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Bailout Banks Owe Back Taxes; House Vote on Taxing Bonuses; CNN Solves Bonus Mystery; How to Fix Health Care; Ready To Spend; Land a Job via Social Networking; Saving Money on Your Mortgage; Foreclosure Silver Lining; Prescription for Jobs; Spring Training Ghost Town

Aired March 19, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with a developing story. It looks like some bailed-out banks may be facing a new PR debacle today. A congressman says more than a dozen that took bailout money, well, they owe back taxes.

CNN Business Correspondent Stephanie Elam joins me now from New York.

Stephanie, what do you know? Back taxes? That's probably something they don't want to hear.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm pretty sure this is something that they do not want out there at this point, Don. But this is what we're hearing, that 13 firms that have received money from that Toxic Asset Relief Program that we commonly hear referred to as the TARP owe a combined total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. This is according to Representative John Lewis of Georgia. He is the chairman of the House subcommittee that's overseeing the federal bailout.

Now, two of the firms reportedly owe more than $100 million each. And with more than $300 billion doled out to private companies so far from the TARP, policymakers expect more backlash from American taxpayers about this revelation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN LEWIS, CHAIRMAN, WAYS & MEANS OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEE: ... that there is any control over this money. They have no idea what, if anything, they would get in return. This entire program is based on trust, trust in the giver and trust in the takers. At this point, there is no trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And that's exactly the issue here.

Now, Lewis said that banks and other firms who received federal money were required to sign contracts stating that they had no unpaid taxes, but the Treasury Department never asked for the companies to show proof of their tax records. So this is part of the problem there now. A House committee found the delinquent tax issue while reviewing tax records from 23 of the firms -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Business Correspondent Stephanie Elam.

We appreciate it, Steph. Thank you very much.

It is not just AIG on the bonus train. Fannie Mae is putting some of its execs on the express as well. The troubled mortgage giant plans to pay four of its top executives retention bonuses of about $500,000 each. A Fannie Mae spokesman deferred comment to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. That agency director tells CNN the bonuses are necessary to keep Fannie Mae's most experienced executives.

We'll follow up on that, no doubt.

The fury over AIG and now possibly Fannie Mae is coming to a head in the U.S. House just about two hours from now. The House will vote on legislation slapping heavy taxes on those getting bonuses at AIG and to other execs working at companies that got bailout money.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill now.

Brianna, how does this bill go about getting this bonus money back? That's what we want to know.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is a heavy tax, as you mentioned, Don. A 90-percent tax on bonuses for executives or employees whose incomes, which includes the bonus, is greater than a $250,000.

This would be for employees working for these companies that are bailed out with these bailout funds to the tune of $5 billion or more. The point, Don, obviously, AIG would fall under this umbrella. So lawmakers trying to show outraged American taxpayers that they're doing something and doing something quickly -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Some of the most outspoken critics of this have been the Republicans. What are some of the members saying there? I know you're getting an earful today.

KEILAR: Yes. We're hearing from a lot of Republican leaders who are saying that this is Democrats using the tax code as a weapon, really just to cover up a mistake they made by allowing these bonuses to go forward in the first place.

We're also hearing some criticism though from House Democrats who are pointing a finger at -- and I should say that those Republicans in Congress really pointing the finger at the Obama administration, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in particular.

But back to House Democrats, they are actually pointing a finger at some Senate Democrats and the administration, saying that this provision that exempted these bonuses, this provision that was in the stimulus, they're saying it wasn't our fault, we didn't do it, it was something worked out between Senate Democrats and the administration -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Our Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill, Brianna Keilar.

Brianna, thank you very much.

Let's move on and continue to talk about this. How did this bonus exemption get into the stimulus plan anyway?

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee denied any knowledge of it until -- that was until our Dana Bash began doing some digging. For days, no one would fess up. And then Dana learned it was the Obama Treasury Department and Senator Christopher Dodd.

Dodd had included a measure to limit executive bonuses, but at the last minute the exemption was slipped in. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You did agree to modify this, to put that clause in?

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), BANKING CHAIRMAN: The alternative was losing, in my view, the entire section on executive excessive compensation. Given the choice -- this is not an uncommon occurrence here -- I agreed to a modification in the legislation. Reluctantly.

I wasn't negotiating with myself here, I wasn't changing my own amendment. I was changing the amendment because others were insisting upon it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Well, Dana is on Capitol Hill this morning. Our Dan Lothian is in Washington. And we're trying to get to the bottom of this.

Dana, great reporting. But Dana, you're up first.

