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Campbell Brown

Bernard Madoff Expected to Plead Guilty; Obama Targets Education Reform

Aired March 10, 2009 - 20:00   ET

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

CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody.

We have got breaking news in one of the biggest financial crimes in modern history.

Bullet point one tonight: the man many consider the poster child for greed, alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, is expected to plead guilty later this week to 11 felony counts. That's what his lawyer told a New York judge today. It could bring a sentence of 150 years in prison, after Madoff was charged with fraud, money- laundering and perjury.

But is it enough? Remember, Madoff himself originally said he had ripped off a staggering $50 billion. So, where is the money? We are taking a NO BIAS, NO BULL look at the man so hated, he has worn a bulletproof vest into court.

And bullet point two tonight: President Obama takes on the challenge of overhauling our schools. It looks like he is squaring off with some, a large group of his own supporters, the powerful teachers unions. He is calling for tying teacher pay to students' performance, expanding charter schools, and longer school days and school years.

We are among those who think it is time the nation do something about our failing schools. We are going to take a long, NO BIAS, NO BULL look at the president's school plan.

And bullet point three tonight: You have heard about the outrageous abuse against pop star Rihanna. It has her boyfriend, Chris Brown, facing felony charges. Well, tonight, we are "Cutting Through The Bull." And if you are a parent, I want you to pay close attention to this. We just can't believe who is standing by him, despite the serious allegations he faces.

And bullet point number four: Where is all that stimulus money from good projects and to create jobs? Tonight, we follow the money to what many are calling a road to nowhere.

First, though, we are going to go right to our breaking news. It could be the first sign of justice for the man accused of taking the life savings from so many victims who thought they were making sound investments. They blame one man for that, Bernard Madoff.

He was in court this afternoon, and by the time he left, his lawyer had dropped a bombshell. On Thursday, Madoff will plead guilty to 11 felony counts, including money-laundering, perjury and fraud. Prosecutors say they didn't offer him a deal and that the charges could bring a sentence of 150 years in prison.

Our Randi Kaye is following the newest developments for us tonight -- Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people, Campbell, watching this case closely. And an awful lot of people are wondering tonight why Bernie Madoff would agree to plead guilty.

There are so many questions still about just how much his family knew. Madoff says he committed this fraud on his own, but prosecutors don't buy that. Here's what we know at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): This long, strange trip began early December. Bernard Madoff and his sons, both executives for the firm, huddle in his New York City penthouse.

He reportedly confesses to them he had been running a Ponzi scheme, that his business was a lie. His sons alert federal authorities. The next day, Madoff is arrested on one count of securities fraud for allegedly swindling investors out of approximately $50 billion. The man with homes all over the world and a yacht in France named Bull is released on $10 million bail.

(on camera): Here's how it went down. Federal investigators first pounce on Madoff's office on the 17th floor of Manhattan's famous Lipstick Building. There, they find $173 million in signed checks ready to be mailed. Then, they go after Madoff.

At the penthouse, reportedly in a bathrobe and slippers, he tells agents -- quote -- "There is no innocent explanation."

(voice-over): Instantly, Madoff becomes one of the most hated men in America. Investigators say Madoff preyed on wealthy, often Jewish investors and charities that didn't see past his too-good-to- be-true returns.

The names of thousands of Madoff's customers are made public, some well-known, actor Kevin Bacon and his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, and Holocaust Elie Wiesel. Wiesel lost his life savings. His charitable foundation lost more than $15 million.

ELIE WIESEL, NOBEL LAUREATE: Psychopath, it's too nice a word for him. I would simply call him thief, scum, criminal.

KAYE: Mid-December, Madoff is placed on home detention in his penthouse and given an electronic monitoring bracelet. Just before Christmas, this French money manager commits suicide. He had steered clients to Madoff. They reportedly lost more than $1 billion.

January, about two weeks later, Madoff is back in court, apparently now wearing a bulletproof vest. Prosecutors argue Madoff mailed gold and diamond jewels to friends and family to hide assets. By early February, given the magnitude of Madoff's alleged ripoff, everyone is asking, how did this go undetected so long, especially because this whistle-blower had been warning about Madoff for nearly a decade.

HARRY MARKOPOLOS, INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL FRAUD INVESTIGATOR: I gift-wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme in history to them.

KAYE: One week later, we learned Madoff's wife, Ruth, had withdrawn more than $15 million from a Massachusetts brokerage in the weeks before her husband's arrest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, Randi, what does seem to be the reasoning behind his decision to go ahead and enter this guilty plea later this week?

