.

What triggered this? Is it because of the economy and the backlash against so many of these junkets and trips that financial institutions are taking, and they just don't want to risk the bad publicity?

JICINSKY: It's a combination of a lot of things. It's part the economy, part the backlash about the perceptions. So the story has to be told that Las Vegas is not only a good place to have business, but in fact it's a value proposition, right now. And one of the best places to have a business from our price point.

PHILLIPS: Also, too, the president of the United States mentioned Las Vegas. Let's go ahead and take a listen to what he said not too long ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas, or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime. There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Whew! And I know your mayor reached out to the Obama administration and said, please don't paint us as an irresponsible place to visit. Don't name names. We contacted the White House. Apparently, Obama did not apologize. There was no retraction of any kind. How do you think that affected your tourism and your conventions after he said that?

JICINSKY: You know, it's important to note that what President Obama said was on the taxpayer dime. So there's hundreds and hundreds, and in fact, thousands of businesses that come to Las Vegas for meetings that are not on the taxpayer dime. So it's that audience that we want to make sure is still coming to Las Vegas. So those businesses that are receiving TARP money, maybe they shouldn't be taking trips anywhere. But those businesses that are working with their own cash, they should be part of the solution. In fact, travel can stimulate the economy and make sure people in the tourism industry stay employed.

PHILLIPS: All right. Terry Jicinsky, let us know what happens. We've talked about the advertisement. I want to see if it creates any new business and if people are having a little bit more faith to come back. I appreciate your time.

JICINSKY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: The surgery was so risky, it could have killed her. But not doing it would have meant certain death. An update on the little girl who had six organs taken out, and three put back in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Is your credit card company trying to jack up your rates? Or are you looking to refinance? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis answering your questions with her team at the CNN Help Desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: We want to get you answers to your financial questions. Let's go straight to the Help Desk.

Manisha Thakor is a personal finance expert, and the author of "On My Own Two Feet". John Simons is senior personal finance editor with "Black Enterprise" magazine; and David Bach is the author of "Fight For Your Money."

The first question comes from James, who says: "I received changes to two of my credit cards, switching from very low-fixed rates to variable rates amounting to a 57 percent and 130 percent increase. Outrageous! They give time to reject the increases, but will the rejection hurt my credit score?" -- David.

DAVID BACH, AUTHOR, "FIGHT FOR YOUR MONEY": It depends. Look, if the person has credit cards and they're not using them, they can keep the account open, what difference does the interest make? If he's got a debt and he's got a high interest rate, well, then obviously he wants the lowest interest rate possible. There's two things he can do. He can opt out. He can call the company and see if they'll give him the lower rate. Just because they sent you the notice doesn't mean that is the only deal you can get. Third thing is you can transfer the debt to a lower interest rate credit card. I got 10 offers for low- interest rate credit cards in the last two weeks.

WILLIS: Yes.

BACH: The banks are still offering these teaser rates and they're available to you.

WILLIS: And that is ammunition. All right, next question. Ah, the writer is anonymous, "We currently have a fixed-rate mortgage at 6.6 percent and are working with a broker for a fixed rate mortgage at 4.5 percent, that will reduce our term by 15 years. The broker, though, is looking at Citibank. Should we wait to refinance until the banks are more solvent? Should we specifically avoid Citibank?" -- John, it's a great question.

JOHN SIMONS, SR. PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR, "BLACK ENTERPRISE": I don't think you should avoid Citibank. They are still a going concern. They're looking for customers. They're looking to retain their present customers.

If someone takes them over, someone will take over their business. I think what makes Citi attractive right now is they recently instituted this program where they will allow people, who lose their jobs, to reduce their mortgage payments by $500 a month. They're clearly doing things to attract and keep customers. So I wouldn't steer clear of them at all.

WILLIS: Manisha, this one is for you. Joshua asks: "We already e-filed our 2008 taxes and are going to be purchasing a home within the next few months. We're first-time buyers. So when will the $8,000 tax credit that has come back to us, will this change the interest rate deductions made on our mortgage?"

MANISHA THAKOR, AUTHOR, "ON MY OWN TWO FEET": Three quick things, all good news. First of all, it runs from January 1st to December 1st, not 31st. Second, it's a credit, so a dollar-for-dollar reduction.