Give us some background on the back-and-forth that led to Senator Christopher Dodd's -- and you can only call it a mea culpa. You questioned him on the air, he apologized. Now doing a little bit of backpedaling. But give us the sort of backstory on this, if you will.

BASH: Well, the backstory is that once the outrage started over these AIG bonuses, people started to look at, well, what has Congress done? And it came to light that in fact there was legislation that passed as part of the stimulus bill about a month and a half ago that did attempt to crack down on executive compensation and on bonuses. But it turns out that there was a clause put in there that effectively exempted companies like AIG, because it said nobody who had contracts, no companies who had contracts before that date, before February of 2009, they were not basically part of this.

So everybody started to figure out, well, where did this come from? And our Ted Barrett, our producer here, actually interviewed Senator Dodd, because this is his proposal, and said, "Well, what do you know about this?" And he said he didn't know anything about it, he didn't know how this happened. At that time, he said that instead of telling us the reality. The reality is, both he admits to us now and the Treasury Department admits, that he did change the language at the behest of the Treasury Department, at least because they had some concerns about it. And so the question that really is still a mystery, Don, is why Senator Dodd didn't tell us that in the first place. He did, as you just heard, admit it finally yesterday.

LEMON: Yes. And he's saying in some way that he did it at the behest, or at least because the Treasury Department asked him. We're going to get into that a little bit, Dana. I want you to stand by, because I want to bring Dan in here. Dan is standing by at the White House.

Dan, there were questions from reporters yesterday about the treasury secretary, if he was going to have to -- if the president was going to call upon him to step down. But the president is standing behind him at this point.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He is, Don. In fact, he said he has his full confidence and he believes that he's doing a good job.

He says it is not an easy job, it's a very difficult job, but the president says given what is happening right now, he's handling it well. And the president pointed out that he wanted to provide him with all the support that he could in order for him to fix the problem. Certainly an important vote of confidence, because up on Capitol Hill you're already hearing from a couple of lawmakers there who are calling for him to resign.

LEMON: Yes. And before we bring Dana back in and continue to discuss this, where we are at this point when it comes to this loophole, I want to play a part for you of the president, who was talking about the administration, right, and the loophole -- well, actually, tell me, why did the administration -- what happened with this loophole? How did this clause get in there anyway before we talk about that?

LOTHIAN: Right. Well, you heard Dana referring to how there were some concerns from the Treasury Department, from the administration, about this loophole. And the concern was that if you took that out of there, that it could potentially lead to some lawsuits by AIG employees, these employees that were getting the bonuses.

So they made the calculation. It was, from their point of view, a way to save money, because they felt that if they were dealing with all these lawsuits, it was going to cost more money than the bonuses themselves. So that was the calculation that they made. Of course, I think the administration probably underestimated the backlash that would come.

LEMON: So, Dana, you heard from Senator Christopher Dodd yesterday -- what he said yesterday. And as I said, he keeps sort of changing and updating what he said to you originally. Have you heard from him today? Is he sticking by his original statement that he said to you with these amendments that keep -- a couple that have been creeping in here?

BASH: We haven't heard from him today, but he does seem to be sticking by the story now, which appears to be the real story that is coming to light, which is, as Dan just said, that what happened was, it was the Obama administration that said, hold on a second, we really don't want to put these caps in for bonuses going back in time. And here's the irony. The irony is, you know, you were just talking with Brianna about the fact that at this very moment, the House of Representatives and, at some point, the Senate, too, will be debating and will be voting on legislation to effectively take those bonuses away.

LEMON: Hey, Dana, real quickly, because we have to move on here -- Dana and Dan, I have you both here. So he is saying that the administration wanted -- have we gotten to the bottom of this? Is it true, did the administration want this? And is that why did he it?

Dan, has the administration commented?

LOTHIAN: The administration did say that the Treasury Department did want it in there. We don't know specifically who was the person who asked for it, but we know that the administration did want it in there because they felt they were saving money in the long run.

LEMON: Dana, have you found out anything from the administration? Did they want it? Is Christopher Dodd telling -- is that accurate?

BASH: It seems to be. I mean, that was the initial reporting that I did from treasury officials, that they were the ones who raised concerns about this. And again, this should be underlined and highlighted that, in fact, on Capitol Hill, there have been lots of attempts to deal with executive compensation from both the Bush administration and the Obama administration.

We're hearing this more and more from Hill Democrats. They are the ones who were concerned about this, and they were the ones who stopped Congress from putting these caps on the bonuses.

LEMON: Dana Bash, Dan Lothian, both still doing some digging here, as well as our investigative team and the best political team on television.

We look forward to what you guys come up with. Thank you very much for your reporting today.