KAYE: Well, Campbell, to be clear, Madoff has not agreed to cooperate with federal investigators. The plea is not part of a bargain with prosecutors or an effort to get a reduced sentence.

It appears to many Madoff is trying to protect his wife, sons, other family members who worked at his firm. He essentially will take the fall here. He faces 150 years in prison, a life term for Madoff, who is 70 years old. And he faces fines up to double the amount of his clients' losses. So, those, Campbell, those fines could reach $100 billion.

BROWN: All right, Randi Kay for us tonight -- Randi, thanks.

And I want to bring in right now our senior legal another, Jeffrey Toobin, and chief business correspondent Ali Velshi.

And, Jeff, you have been following the story from the beginning. He didn't cut a deal here. He's just pleading guilty and essentially getting nothing in return. Are you surprised by that?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Not really. He had no choice, because the evidence was overwhelming against him. There was not a business here.

And he had made -- he admitted it to his son. I think he is sparing his family the trial. He is saving the money on defending a criminal case. But he also is trying to absorb as much of the fall himself, hoping that, by cutting the investigation off this way, it will not implicate others around him, perhaps his son, perhaps his wife.

BROWN: And, Ali, at this point, investigators have only found $1 billion, I guess, of the money.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BROWN: Any chance, you think, they're going to find any more?

VELSHI: It's going to take a long time. There's very little incentive, as Jeff was saying, for Bernie Madoff to give them more of a scent on the jail, because he is going to go to jail. He has admitted his guilt. He is going to go to jail for a long time.

There's nobody else involved in this. I think back to Enron. They prosecuted everybody they could under the top two guys to lead up to the prosecution of them. But they had a lot of evidence. They had the whole trail. They don't have that here.

So, because this isn't a deal, it is unclear whether they are going to get the information to trace a lot of that money.

TOOBIN: But I think if -- the general rule with these big fraud cases is, the money is gone anyway.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Even if they know where it is, you don't get it back, because it goes to fees.

TOOBIN: If there is $1 billion, I will be surprised. I would bet there is less there. The money just sort of disappears.

BROWN: But go back to your other point. Do you think that they will try to pursue the sons maybe or other people around him or that this will have the effect he apparently intends, which is to cut the investigation off?

TOOBIN: Oh, absolutely they will pursue them.

And in fact one of the interesting things about the document that the government filed today is, it really suggested how many people were involved in producing the statements, this whole false trail.

Now, how many of them actually knew this was a Ponzi scheme, that's the great unknown in this case.

VELSHI: Right.

TOOBIN: But if the government can prosecute the two sons, can prosecute the wife, you can bet they will do it. The question that we all don't know the answer to is whether they were in on it or not.

VELSHI: Again, these big cases have taken years typically to deal with. And this one is, in terms of money, bigger than all the rest we have prosecuted. There's a lot of accounting to do here.

BROWN: It did really expose the SEC, sort of our Wall Street watchdogs, if you will, for not having really their act together, to put it kindly.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Something that a lot of people already suspected. The fact is -- and Jeff and I were talking about this, that there has to be a backbone behind the idea that you are actually regulating. And a lot of regulators in Washington have become the sort of people who think that over-regulation stands in the way of business. Now, we will get into the business of understanding that, if you cheat, they will be on you. And the SEC was, as Harry Markopolos said, handed a gift, and they still didn't...

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: That is what is so shocking, because it is one thing to say that the SEC doesn't have resources to police everybody. And that maybe is true.

But here they did an investigation of Madoff and still didn't find it.

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: That's the thing that's, to me, as a former prosecutor, just incredible.

BROWN: Things are going to change on that front, I think, going forward.

TOOBIN: One hope so.

BROWN: Yes. Ali Velshi and Jeff Toobin for us tonight -- thanks, guys.

Those billions in the stimulus package, they're starting to filter out. And we are following the money for that reason. It's about creating or saving jobs. But some of us -- some of it, rather, led us here. A lot of people say -- here, we are going to show you a picture in a moment -- it is simply a bad road trip.

Plus, tonight, a NO BIAS, NO BULL look at Newt Gingrich. The Republican Party might be looking to the past for its future. His ideas, why they could lead to a big political comeback -- when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: As always, we are "Cutting Through The Bull."