WILLIS: We love that.

THAKOR: Huge. Third, it does not affect your ability to benefit from the mortgage interest deduction so long as you itemize your taxes.

WILLIS: Oh, we're big fans of itemizing.

All right. Well, guys, great answers to tough questions. The Help Desk is all about getting you answers. Send me an e-mail to Gerri @ cnn.com. Or log on to cnnmoney.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions. And of course, the Help Desk is everywhere. Make sure to check out the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If your idea of the homeless is panhandlers on the street, think again. Women, the elderly, even children are out on the street right now. A new report lays out some pretty shocking stats; one in 50 children in America will experience homelessness.

The authors estimate 1.5 million kids were homeless at some point in 2005 and 2006. And those numbers have almost certainly spiked from all these foreclosures and layoffs. The report found that Connecticut has the best system in place to address the problem. The worst state? Texas.

We're pushing forward and through the doors of the Covenant House. The non-profit works to help homeless young people who have fallen through the cracks, becoming what the system calls throwaways.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOANNA JOSEPH, COVENANT HOUSE RESIDENT: I tried. I tried. I tried.

PHILLIPS (voice over): Nineteen-year-old Joanna Joseph finally has a place to call home.

JOSEPH: This is my kitchen table. PHILLIPS: Joanna is in the final stage of completing an independent living program, designed by the Covenant House to get homeless young people off the streets.

MAXINE SHOULDERS BRANDON, EXEC. DIR., COVENANT HOUSE OF GEORGIA: They stabilize, move on into our Rights of Passage apartment living, which is an independent living program, because the kids can stay with us up to two to five years. And then take the keys over and actually have their own apartment. So they won't face adult homelessness.

JOSEPH: Me and my mom couldn't get along for nothing in the world, like we were just always -- just disagreeing on everything. My father and I we never really had a connection. We barely even spoke. I barely even see him.

PHILLIPS: Joanna, a Miami native, has seen her share of hardship. After shuttling between homes, she eventually ended up in the streets of Atlanta at the age of 18.

JOSEPH: It was upsetting because I had to get used to a new environment. I had --no one wanted me. Like how does that, like I have a like a large family and no one wanted to take me in. No one felt my pain. It was very hurtful. My mom just telling me, you can't stay with her. Stuff like that.

This used to be --

PHILLIPS: The director of Georgia Covenant House has dealt with countless cases of young people facing similar situations. Many child care agencies label these kids as throwaways.

BRANDON: A parent may say, to a daughter, I got a new boyfriend. And the mother actually feels like her daughter is a threat to her and her boyfriend's relationship. And she will say, you need to leave. So she will choose her mate over a child.

JOSEPH: Just before Covenant House, there were days without food. Because you know, it was a six to six shelter.

PHILLIPS: While staying in a women's shelter, Joanna got a break when a counselor suggested Covenant House as a solution. She's one of the lucky few.

BRANDON: The predators who are sexually trafficking our young ladies across the state lines, and they're abusing them in the strip clubs. And our young kids get caught up in it, if we don't get them off the streets in 48 hours.

PHILLIPS: Her life is back on track and Joanna credits her success to Covenant House.

BRANDON: She not only went through the crisis cycle and took classes and things to work on her anger management, she then went out and she got employment and now she's enrolled in college, going for her nursing degree. So she is one of our rising stars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, you need a job? Uncle Sam wants you. And these days, not just for the Army, thousands of government jobs are open, with thousands more being created. Gerri's live with some more tips.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, forget layoffs. There's one employer that actually added 9,000 jobs last month. In all, the U.S. government's got about 39,000 job openings. The trick is getting one of them. Let's go ahead and bring in personal finance editor Gerri Willis to talk about this USAJOBS.GOV. We want to talk about the important parts of that website Gerri and what people should know about it. I was reading an article this morning, we started talking about wow, there was a time where no one wanted to work for the government because long hours, no pay and now we're finding out its pretty popular. But the question is, Gerri, do you need some sort of contact even to get one of these jobs because that's the talk. People sign up and they don't ever hear from anybody.