Some e-mail sent to our Facebook page about Dodd's admission. "Did we just witness the death of a senator? Senator Dodd, time to fall on the sword. It's not the crime, silly (although that is despicable); it is the cover up."

Here's what another viewer writes. "I am a very loyal Connecticut Democrat. And if Dodd were to have 'politically died' today, there will be parades and spring festivals in the streets. Lieberman, you're next. We have very capable people lining up to take your places, and we will not forget your respective sins."

That's what our viewers are saying today.

On CNN prime time tonight, a rare interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how Geithner and his team at Treasury plan to lead us down "The Road to Rescue."

And a can't-miss interview conducted by our very own Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi. We will definitely get some answers tonight about who knew what and when, and who called for provisions or what have you.

Ali Velshi, tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, during CNN's Campbell Brown. It is only here on CNN. You must see that interview.

All right. Lawyers for Bernie Madoff today asked a federal appeals court to free their client on bail. The former Nasdaq chairman and Wall Street trader admitted bilking billions from clients in a Ponzi scheme. The trial judge revoked bail after the guilty plea, fearing Madoff would run.

Madoff won't be sentenced until June. The judge didn't issue an immediate decision on that.

Meantime, where was AIG's board of directors when all these bad decisions were going down? Our Special Investigations Unit has been looking into their actions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: For the eighth week in a row, the number of Americans getting unemployment benefits set a record. Continuing claims jumped to almost 5.5 million people last week. One encouraging signal -- first-time claims fell a bit for that same period. First-time claims falling a bit just for that same period.

And with all the focus on AIG executives and their million-dollar bonuses, no one seems to be paying much attention to a group of independent professionals, those most responsible for overseeing the insurance giant. Remember that word, "independent."

We're talking about AIG's 11-member board of directors. And CNN's Special Investigations Unit Correspondent Abbie Boudreau joins us now to talk to us about this board of directors and how AIG does business.

Who are they? Who is this group? And I said "independent" because that's important to point out.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely.

Well, the board of directors is supposed to be the last line of defense for shareholders. OK? So they're supposed to keep an eye on the company and make changes to avoid these kinds of disasters that hit AIG.

So how well has the board performed? Well, we asked the former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg, who's now the largest single stockholder in the company.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK GREENBERG, FORMER CEO, AIG: They were saying they were all working harder, doing more things, more committees were established. So where was the oversight if that's true?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOUDREAU: Now, Greenberg has had some history with AIG's board. He was forced out two years ago during an unrelated accounting controversy. So we have to note that. Still, he says board members failed to act on the problems that took AIG down.

LEMON: There's been so much made of the payments being made to AIG executives, the board of directors. Who's responsible for that? Are they responsible for that?

BOUDREAU: Well, the short answer is yes, but it is a little bit more complicated than that. And we don't know how closely the board looked at the $165 million in bonuses that have been so criticized. But all the same, the board is supposed to supervise executive compensation.

So if it didn't know what was going on, it probably should have. And remember, these are paid positions. And sitting on corporate boards can be lucrative, even if the company is collapsing.

According to one recent study, AIG's board paid itself nearly $4 million in 2007 alone when AIG's troubles first became evident. Nearly half of that was in direct cash payments.

The payments ranged from just over a $250,000, all the way to $435,000, and that's not bad considering -- when you consider that the board only met nine days that year. So that averages out to about $30,000 for each person per meeting. Not bad.

LEMON: OK. Here's a question.

Anyone I know who is on a board of directors for anything knows where -- because that's what you do.

BOUDREAU: Right.

LEMON: Profits for the company, profit margins, salaries, all of that. There is no way they didn't know, especially in this financial climate, paying out millions and millions of dollars. So -- all right, let's just say they didn't. There has to be talk about replacing them, even if they did. Is there talk of them replacing this board?

BOUDREAU: I mean, at this point, not yet. That would be up to the shareholders.

LEMON: OK.

BOUDREAU: And we have reached out to the majority of the board members. No one is talking. AIG is not talking. They say they don't comment on the board and its compensation.

We will know more next month though, because that's when the 2009 proxy statement comes out. And that's when we will learn more about the details of how much these board members made last year, when -- after the company accepted the bailout money. So more to come.

LEMON: All right.

Abbie Boudreau reporting. But I've got to tell you, if you ask anyone who is on a board of directors, they will tell you, in this financial climate, this amount of money being bailed out, they had to know that they were paying these bonuses. That's just a guess.

BOUDREAU: Well, we'll see. I mean, soon enough we will find that out.

LEMON: Just guessing there. We're going to see.

Abbie, continue your digging. We appreciate it.

Abbie Boudreau from our Special Investigations Unit.