On the same day singer Chris Brown was arraigned for allegedly beating his pop star girlfriend, Rihanna, he made an appeal to fans on his MySpace page: Vote for me for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

That's right, no apology, no concern for his battered girlfriend. He is worried about the next awards show. Since his arrest, he did lose an endorsement deal with Doublemint Gum, but for some reason the folks at kids channel Nickelodeon still think it is appropriate to nominate him for favorite male singer.

In a statement, they say -- quote -- "Chris Brown was nominated by kids several months ago based on his body of work as a performer." But the executives at Nickelodeon ought to take a good look at this photo obtained by TMZ, because this may be Chris Brown's real body of work, allegedly taking a beautiful young cover girl and turning her face into this.

Nickelodeon ought to wake up. The only place Chris Brown belongs is in jail. And it boggles the mind that a children's TV network trusted by parents for decades could turn a blind eye when faced with such violence. Imagine the message it sends to a generation of boys and girls.

The awards take place at the end of the month. And in other words, there is still time for Nickelodeon to come to its senses, even if Chris Brown never comes to his.

And on the day President Obama talked about fixing American schools, one American city is already planning a radical fix of its own, laying off all the teachers. How is that supposed to help students? That's what we asked. We will have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: President Obama is facing huge challenges on everything from the economy to health care these days. But he is still adding more to his plate, today proposing an overhaul of the public school system.

In a speech on education this morning, the president opened up about his early life in Indonesia, telling a story you probably haven't heard, and it's very revealing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was a child my mother and I lived overseas, and she didn't have the money to send me to the fancy international school where all the American kids went to school.

So what she did was she supplemented my schooling with lessons from a correspondence course. And I can still picture her waking me up at 4:30 in the morning, five days a week, to go over some lessons before I went to school.

And whenever I would complain and grumble and find some excuse and say, "Awww, I'm sleepy," she'd patiently repeat to me her most powerful defense. She'd say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: President Obama went on to propose a bold new education agenda, merit pay for teachers, longer school days, even the possibility of a year-round school year.

He admits some of those ideas won't sit well with his daughters, Sasha and Malia, but the president insists fixing our failing schools is a big challenge that demands big ideas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Stemming the tide of dropouts will require turning around our low-performing schools.

At just 2,000 high schools in cities like Detroit, Los Angeles and Philadelphia produce over 50 percent of America's dropouts. And yet there are too few proven strategies to transform these schools, and there are too few partners to get the job done.

So, today, I'm issuing a challenge to educators, lawmakers, parents and teachers alike. Let's all make turning around our schools our collective responsibility as Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: One of the nation's trouble spots is Pontiac, Michigan. The school district in this small city just north of Detroit is looking at a $11.6 million deficit.

So, last night, they voted to lay off all 700 union employees, including the teachers.

David Mattingly is in Pontiac tonight with more on this -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, we hear school systems all the time complaining about overcrowding in the classrooms.

Well, the problem is exactly the opposite in Pontiac. That's where we see too many seats and not enough children to sit in them. It's part of a long-term ripple effect caused by the decline in auto manufacturing jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): In Pontiac, Michigan, nowhere is the economic exodus more obvious than in the schools. This middle school built for 1,500 students holds just 450.

LINDA PARAMORE, PONTIAC SCHOOL DISTRICT: There are families that are now leaving this area because of the economic condition. GM was a huge employee -- employer in this district. And it is not as much anymore.

MATTINGLY (on camera): This is a classroom that is made for about 35 students. But you can see there is plenty of room in here. That's because there are only 20 students in this class.

The problem is more dramatic across the hallway. Take a look at this. This is a classroom that is also made for 35 students, but you can see it is completely empty. This classroom isn't used at all. (voice-over): The crisis is so bad, and with no end in sight, the school board has taken an extreme measure. At the end of the school year, it is laying off everyone, all 774 teachers and employees.

It is a massive downsizing and reorganization plan to salvage and improve the schools. It's been in the works for years, but the timing brought an unexpected bonus -- $27 million in federal stimulus money is on its way to Pontiac schools. With fewer school buildings, that money will go much further.

ARLEE EWING, JAMES MADISON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL; That is our hopes, that we will have the leeway to do some things and to start updating our building and making it more modern and providing more opportunities for the children.

MATTINGLY: Nine out of the 20 Pontiac schools will be closed at the end of the year. Students will be reassigned and some teachers will be called back to work. But administrators say at least 390 employees, more than half, could be laid off permanently. These teachers hope the stimulus money will also mean that more of them stay employed.