WILLIS: Well, you know, look, it always helps to have a contact no matter where you're going. The inside is always better than coming in from the outside, absolutely true. But I have to tell you, this website really gives you a leg up if you're looking for a job particularly a government job. Usajobs.gov, you go to that home page, and you said 39,000, today its 42,265 jobs open. It's right on the home page.

PHILLIPS: Look at that. I'm there right now. You're absolutely right. Forgive me, because when that article was written there were 39,000. Now you see here, search jobs, 42,265 government opportunities.

WILLIS: And Kyra, you've got to think that number is only going up because of the stimulus package and how much money is being spent to hire federal workers, to do some of these things that we want to get done, the green jobs, the expansions to state government. There are going to be more and more people. The good news here, Kyra, is that it's not just jobs in Washington, D.C., they are all over the country.

PHILLIPS: Let's go there.

WILLIS: Scroll down a little bit.

PHILLIPS: Right here. All the occupations pop up.

WILLIS: Fantastic.

PHILLIPS: Ok, here we go. It says here, it's even got the number of openings. For example, office clerk assistant, 5,638 jobs. All the way down to range technician, auditors, forestry technicians, medical officer.

WILLIS: But Kyra, think about this, 5,600 office clerks, 5600 jobs. These are jobs that are open right now. They're trying to find workers. They're listed on this website. You can find out about it. It is open to you. And it's not just all really low-paying jobs either. There are jobs for physicians that pay $200,000, $300,000. It all depends on exactly what you're looking for. You've got to match your skill set to what they do. They even have a little tool on this website that tells you what your public sector job title is. So if you're used to working in the private sector, you could even find out what your job title would be if you went to work for Uncle Sam. There's also some interesting stuff on here about -- under the info center tab. If you go to the top of the page, click through on the info tab.

PHILLIPS: I just did that, yep, I'm with you.

WILLIS: This tells you how to get these jobs because let's face it, you're probably used to going after those private sector jobs, working for corporations, getting a job with the government is a totally different thing. You may have to take a test. You have to fill out certain forms. Those forms can be filled out on this website. So you're really getting a leg up here. And it's helping you in instructing you how to actually go about getting this job at the end of the day.

I have to tell you, if you're used to the private sector, you're going to have to learn a few things to get a job in the public sector. But so much of this is on the website. One other thing I want to tell you, Kyra, there's even a job website, government job website for students.

PHILLIPS: Oh, really?

WILLIS: Yeah. So that's a great thing to know, too. If you're between years in college, maybe you're not done with your education. There are opportunities and you can link from this website as well, ton of information.

PHILLIPS: Help pay for college.

WILLIS: Help pay for college.

PHILLIPS: Parents need your help now.

WILLIS: That's right, you can look by occupation, you can look by location. Again, remember, these jobs are not only in Washington, they are all over the country, even all over the globe.

PHILLIPS: That's a good point. I was trying to find a job, I didn't see it in there, probably because it pays about $100,000 or something thousand dollars and it's a job in Hawaii, had something to do with saving the environment. I'm going to find it. I'm going to bring that back to our viewers. Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: I love that.

PHILLIPS: I'm going to Hawaii. Woo-hoo!

More job cuts while we're talking about job opportunities, there's also a lot of cuts to talk about too. United Technologies plans to slash about 11,600 jobs. The company makes jet engines, helicopters, elevators, air conditioners. Also we're hearing Delta Air lines may also start handing out pink slips. That's the world's largest carrier. It says it has to cut its international capacity by an additional 10 percent and that's because of the global recession.

The surgery was so risky, it could have killed her. But not doing it would have meant certain death. An update on a little girl who had six organs taken out and three put back in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: High-risk surgery for a seven-year-old girl, but doctors says it paid off. Heather McNamara was discharged from a New York hospital today after last month's daring operation. Doctors removed six organs from her abdomen in order to save her life. She had an inoperable baseball size tumor and the organs were removed to allow doctors to get to it. The lead surgeon admits that he was very nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TOMDAKI KATO, LEAD SURGEON: We were very under the pressure, because that if we can do this, she doesn't have much left. But on the other hand, we were very confident that we can do this surgery successfully. But in the same time we want to be prepared for everything. So we made the father as a potential donor, we worked him up completely, have him ready standby. So when we were doing surgery, he wasn't eating and he was waiting in case we need something. But that was more of a safety measure that we prepared just for in case something goes wrong. But, you know, previous examination of the film and everything, we were very confident that -- we can do this.