Meantime, let's talk about Ohio. It has more than 8 percent unemployment. What will the stimulus money mean to the Buckeye State? Stand by for a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Make sure you join our Ali Velshi tonight for a rare interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, coming up at 8:00 here on CNN.

We know that you have heard this before -- tough economic times call for some really tough decisions to be made. And sometimes a strong shoulder to lean on, like this man, Dr. Gary Turpin of Greenfield, Illinois, 60 miles north of St. Louis. Turpin is not charging patients who have lost their jobs or insurance. He says it is the right thing to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GARY TURPIN, GREENFIELD, ILLINOIS: I don't relish the idea of somebody not having medical care because they've lost their insurance or their job. They're going to get taken care for free, and I'm happy to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So here's what's happening in Winston-Salem, North Carolina -- help for those looking for a home. Habitat for Humanity and another nonprofit group are getting a $2.1 million federal grant. Habitat will renovate homes and sell them to first- time homebuyers for 30 percent below value. A Habitat official calls that good business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really does convert them into an asset in the community. And by putting homeowners in there, then it's people paying property taxes, and it helps us serve more families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Want to take you now to Cleveland, Tennessee. Layoffs at M&M, the Mars candy plant. Twenty-seven people getting pink slips. Many, of course, not happy about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This company made $3 billion last year. We did good on our percentages, good enough that they gave everybody bonuses. Yet, they're cutting their employee workforce. It's just really sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Here's what M&M Mars is saying. The candy maker says the layoffs will make the plant more efficient.

Well, while the nation as a whole is feeling the recession, well, some states are getting hit harder than others.

CNN affiliate the Ohio News Network finds big cities and small towns are affected in different ways, too.

Here to break it all down for us, from the Ohio News Network, the anchor there, Mike Kallmeyer.

Mike, I know that you guys are getting -- he joins us from Columbus -- I know that you're getting stimulus money. A lot of folks are, most people are -- most states. So what is Ohio doing with this stimulus money? How are they spending it?

MIKE KALLMEYER, OHIO NEWS NETWORK: Well, President Obama's hope is that 3.5 million jobs will be created nationwide. Here in the Buckeye State, we're hoping for 133,000 jobs created from that stimulus money.

We're getting $8.2 billion. And listen to this, Don. Our governor, Ted Strickland, received requests in excess of $50 billion. So apparently the $8.2 billion is not enough. He's getting these requests from mayors of the cities, from business leaders, industry leaders, and private business owners, and also private citizens. So everybody wants a piece of the stimulus money, their own bailout, you could say.

That money will be going for infrastructure and construction projects, mainly. We heard the buzzword "shovel-ready." Well, we had a lot of shovel-ready projects here in Ohio.

LEMON: Yes. And, you know, obviously, some money is coming, so people may be feeling like some relief is on the way. Not sure about that. So talk to me about the attitudes of Ohioans.

KALLMEYER: Well, I think the attitude is great. You had the story about the doctor who is serving his patients for free. That's the kind of stories that we're seeing here on a daily basis, here in Ohio, on the Ohio News Network.

People are willing to not take pay raises. People are stepping forward willing to take pay cuts. Just last week, in Aleria (ph), a city just outside of Cleveland, the firefighters agreed to take pay cuts to save 10 jobs.

So when you talk about the average Joe out there who's not seeing any bailout at all, what it really comes down to is the attitude of the people. And, in a sense, they're bailing each other out.

LEMON: Yes. And it's better obviously to take a pay cut than not have a job at all.

Real quickly, you know, I get e-mails here from people saying you guys talk about the average unemployment rate, or the jobless rate. In my town, it's really worse than you're reporting because it's much higher than that.

So are you finding in your reporting that there is a difference between cities maybe and smaller towns and areas?

KALLMEYER: Yes. I think the average unemployment rate here is 8.8 percent in Ohio, which is higher than the national average. But some counties are up in the high teens, 16 percent, 17 percent, 18 percent. And then some areas are doing well, and brings that average down.

The three Cs in Ohio, as we call them, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, certainly they've had job cuts in different industries. But those big cities are able to reinvent themselves. You know, we hear about businesses with the ability to reinvent themselves. I think cities can do that and a state can do that as well. They have such an array of businesses and industries, that they're able to survive.

Those little towns like Wilmington, we talked about the DHL deal there, where 8,000 jobs were lost. When a town is just based on one industry and builds itself on that, those are places that are really decimated. LEMON: Mike Kallmeyer, we appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Mike was talking about the unemployment rate, the jobless rate. So some advice for you that you can use on getting a job. We know that some people can't afford to get around in a car to go from interview to interview. So we're going to talk to you about the virtual resume and how it can be helpful to you.