ELOISE WILLIAMS, PONTIAC TEACHER: The stimulus money would greatly affect that and help that student achievement.

MATTINGLY: After the downsizing, half of Pontiac's elementary schools will end up like this, closed and boarded up. It is a sign of a less-than-bright future, because young families are deciding to pursue their fortunes and their children's education elsewhere.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, David, you talked about the stimulus money, $27 million, supposed to save or to create jobs, but then you have the schools cutting jobs. It doesn't seem to make sense in a lot of ways.

MATTINGLY: Well, this has been a problem that has been brewing for a long time. This school system has seen declining enrollment for many, many years now. There are just not enough students there left to keep all the teachers on the payroll.

So, there have to be some cuts. They're hoping that the stimulus money will prevent some teachers from losing their jobs, because they say that that money will help build up the buildings, it will help repair, it will help provide new programs, and they will need teachers to handle those programs.

But, at the moment, they know how much money they're getting. They just don't know what rules are attached. They will have to find out how they can spend it, what they can spend it on, and when. They're hoping that that will help them save some jobs here.

BROWN: David Mattingly for us tonight -- David, thanks very much. Pontiac is just one example of budget pressures putting teachers' jobs in jeopardy. CNN I-Reporters have pointed out many more, like in Los Angeles. I-Reporter Matt Hartman (ph) sent these pictures of teachers protesting possible layoffs at a school board meeting just today.

Up to 5,500 L.A. teachers risk losing their jobs if the district can't find another way to plug a $700 million shortfall.

A shocking moment of violence caught on video today, when a suicide bomber attacked a religious procession in Sri Lanka. We are going to have the latest on the bombing and who was behind it after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Still ahead, we're going to follow the stimulus money to West Virginia and show you what is going on there, but, first, lots of other news.

Joe Johns joining us right now with the briefing -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, we begin with breaking news out of Washington, where that massive spending bill has passed the U.S. Senate. Senators voted 62-35 to stop debate and it passed on a voice vote right after that. It's $410 billion in all, packed with nearly $8 billion in earmarks, which the Obama administration blames on the previous Congress.

Late this afternoon, at least five people were killed in a shooting in southern Alabama. It happened in Samson, just north of the Florida border. We're told the dead include the gunman, though it is unclear if he shot himself. The FBI is investigating.

A warning now: The video we are about to show is graphic. A camera was rolling when a suicide bomber struck today in southern Sri Lanka, the target, government ministers in a religious procession outside of a mosque. Fourteen people were killed, another 45 wounded. The government there blames the Tamil Tigers rebel group.

The United Nations secretary-general calls 2009 a make-or-break year, those words from Ban Ki-Moon after an Oval Office meeting with President Obama this afternoon. One key subject they discussed, the crisis in Darfur, which President Obama called not acceptable.

We learned a bit more about our 16th president today, first, this rare picture perhaps known only of Abraham Lincoln in front of the White House. It comes from Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant's private collection. Then there is his pocket watch. Today, historians confirmed it contains a secret message engraved at the start of the Civil War. The watchmaker inscribed a message to the president: "Thank God we have a government."

BROWN: All right, Joe Johns for us tonight -- Joe, thanks very much.

JOHNS: You bet, Campbell.

BROWN: Last week, it felt like Rush Limbaugh was hijacking the leadership of the Republican Party. Well, now another familiar face is front and center, as the Republican Party tries to figure out its future. We are taking a NO BIAS, NO BULL look at what is so new about Newt.

And then, later, "LARRY KING LIVE" is going to take a closer look at domestic violence. Tonight Joy Behar, Robin Givens, and Denise Brown are going to talk about the Rihanna/Chris Brown case. That's right after NO BIAS, NO BULL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: As the Republican Party fights a civil war for its very soul, a hero from its past could hold the key to its future.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican revolution against Bill Clinton, is making something of a comeback. Is he the one man able to unify a party now in crisis?

Here is our national political correspondent, Jessica Yellin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's back. former House speaker Newt Gingrich, rallying a crowd of conservatives at their annual powwow.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Let's be above partisanship.

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: Calling out Rush Limbaugh on "Meet the Press."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS")

GINGRICH: You have got to want the president to succeed. You are irrational if you don't want the new president to succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Even musing about running for president himself if the nation needs him.

GINGRICH: If it is necessary, we will probably do it.