TINA MCNAMARA, MOTHER: We were stripped of all hope. When we came here, it was like, yes, we can do it. Ok, well then let's just get to it. And the confidence that Dr. Kato showed, it was like this is not even a question. I'm going to do it and this is going to happen. Granted, we knew negative things could possibly -- things could go wrong. But the confidence that he showed, I had no fear. I mean, I did, but I didn't.

HEATHER MCNAMARA, HAD TUMOR REMOVED: Thank you, Dr. Kato and the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you going to do?

H. MCNAMARA: Play with my dog angel. And play with my sister.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how does it feel to be going home?

H. MCNAMARA: Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to be out of the hospital, right? You can't wait to sleep in your own bed?

H. MCNAMARA: Actually, I'm sleeping with you guys. T. MCNAMARA: My husband and I just want to thank everybody with Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. We came here with no hope. We met Dr. Kato and Dr. Kara, actually Dr. Kara who actually took that frantic call from me. And we came here with no hope. And they gave us hope. Not only did they give us hope, I mean, it was a whole team. It wasn't just -- it was everybody that we met.

Dr. Limbreedo, Dr. Martinez, all the nurses. Everybody was just so helpful from start to finish. It was, I mean, the most amazing experience of all was knowing that she just wasn't a patient, they cared, everybody cared, it was about heather, you know, getting better and then they -- I don't even know what, other than thank you very, very much. Thank you for giving me back Heather from the bottom of our hearts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Doctors took out McNamara's spleen, liver, pancreas, small and large intestines and her stomach. The girl's stomach, pancreas and spleen couldn't be saved so they fashioned a pouch out of her intestines to actually hold food.

The countdown to spring doesn't mean anything. If you check the weather in the northern plains and upper Midwest, another big winter storm is burying parts of those regions with heavy snow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're seeing a rally throughout the day, we're pretty excited about it. Got up to 300 points at one point. Now the Dow industrials up about 295, which is fantastic, considering the drop that we've been experiencing in recent weeks.

Less than two weeks until spring, another blast of wintry weather. Howling winds, blinding snow shut down roads and schools in Fargo, North Dakota. No surprise Jacqui, right, that city is one of many in the northern plains and upper Midwest getting hit by a pretty powerful storm. It's so bad that sections of interstate 94 are shut down there in both of those areas of North Dakota and Minnesota. I guess it's -- what are we in --

JERAS: It's winter. It's March.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

JERAS: It happens, to a degree. But this is extreme. Even by, you know --

PHILLIPS: To actually shut down the interstate.

JERAS: Well they'll do it, they'll shut down ramps and things like that but to see over 100-mile stretch of I-94 -- which is such a main thoroughfare through there.

PHILLIPS: Not good for the economy because people can't get to work. JERAS: I know, lots of truckers go through there. Not good stuff.

PHILLIPS: What else is happening around the country?

JERAS: They're not recommending travel on I-29 now either in North Dakota. So check it out, you can see it on the map here. Really what I want to point out is where you see the really, really bright white bands in there. That's where the snow is coming down. A good inch-plus per hour. Here you see it right around Fargo and this is I-29 where they're saying you shouldn't travel from about Grand Forks down to the state line.

Like we said, you know, 10 plus inches of snow not that big of a deal. But when we're talking about wind gusts between 30 and 50 miles per hour, that is a blizzard and that is certainly a big problem. More populated areas like Minneapolis-St. Paul, you guys won't see quite as much snow maybe three to six inches. But brutally cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills tonight in the teens, below zero.

Now ahead of this system we're looking at some pretty, you know just some moderate rain showers across the area. But this part of the country is so saturated and so wet, we've been talking about the flood concerns in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio the last couple of days. Any little drop that comes down just runs off and aggravates things. So another one to two inches on top of what you already have.