Coming up, information you need to know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's see what's happening on Wall Street. Dow down 77 points. Nasdaq down 9 points. Our Susan Lisovicz standing by with any news coming from Wall Street. We'll keep checking for you.

Meantime, President Barack Obama has promised fundamental health care reform. But what do Americans really want? Our senior political analyst, Mr. Bill Schneider, has been doing some checking. And he's here now with the latest poll numbers that we found out.

Bill, what kind of health care reform -- that's the first question. That's a big issue, health care. What kind of health care reform does the American people want?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They want health care reform that will lower the cost of health care. What people are worrying about right now is money, in a single word, and the cost of health care to many Americans is a very big and growing concern. The president says, you can't have economic recovery without health care reform.

Only 29 percent -- you see that on your screen -- feel confident, or in fact very confident, in their ability to pay their bills if someone in their family has a mayor medical emergency. That's a very low number, just 29 percent. And that is what's really driving the demand, the desire, to see something done and done quickly about health care reform. The fact is, most Americans are happy with their health care and they're happy with their health insurance. They're worried that the cost is going to make it impossible for them to use.

LEMON: OK. Thank you, Bill. I should say what kind of health care do the American people want, because I know people are watching and they always -- grammar, right.

All right, so listen, how -- the economic crisis. It's affected people personally, obviously. Talk to us about that. What are you finding?

SCHNEIDER: Again, the issue is money. And they're particularly interested -- they're worried about or concerned about their ability to afford big-ticket items in the long run. What about their ability to maintain their standard of living over the next year? That's now down to 39 percent. It was 45 percent a year ago. So you're finding increasing numbers of people -- or decreasing numbers who feel very confident that they can keep up their standard of living. And, in particular, retirement is a growing concern as people see their portfolios diminish. Only 22 percent feel very confident in their ability to save enough money for their retirement. That's down 7 points from one year ago. So again, as you go into the future, next year, retirement years, Americans are increasingly worried, concerned about their ability to afford the things that they need and want.

LEMON: And confidence is very important. Thank you very much for that, our senior political analyst Mr. Bill Schneider.

Well, this morning we brought you the views of a single mother who believes this economy will turn a corner, a new college graduate who can't find a job, and others telling us whether they're confident in this economy. You heard Bill Schneider talking about confidence just a moment ago as well. Now our Josh Lev has video from two guys who say this economy is working well for them and you might know them both from a TV show. And I think you've kind of hinted to this earlier. We were talking about "The Mole."

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were talking about "The Mole." Yes, two guys, if you're a fan of "The Mole," two guys, one was on in 2001, the other in 2008.

LEMON: (INAUDIBLE) "The Mole."

LES: Together they run an advertising firm. Let's take a look at what they told us through i-Report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL KORDYAK, REPORT BY CHRIS MORROW: With larger advertising agencies, you know, falling under the weight of their own mass, you know, and -- because they can't lower their prices and people can't afford to pay their exorbitant prices anymore, so they're coming to the smaller guys like us.

CRAIG SILKE, REPORT BY CHRIS MORROW: We are actually being able to move with action instead of reaction to what's going on. So it's been a really positive time for us and time of growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So our i-Reporter, Chris Morrow, got that for us. But as I've been telling you today, not so many people expressing the same kind of confidence. Let's zoom in really quickly. We've got stuff coming through Facebook and through e-mail. Here's one good example right here at the FaceBook page. This one says she's feeling very confident. But on the flip side, as an entrepreneur I must remain confident but not feeling so much confidence right now.

You can weigh in here at ireport.com or at Facebook or through e- mail. Keep those coming. Don, we're going to keep a close eye on them and we'll bring you some more.

LEMON: Oh, Josh, we know you'll be watching. Thank you very much for that, sir. LEVS: You got it. Thanks.

LEMON: And not too long ago, looking for a job often meant typing a resume, sticking it in an envelope and sending it via the post office. It's called snail mail now. Well, today, with the Internet, it is a whole new virtual world. Krista Canfield is with the online social networking site, it's called Linkedin. She joins us now from Mountain View, California.

Thank you so much for joining us.

First of all, you know, I get these e-mails from Linked-in and people who are asking me to join and become, you know, part of the network. What exactly is Linkedin? How does it work? What does it do for people looking for jobs?

KRISTA CANFIELD, LINKEDIN CORP: Sure. What Linkedin does is it actually helps you stay in touch. So you can go on the site, you can create a profile, connect to people professionally and then collaborate with them, whether it be looking for new opportunities or even looking for a job.