YELLIN: Gingrich has since walked back those comments, insisting he is focused on the economic crisis. What is clear, however, as the Republican Party faces a leadership vacuum, the man who led them out of the wilderness once before is gunning to do it again.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: He is the ideas guy. And, right now, we are having to find our voice again, find -- remember what we believe. And Newt Gingrich is a part of that. YELLIN: Now "The New York Times" is declaring 2008 "a pretty great year for Newt." And the Republican competition is sounding a little jealous.

VOICE OF RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: I'm frankly getting tired of talking about Newt. I mean, it's a pointless exercise.

YELLIN: The sentiment it seems is mutual.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Rush Limbaugh is in the long run an interesting radio personality.

YELLIN: Like Limbaugh, Gingrich comes with lots of baggage. In his day, he was one of the most partisan players in the game. A face of the Clinton impeachment, "The New York Daily News" dubbed him "Cry Baby" and accused him of shutting down government because he was asked to use the back stairs on Air Force One.

CASTELLANOS: Newt Gingrich is like fire. It can cook your dinner, or burn your house down.

YELLIN (on camera): But these days a more mature Gingrich is talking ideas, everything from how to improve air traffic problems to solving the fiscal crisis. And unlike Limbaugh, he's advising fellow Republicans not to become the party of no and to admit they made mistakes during the Bush years.

(voice-over): And unlike Limbaugh, he's advising fellow Republicans not to become the party of no, to admit they made mistakes during the Bush years.

GINGRICH: I think people don't want petty partisan politics. They want serious solutions that will help them keep their job or help them.

YELLIN: Gingrich still has enormous influence, but party insiders doubt that he'll emerge as the top dog.

CASTELLANOS: When you're casting the movie, you don't cast Newt Gingrich as the leading man. You cast him as the leading man's cranky adviser, generating a lot of good ideas, but he doesn't get the girl.

YELLIN: Many Republicans are counting on Gingrich to become their one-man think-tank and give them something to stand for again.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Let's get straight to our political panel on this. We've got CNN political analyst Roland Martin, Tony Blankley, who served as Newt Gingrich's press secretary. Also the author of "American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century," and senior political analyst Gloria Borger joining us as well. And, Gloria, who do you think better reflects the mood and the thinking of Republicans right now? Is it Newt Gingrich or Rush Limbaugh?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I don't mean to punch here, Campbell, because this is NO BIAS, NO BULL. But I will tell you that I think they both do.

You know, conservative Republicans I talk to like what Rush Limbaugh is doing because he's taking on President Obama, the man they want to beat in four years. But I think that's as far as it goes. They look at Newt Gingrich as someone who actually has ideas. And if you're going to run in a presidential campaign, you've got to run on ideas and at least Gingrich has them.

BROWN: Tony, you worked with him certainly in 1994, when he led Republicans to win back Congress. And he did at that time have a real platform of ideas then contract, you know with America, whether you agreed with it or not. Do you believe he has a vision like that today?

TONY BLANKLEY, AUTHOR, "AMERICAN GRIT": Oh, look. I mean look at his "American Solutions" Web site. He is -- look, this is a little puzzle for me because I know Newt very well and Rush a little bit, and I admire them both. I think they are both vital to the conservative movement when they're moving together.

Once in a while they bump into each other. We've seen that. But Newt continues to have really stunning insights into policy solutions in health care, in energy. He's developing work on financial issues.

And look, starting in 2007, I know a number of presidential Republican nominees candidates were consulting with Newt for guidance. I think he is clearly still the source of the best ideas, and not just intellectual ideas. He understands politics, so he sees how the idea fits into the political process. He's a tremendous asset.

BROWN: Roland, what do you think?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Newt Gingrich is the flavor of the week. Remember after November 4th, it was all about Governor Sarah Palin, her star power, being able to raise money. And all of a sudden we went to Governor Bobby Jindal who gives a horrible speech after Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress. Then he goes out of the window.

Then you have Michael Steele, now Newt Gingrich. The reality is the Republican Party is desperately trying to find somebody to step up and so there's this competition. I think over the next three months we're going to see three or four other people step up, all of a sudden become the voice of the party. There's no one person who's in that position now.

BORGER: And --

BROWN: Gloria, go ahead. BORGER: And I think -- I think you see that Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh seem vaguely competitive with each other, don't they? You know, given what Gingrich said last week on a Sunday show.

BROWN: But, Gloria, you also have noted that you're not sure necessarily his kind of politics, or his brand, really, works as well in the Obama era? What do you mean by that?