This is pushing into the northeast. You guys have been dealing with two to three storms in the past week, too. So we're worried about flooding getting bad here. So you don't want to travel on the roads that have water over them. And you probably don't want to travel some of the airports today. Look at these delays, there you can see mostly between 30 and 40-minutes, which isn't the worst conditions. But here comes that cold air and a big change, Kyra. We've been loving the record highs across parts of the southeast that will come to an end about two days from now.

PHILLIPS: Jacqui, thanks.

Many of you broadcast your daily comings and goings on websites like Facebook and Twitter. Why not share your energy use, too. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "energy fix" from New York. Poppy are you doing all that? Are you twittering and facebooking?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: No. Everyone else is twittering. I am not twittering. I have to get on the Rick Sanchez boat and start twittering all day. I'm not, but you know Kyra you can do it to show how much energy you're using at home, at work. Your friends can hold you accountable if you are a power hog.

What we did about a week ago we visited the second annual greener gadget competition right here in New York. This little gadget is what took first place, it's called a tweet-a-watt. You probably never heard of it. But the designers say you can make it at home and they say it's pretty cheap too. What it is, it's just a power meter. You can buy at any hardware store or electronics store. You modify it, you add a little wireless device right inside there.

It costs about 10 bucks that device. And then it records your energy use and it broadcasts it over the internet on twitter, so your friends and family can see how much energy you're using. The designers they twitter every day. Look, right now they're using 346 watts of energy. That's about average for two people that work at home. We talked to them about the design. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP TORRONE, DESIGNER, TWEET-A-WATT: It's much like deciding to join a gym. As soon as you see your hot friend get off the treadmill, you're like, you know what, I want to lose some weight and fit into my clothes again. So I think that's kind of what happened. I think people are like, I want to kind of trim down my energy usage.

JILL FEHRENBACHER, CO-FOUNDER, GREENER GADGETS CONF.: Not just about using, but everyone you know seeing the energy consumption that you have. There's this whole factor of guilt involved with it as well or shaming you into doing the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I'm going to try to make one myself. If you want to, you can just go onto this website right there adafruit.com/tweetawatt and you can try and build one yourself. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: I was just trying to think, who in my life would care how much energy I'm using.

HARLOW: I'm going to spend all weekend on this, Kyra, and then I'm going to have you log on to tweet or twitter or whatever and see how much of a power hog I am.

PHILLIPS: We'll compare bills, how does that sound?

HARLOW: Sounds great.

PHILLIPS: All right great, thanks Poppy. Battered by the recession and the digital age, what some newspapers are being forced to do to survive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's another one of those you know you're in a recession when deals. A job fair so jam packed that organizers ended up telling people who didn't pre-register that they had to stay away. It actually happened today in Independence, Ohio. Apparently the traffic was spilling beyond the motel parking lot where the fair is being held. And some of the people who did get in waited in line there for two hours.

Battered and struggling to stay afloat, newspapers hit hard by the recession. It's the latest example, McClatchy Newspaper slashing an additional 1,600 jobs. The cost-cutting spree has cut nearly one- third of McClatchy's work force in less than a year. Among the chains 30 papers feeling the pain the most, the flagship "Sacramento Bee" and the "Kansas City Star." Now on top of the recession, newspapers are facing stiff competition from the internet. That's where the prize demographic of folks in their 20s and 30s are flocking, as well as precious classified ads.

The toll is pretty devastating. On its website, "Time" magazine actually has a list of the 10 major daily newspapers that are most likely to fold or shut down their print operations, and only publish online. We took the 10 papers that we've been reading about, 10 major newspapers that probably will either fold or go digital within the next few months, even the next year to year and a half.

Go ahead and start with "The Miami Herald." As you can see, according to the map, it's all across the country where this is happening. "The Miami Herald," circulation about 220,000. It has been on the market, we're told, since December. No serious bidders have emerged thus far. There's a very small chance it could merge with the "Sun Sentinel," but it's more likely "The Herald" will go online only with two editions, one of course for English and then the other for the Spanish speaking folks there.

Now the "San Francisco Chronicle", that's another one, "Chronicle" has lost as much as $70 million just last year. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of 2009, of course, this year.