LEMON: OK. How many folks on there?

CANFIELD: There are over 37 million people around the world. We're currently growing at a rate of one new user every second.

LEMON: OK. Do you have any information -- any data on how many people actually find jobs or it leads to jobs in this arena that we call Linkedin?

CANFIELD: Well, one of the great things about Linkedin is, it just isn't a job hunting site. So we see a lot of people doing a lot of different activities on this site. But we're seeing people find jobs through their networks.

So, for instance, your status update where you're telling your network of 20 or 30 people what's going on in your world, we've seen people who have been laid off, update their status say, you know, I've lost my job, I'm open for new opportunities, does anybody know of a fit? And I know of one gentleman who found a new job within a week of doing that because someone in his network knew of someone that was hiring for someone just like him.

LEMON: So it's just not just a spot where you're looking -- where people are looking for jobs. Has it become that over the last couple of months or years because of the economic situation in the country and the jobless numbers?

CANFIELD: I wouldn't say that it's becoming that, but I would say that it's making a lot of people think about their careers. A lot of people who haven't been thinking about their careers in 10 or 15 years are saying, what do I do if I lose my job? What should I -- who should I turn to? So we're seeing a lot of people sign up not just because they're looking for jobs, but also just in case something happens. So it's very important to make sure you're connected to all those people that you know and trust just in case you need to get in touch with them in the future.

LEMON: OK. So, you know, this isn't specifically because there are exceptions to everything, but generally these social networking sights are younger folks who are Internet savvy. So what kind of average Linkedin uses? What kind of person used Linkedin?

CANFIELD: There's actually a big difference between the social networking sites and a site like Linkedin, which is professional -- professionally oriented. So the average user on Linkedin is about 41 years old. They're a professional. They've got a household income of $110,000. So it's actually a different demographic than a lot of those social networking sites are.

LEMON: Krista Canfield, from Linkedin, thank you very much. Now I know what all of those e-mails I get from Linkedin are and I actually do go on in there. A lot of folks are on Linkedin.

Thank you very much. Good to see you.

CANFIELD: No problem at all.

LEMON: The Federal Reserve wants to save you some money on your mortgage. What the Fed is doing and what it could mean for your bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Some extraordinary moves by the Federal Reserve could lower your mortgage rate. The Fed is buying up $300 billion in long- term government Treasury bonds over the next six months. That's an attempt to get credit flowing again. The Fed also says it plans to buy another $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities. That's designed to drive down mortgage rates.

So let's find out what the action by the Federal Reserve could mean for you and your mortgage. And the person who knows all about this is our personal finance editor Gerri Willis. She joins us now live from New York.

Gerri, first question out of the gate here is, what is the bottom line here really for consumers? The bottom line.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is opportunity. Opportunity is calling here. If you have a mortgage and it's over 5 percent, you need to start thinking about, is it time to refinance. Look, you know, I've got to tell you, this doesn't happen very often. The long-term average for mortgage rates, about 8 percent. And 4.75 percent being offered by Citibank today with 3/8 point. HSH Associates says -- is giving us this information.

Just want to tell you, there are low rates out there to be had. It can save you lots of money. If you have a job, if you have good credit, a sizable down payment, there's a historic opportunity to buy. But there's also an opportunity to refinance if you have one of these toxic mortgages where the interest rate has reset higher and higher and higher. So pull your documents together. Start thinking about, what am I paying now, am I buying, what's the phone number for my mortgage banker?

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. You should probably have that on your speed dial.

I was just looking at some of your -- looking down at some of your notes here and some of the background from this. I guess the real question is, you know the housing industry is hurting in most places.

WILLIS: Right.

LEMON: So what's the effect? Will this help or hurt the housing industry?

WILLIS: Well, it really should help the housing industry ultimately. But as you know, Don, this isn't a tomorrow kind of thing, right? This is going to take some time, many months. If you're thinking how it's going to affect your personal bottom line, know that you're going to need a FICO score of 720 to get one of these mortgages. And if you don't have a job, of course, it will be impossible for you to get a loan.

I wanted to show you some of the numbers here, how much money you could actually save. You can actually save hundreds of dollars a month by locking in these low, low rates. When you move from 8 percent to under 5 percent, for many people, this could be hundreds of dollars each and every month. And that's money that could go to investing in your 401(k), saving money for college. There is so many great uses for that money right now. And I know people are desperate for a little extra money in their budget.

LEMON: Yes, that's like a raise.

WILLIS: That's like a raise.

LEMON: If you happen to have a job and if you don't have one, it's a rise from not having a job. So, yes, good advice. Good advice.

Gerri Willis, our personal finance editor.