BORGER: Well -- well, it's interesting because I did cover Newt Gingrich. Tony Blankley was one of my great sources during the Gingrich era.

And the problem with Gingrich is that he has fabulous ideas. Three out of every ten, may be terrific. But then his politics tends to take a turn towards the personal. It did that during the Lewinsky years and it boomeranged on Newt Gingrich when he started taking on President Clinton personally.

BLANKLEY: Let me make a point here, because I agree. I think Newt would agree with what Gloria said. I think he studied what we succeeded at and what we failed at in the 90s, and learned that being too personal, too partisan was a mistake.

You see what he's been doing in the last ten years. You know from time to time holding an event with Pelosi, holding events with Hillary. I think that, look, if Obama does well, if the economy comes around to the public satisfaction, if he doesn't have disasters aboard, he's probably going to get re-elected. But if the public is not satisfied that he's come up with the right solutions, that would be the moment when a Gingrich has the highest potential to be appealing to the country because they'll be desperate for brilliant ideas and he is the smartest guy on the scene.

BROWN: Roland?

MARTIN: First of all, nobody expected then Senator Barack Obama to be the standard bearer for the Democratic Party. I think, frankly, this is all good for the Republicans to allow Newt you to have to go back and forth, and, frankly, watch out some of the different people.

The leader of this party, frankly, in 2012, I don't think we even see that person right now. It's somebody who frankly is going to rise up, and so you can't go back to the future if you're trying to redefine your party. You're going back to the future if you talk about Newt Gingrich.

BROWN: All right, guys, we're going to end it there. But to Tony, Gloria, Roland, many thanks. Appreciate it.

BLANKLEY: Thank you.

BROWN: So many parts of our nation have been counting on stimulus dollars to help jumpstart the economy. So, why are we spending millions on a road that won't be finished for decades? We follow the money. And it's going to be a busy week for Michelle Obama including something she hasn't done yet as first lady. We'll tell you what that is when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Here in NO BIAS, NO BULL, we are following the money, holding government accountable for the massive spending that is supposed to rebuild the country and restart the economy. Well in West Virginia, millions of your tax dollars are pouring in to help build a road few drivers seem to have much use for. It was first proposed back when Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. And our Drew Griffin followed the money down a country road to nowhere it appears -- Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've been trying to build that road ever since, Campbell.

You know, West Virginia is doing everything right according to the Obama administration. $210 million in transportation funds, they're going to try to get it all out the door. But 10 percent of that money is literally going to this road which I found out today is to nowhere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): This is it, Corridor "H" -- a massive four-lane highway literally in the middle of nowhere. $21 million of stimulus and job creation money is coming to this project. But you should know this about it. When I tell you it goes nowhere, believe me, I am not making it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're standing right here.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So we are here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Now, it's proposed to go on, you know, up like that.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): And even when completed, Hugh Rogers, a conservationist who has been fighting Corridor H, says it will still be a road to nowhere with nobody on it.

(on camera): But, Hugh, I'm looking out at this four-lane road, it's 6:00, the height of whatever there is at rush hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

GRIFFIN: There's nobody on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Need was not -- they went through a lot of contortions trying to explain what the need was.

GRIFFIN: Here's another part of that road to nowhere, this built outside of the town of Baker. And as you can see, nobody is on it.

(voice-over): This is hardly a new project. It began in 1965 and added on here and there ever since. Corridor H was to be a 100- mile long economic engine, a stimulus for West Virginia. In reality, it remains a chunk of four lane highway here, a bit there, some pieces connecting towns to towns but no economic stimulator so far, says waitress Janice Strowdman (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't seem like it now.

GRIFFIN: Over Corridor H's long history, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd has earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars for the project. Even today, Byrd has $9.5 million earmarked and tucked into the big spending bill now before Congress. With that and the $21 million in stimulus cash, the stop-and-start highway is about to get just a little bit longer.

PAUL TURMAN, WEST VIRGINIA DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION: The stimulus money is in this area. It's a $21 million project. And it's basically two bridges between two existing contracts we have going on. And that fills the gap and makes a usable section.

GRIFFIN: As for job creation, West Virginia can't say how many jobs the new construction will create or save, or really how many jobs will be generated if the road ever really becomes the promised economic pipeline. That's OK because even if no one uses the road, West Virginia says Corridor H is absolutely vital for national security. Remember the U.S. Capitol is two hours from here.