Other newspapers you can see across the country. The "Chicago Sun-Times," "New York Daily News," the "Ft. Worth Star Telegram", also "The Boston Globe," "The Detroit News." Let's go ahead and take a look at "The Cleveland Plain Dealer." Here one of the economically weakest markets in the country, apparently, according to the information we've received about this paper, that the "Plain Dealer" will be shut, or actually go digital by the end of next year.

Any way, we'll keep track of all this. Rick Sanchez, I'll tell you what, nothing is like waking up, having that cup of Joe, having your newspaper, getting it all over your fingertips and just having it right there. You know, we old school folks love to do that.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Especially if it's "The Miami Herald." That's the newspaper I grew up with.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

SANCHEZ: I grew up -- every single day I would read it, especially during football season. I wanted to see if they had my stats on there when I played for Hialeah High School. I wanted to see if, you know, they had the catches I had in the games that week. That's when newspapers mattered.

PHILLIPS: You were looking at the party section for little Havana. Come on, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Hey listen, I've got an unbelievable story to share with you. This is tough, man. Imagine -- we always hear about suicide bombings, right, and what are they, some people make more out of them than they are or less out of them than they are. What does one actually look like at the moment of impact when it actually happens? Take a look at this.

We just got this a little while ago. This is a religious ceremony. These people were marching on a street in Sri Lanka when suddenly the bomb goes off. That's actually a person back there who ignited this thing. The bomb goes off. 14 people are killed. Believe it or not, we have the video. And with many, you know, disclaimers we're going to be showing it and letting people see it as well at the very top of our newscast.

But we thought that was just remarkable. And it's really -- it captures a moment in the life that we're all leading right now as we follow these stories that we talk about. But there it is, actually happening.

PHILLIPS: You know what, Rick, gosh, I can't -- it's hard to remember if it was this year or last year when I was in Baghdad, and I don't know if you remember the video that we got in. There was an interview going on as the Iraqi parliament was meeting. And a suicide bomber came up the back steps and exploded himself right there. And you saw everything go down behind his interview. The smoke fills up and people running around trying to get out of the building. It was the first time we ever saw something like that captured on video.

SANCHEZ: You know it makes a difference. A lot of people argue whether you should show that, or whether you shouldn't show that. I'll tell you, we agonize about these things an awful lot. But sometimes the best way to tell reality and truth is to show reality and truth. Is it not?

PHILLIPS: And you're going to do it at the top of the hour.

SANCHEZ: We are.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Rick.

Buy one, get one for $1? Sounds like a pretty great deal on some wheels or is it just great advertising? Our Mary Snow kicks the tires for you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Too many cars, too few customers. What's a dealer to do? Maybe try offering some unusual incentives. Here's CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sounds too good to be true. Buy a big truck at this Seattle dealership and you get a small car for $1.

CURT BUSH, MANAGER: We're not desperate in selling cars, what we're trying to do is get people knowing who we are and get people out and letting them know that there are good deals out there. SNOW: It certainly is a deal getting attention. But those who follow the industry say, read the fine print.

PETER DAPENA VALDES, CNNMONEY.COM: You're not getting a free car, believe me. From what I understand, with an incentive like this you pay full sticker price for a heavy-duty pickup truck, which first of all nobody's paying full sticker price for big trucks right now.

SNOW: Still, the Seattle dealership said it's made about a dozen sales since it promoted the deal last week. There have been a number of similar offers around the country.

JESSICA CALDWELL, ANALYST, EDMUNDS.COM: I think it absolutely is a sign of desperation at these dealerships. If you would have told someone two, three years ago, that you could buy a vehicle and get one free, I think most people would have thought you were crazy.

SNOW: Newspapers are flooded with incentives. Pick your payment reads this dealership ad. Mitsubishi touts a recovery program with 0 percent APR for 60 months in this ad. But it is Hyundai that has been gaining the most attention. Hyundai first offered to take a car back if you lose a job within a year. In February, it sweetened the deal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We expanded our Hyundai assurance so that if you lose your income, we'll make your payments for three months.

SNOW (on camera): For Hyundai there are signs this program is working. Its sales haven't been as bad as competitors. GM for one says it's looking at Hyundai's program as well as other incentives in order to boost sales. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, that does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.