Thank you, Gerri.

WILLIS: My pleasure, Don. Great to see you.

LEMON: Good to see you as well.

Forced into foreclosure. For some it is the only way out. For others, it just may be the only way in. Foreclosure deals. We have a live report from southern California moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Foreclosure rates at record highs. Mortgage rates at historic lows. The timing couldn't be better for first-time home buyers, provided they have the right credit and provided they have a job in this economy. CNN's Ted Rowlands caught up with some young couples in Lake Elsinore, California, getting into homes they never thought they could afford.

Ted, it's happening a lot of places. Even some people taking advantage of auctions. What are you hearing there?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we're actually -- we have a great example. An extreme example of the foreclosure mess. The good and the bad. We're on a street in Lake Elsinore, California, which is littered with foreclosed homes. Some of them have signs. Some of them don't.

This home here is a classic example. These folks bought the house for more than $600,000 a few years ago. They're now trying to either sell it or work out a deal to get out of it with the bank with a short sale. The price of that home now around $290,000 max.

On the other side of the coin, the other side of the misery, an example like this. This beautiful home is now a dream home for a young couple that wouldn't have been able to afford it. We're going to go inside and meet them. Derrick Lepley and his wife, Mary Ann, and their two-and-a-half-year-old have been in this home for about three months. You paid $250,000 for it.

Derrick, this thing went for more than $500,000 a few years ago. For you, this mortgage mess, this foreclosure mess, is a bit of a dream come true, huh?

DERRICK LEPLEY, NEW HOMEOWNER: Oh, yes, definitely. We would have never been able to afford this house had the market not collapsed the way it did.

ROWLANDS: You were telling me that you were renting and paying more for an apartment than you're now paying on the mortgage here.

D. LEPLEY: Oh, yes, about $200.

ROWLANDS: A four-bedroom, four-bath house. A gorgeous home. and, Mary Ann, for you, great place for the family. Do you feel bad when you look around the neighborhood and know that a lot of people are going through tough times and you guys are really pleased because you've been able to benefit through all this?

MARY ANN LEPLEY, NEW HOMEOWNER: I actually do. It's unfortunate for those who are going through such tough times. But in some ways we were really glad that we were able to do something we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

ROWLANDS: And you guys got a deal with -- because Derrick was in the military, you got a great loan. Basically nothing down. Just a few thousand dollars down. You have a decent job. You wouldn't have been able to get it if your credit and those types of things weren't in play. But, Don, this is a classic example of the other side of the misery that is really being felt by so many people. Not just the ones that are foreclosed on, but the homeowners that have just seen their equity vanish in less than a year. Here's the other side, the bright side of it all, families like this that are now in really a dream home at a price they can afford and a mortgage they can pay and sustain through the years.

LEMON: Ted, what's the family's last name again, I'm sorry? What's their name? The family's name? These guys -- I know you can't hear us.

ROWLANDS: I'm sorry, Don, I just lost communication.

LEMON: We lost communications with them. Sorry, Ted. I just want to say -- congratulate them on their home. Very nice home and congratulations to them. It's good that . . .

ROWLANDS: Oh, OK, family last name, Lepley. I'm sorry. You wanted to know . . .

LEMON: Lepley. That's OK.

ROWLANDS: The Lepley family.

LEMON: Live TV. That's OK. Tell the Lepley's congratulations on their new home and we're glad that they found one. And we hope that other Americans are able to do the same.

Our Ted Rowlands with the Lepley's out in California. Appreciate it.

An autopsy today, on a sadder note, is being performed in New York on actress Natasha Richardson. She died yesterday, two days after an accident on a ski slope at a resort in Quebec. A statement from the resort said she was urged to get a medical exam after falling during a ski lesson on a beginner's trail. About an hour later, Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neesan, complained she wasn't feeling well and was taken to the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE": It was a small slope and she was laughing. What do you guess happened?

DR. NEIL MARTIN, UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: In some cases, even a fall from a few feet, from standing erect to hitting the ground, can be enough to cause a serious injury if you can't protect yourself. If your head hits hard, then your brain collides with your skull and a serious injury can occur. We have to be cognizant of the other possibility, and that is that maybe there was some pre-existing condition that may even have triggered the fall and then snowballed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: We have been telling you what the president is doing. Now I want to tell you what the vice president is doing. You can see him smiling there on the upper left of your screen. Vice President Joe Biden is at St. Cloud, Minnesota, today. He's holding a middle class task force town hall meeting there. It is titled "Road to Recovery, Building a Strong Middle Class Through the Recovery Act." Going to speak to folks there about how the middle class can be helped and how businesses in their area can be helped. The vice president going to be speaking soon in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

You can go to cnn.com/live, or cnn.com live and you will be able to get it all live here. Plus, stay tune to CNN, we'll bring it to you as well. All the information covered for you right here on CNN.