TURMAN: And if something happens in the D.C. area for instance.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Evacuation route.

TURMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Right. Except for this. Evacuees would have to travel a narrow winding 20-mile road in Virginia to get here. And Virginia says it has no plans to connect to Corridor H.

Drew Griffin, Wardensville, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, Drew, let me ask you before you go -- when are they going to finish the road?

GRIFFIN: Boy, that's a very good question. $1 billion on the ground, it will take $1.5 billion more to finish it, Campbell. And as planned, that is going to be in another 26 years.

BROWN: OK. Drew Griffin for us tonight. Drew, thanks very much.

Let's bring back our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, real quick. And, Ali, you know, Congress passed the $800 billion stimulus package with a significant amount going to states to spend on big transportation projects like this. I mean, how does this get done? VELSHI: All right, let's explain this. The state of Virginia is going to get about $1.3 billion of the $800 billion. $800 billion of that they wanted to go to transportation but the government, the federal government actually decides how much goes to transportation.

The federal government decides on the bucket that the money gets spent in -- education, transportation, whatever the case may be. And they decided that $205 billion of the money that West Virginia is getting is going to transportation.

Here's how the state of Virginia plans to divide that up. As you can see, that big blue is corridor expansion. Not just Corridor H that Drew was talking about, but all corridor expansion.

Another big portion, $62 million, is road resurfacing. $38 million is bridges. We did describe a lot of this as roads and bridges, right? And about $9 million is road safety.

Now, of the corridor expansion, $97 million is allocated for that. This road is taking $21 million of those dollars. So that's how the state of Virginia breaks that down.

Now if they spend all of this $205 million, Drew said the state won't say how many jobs will be created by Corridor H expansion. But let's take a look at what they say will be created overall by all of this road work.

They say 6,800 jobs will be created. About half of them will be in the construction of these roads. The other half will be in ancillary services, like equipment, trucking and things like that. So that's how they expect that this money is likely to be spent, that the government, the federal government just gets to decide how much goes for each bucket, not how it gets spent.

BROWN: Pretty incredible.

VELSHI: In many cases, it's a fact that it's shovel ready.

BROWN: Right. Yes, of course.

VELSHI: That word review is what gets you --

BROWN: That's the reason they choose this projects.

VELSHI: Right.

BROWN: All right. Ali Velshi for us tonight. Interesting stuff.

We have an update we're going to tell you about coming up next. We met an unemployed single mom at a job fair last week. You might remember, her name is Dawn. And she got some really good news today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWN WILSON, UNEMPLOYED: Oh, someone has responded from the job fair I went to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Then a little bit later, she actually got a call. She couldn't believe, a helping hand from out of the blue, and tonight's ripple effect when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tonight, new developments in a story we first brought you last week. It is about one woman's desperate search for work, as she's caught in the ripple effects of our reeling economy.

Tonight, Dawn Wilson's story is starting to turn around. We met her at a job fair here in New York last week. And tonight, she received some promising job leads and even a phone call from a celebrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWN WILSON, UNEMPLOYED: Things happen for a reason. Maybe this is it.

BROWN (voice-over): We met Dawn Wilson last week at a job fair here in New York City. She's 44, a single mom. She told Citibank laid her off five month ago. Like thousands of others, she needs work.

WILSON: What are the publicity blitz (ph) you have available?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

WILSON: This is all new to me. I was told to bring a lot of resumes. So I did. And they're all gone.

BROWN: In 4 1/2 hours, she handed out 40 resumes but left with no promises.

WILSON: I think I'm going to call it a day. I didn't have a chance for breakfast, so I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day, so my feet are killing me. So hopefully when I go home, I can soak my feet and hopefully have a good meal.

BROWN: At home, she took us through her nightly ritual.

WILSON: Since I didn't pay the first one, they keep sending it to me.

WILSON: Arranging her bills by which one she can afford to pay.

WILSON: I'm utilizing my credit cards. They're pretty much to the max right now. And I'm worried about how am I going to pay for those.

BROWN: Dawn worries about her 7-year-old Naomi. She's canceled her after-school education program. WILSON: I just called the office to tell them that she won't be coming back next month. This is her last month because I'm not able to pay it.

Oh, someone has responded from the job fair I went to.

BROWN: Since her story aired, she's been fielding e-mails with job leads and some phone calls.

WILSON: Hello?

BROWN: Including one which came as a stunning surprise, comedian George Lopez who saw a story about Dawn and wanted to get in touch with her.

WILSON: I was so anxious to speak with him. I waited all day. He called me. And I'm like, wow.

And he goes, well, this is Mr. Lopez. And he said, well, he saw the piece and was moved by it and wanted to offer some help.

BROWN: Lopez promised her a check for $5,000. Dawn says it means she doesn't have to pull Naomi out of her after-school program after all, and that she can pay some bills. But before George Lopez got off the phone, Dawn had one more request for him.

WILSON: Oh, how about the resume? Are you looking for any assistant? And he said, well, no, not at the moment but I could forward your resume. So, that would be great.

I would like to provide for myself. I do not like depending on other people. So, a little help will go a long way. And that's what this is all about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And we will continue to follow that story for you and let you know how Dawn does over time.

This week brings a first for the new first lady. She is going to be joining forces with one of her husband's former opponents. We've got all the details in tonight's "Political Daily Briefing."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: It's ladies night in our "Political Daily Briefing." Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Ann Coulter, to name a few.

Our Randi Kaye is here. And we begin, Randi, with what could be a new Wednesday tradition at the White House. First, it was cocktails on Wednesday night. And now, what's going on?

KAYE: Well, cocktails don't go over so well in the morning, Campbell. CNN has learned that President Obama is planning semi- regular Wednesday morning meetings with Democratic leaders. The strategy sessions will be attended mostly by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The White House move comes amidst some legislative pushback for the administration in recent weeks, including slowed passage of the economic stimulus bill and the president's budget. Now, don't expect to get a full debrief of the meetings. Of course, all sides have agreed to keep the deliberations private.

BROWN: Busy Wednesdays at the White House.

KAYE: Yes.

BROWN: The first lady also has a very busy week ahead.

KAYE: She sure does. The first lady will visit the State Department tomorrow. In what's being packaged actually as a women's event, Mrs. Obama will help deliver the State Department's award for International Women of Courage.

On the stage with the first lady will be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It is the first time the two will host a public event together. This also marks the first lady's seventh visit to a federal agency, part of a goal she has to visit all of them in the coming months.

On Thursday, Michelle Obama will head out of town on her first solo trip as first lady. That's right. No Mr. President around. She'll be visiting Fort Bragg military base where she will tour the base and also she will be meeting with the military spouses.

BROWN: We'll definitely be covering that certainly. And a totally different topic. It looks like Senator John McCain's daughter, Megan, has a new blog out. This time she's not complaining abut her love life, though, she has other things on her mind.

KAYE: She sure does. She is not one to hold her tongue. In fact, she's gone from sassy to nasty.

In a blog out yesterday, on "The Daily Beast," Megan McCain took on the conservative queen of controversy, Ann Coulter, in a blog titled "My Beef With Ann Coulter." Megan McCain writes, "I straight up don't understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time." Noting everything about her is extreme and that "maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck."

Yes. Ouch. Well, Coulter was asked about that blog yesterday and shrugged it off saying simply it didn't bother her.

BROWN: All righty (ph). Randi Kaye for us tonight. Randi, thanks very much.

KAYE: Sure.

BROWN: Thousands of people who need jobs are going to get jokes instead, apparently. And that's a good thing. We'll explain. Jay Leno's generosity is in our "Bull's-Eye" tonight when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In tonight's "Bull's-Eye, comic relief in lieu of economic relief. Jay Leno plans a free comedy night next month in a 24,000 seat arena near Detroit.

The unemployment rate in Michigan is 11.6 percent among the nation's highest, so tickets to Jay's comedy stimulus plan are free. So are the snacks, so is the parking. The only catch, you have to be unemployed to get the free tickets.

On another note, e-mail pouring in about tonight's "Cutting Through the Bull." We want to share some of it with you.

I think Nickelodeon, as we had mentioned earlier, ought to be ashamed of itself for keeping Chris Brown in the running for its upcoming Kids' Choice Awards even though he is facing felony charges for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, Rihanna. We made that pretty clear.

Well, John from Toronto agrees. He writes, "So many people have refused comment because they are still making money off him. Good for you. Beating women is not an OK thing and you should keep on this."

But Nicka from New York has a different view about Chris Brown. She writes, "While I do not applaud his actions, I think he should be left alone since Rihanna is already back with him. Chris is young, and he has a lifetime to learn.

Sorry, Nicka, but Rihanna is the one who's got a lot to learn. You don't give men like that a second chance.

That is it for us tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.