In a down economy, we all feel the domino effect. If people aren't working, well, they're not buying either. And if you're not buying, well, you know the rest of the story here. So how do you fix it? Here's one money expert's 90-second answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA CALIGIURI, HUMAN RESOURCE MGMT. PROF., RUTGERS UNIV.: Well, my prescription for fixing the job market would really be for us to invest in small businesses.

We have, as Americans, we have an amazing creative and entrepreneurial spirit. If we could only harness that, we would definitely be able to create more jobs. For individuals who do have interest in starting businesses, I would encourage them to think of managing their careers the way they would manage their portfolios. To do some things that are slow and steady, but guaranteed sources of income, but do other things that may be a little more high-risk, high- reward, like starting a new business.

For our country, I would recommend that we do whatever we can to invest in our entrepreneurs, either through grants or micro loans, whatever it takes to help invigorate that. About 50 percent of Americans who work in the private sector work for small businesses. The small businesses will definitely help create jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That's our 90-second fix. Hope you got some information there.

The gloves are off and they're oiled -- and the bats are oiled up, I should say. Baseball spring training is full of swing, but not in one Florida town. The Dodgers are gone and Vero Beach is caught in an economic squeeze play. CNN's John Zarrella went to check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Peanuts, popcorn, Cracker Jacks. On the menu at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. But you're not getting them. You're not getting a game either. The spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers for more than half a century is empty.

PETER O'BRYAN, COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Things were bad enough and now here's a little bit more hitting us down.

ZARRELLA: For county commissioner, Peter O'Bryan, the timing could not be worse. Tourism is down thanks to the economy and their reliable source, the Dodgers, packed their balls and bats and left for Arizona last year, costing the area tens of thousands of fans who dumped $35 million into the economy.

CROCE GIAMBANCO, OWNER, NINO'S CORNER: You'll never get a seat anywhere in this town after a game.

ZARRELLA: Croce Giambanco owns Nino's down the block from the stadium. Business off 20 percent.

GIAMBANCO: We're not having the traffic. We're not having the business that we did, you know, in the past year or so. You know, this particular one, it's gone. They're not here. That's out (ph).

ZARRELLA: The city and county are doing everything to land any kind of baseball, semi-pro leagues, tournaments. Another major league team. They spend $100,000 a month just keeping the facility in playing shape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like we could play a game today.

ZARRELLA: And maybe two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe two.

ZARRELLA: While they're dying for baseball here, 100 miles down the road, baseball may be just dying. The Florida Marlins want a $600 million ballpark on the site of Miami's old Orange Bowl. The city of Miami and Dade County would pay for most of it with tourist tax dollars that are currently declining. The opposition calls it a millionaire's bailout.

MICHAEL BURNSTINE, COALITION AGAINST MARLINS BAILOUT: To sit here and take monies that we aren't even sure they're going to be there, and put them towards a stadium that really is for the benefit of a singular private for-profit enterprise is just the wrong time, period, the end.

ZARRELLA: Others say it would be bringing desperately needed jobs in the long and short-term.

MAYOR CARLOS ALVAREZ, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA: We will have a major league baseball franchise here for the next 35 years. We will have, in the short term, 1,000, 2,000 jobs in the construction area.

ZARRELLA: Final commission votes on the deal are expected to be close. And if the Marlins are shut out in Miami . . .

O'BRYAN: So if they want to become the Vero Beach Marlins, we'll have them. ZARRELLA: And then we'd get our peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: John joins us now from Vero Beach.

Hey, John, you know, we hope they get all that again, but does the community have any leads on for getting a team there? I mean, you know, it's the American past time. They need it.

ZARRELLA: Yes, and you can see, this is a spectacular playing facility here in Vero Beach. And, yes, they had been in negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles who are currently in Ft. Lauderdale, but those negotiations have stalled. And they were really the only major league team that had a lease coming up in the next year or two. So without the Orioles, there's not much hope for a major league team coming here for spring training any time soon.

And, again, they're looking to get any kind of baseball, whether it's tournaments or winter leagues, semi-pro ball, whatever they can to try and put, you know, butts in the seats, Don, so that they can -- because look at this. I can get you a good seat here today, Don.

LEMON: I'm glad you said it -- I'm glad you said it, John Zarrella. And it looks beautiful. I mean it looks like a picture behind you.

Hey, John, good luck to them. And we appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

That's it for me. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now.