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Congress Receives Obama's Budget; Can the Banks Stand on Their Own?; State of Emergency in Southern California; Bristol Palin Pitches Abstinence to Teens; The Value of Medical Tests; Pakistan Hits Taliban Positions; Pot Tax Under Consideration

Aired May 07, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The stress test. More stress for you? Well, today the list of banks that need capital comes out. How will your accounts be affected?

Also, there's a new pot debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do. I'm not afraid to admit that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: High times helping in hard times? One state considers legalizing, then taxing marijuana.

And a wind-driven wildfire burns down homes in California. We'll take you to the front lines as crews go up against this fast-moving menace.

It is Thursday. It is May 7th. I'm Don Lemon. Heidi is off today. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, neighborhoods are being burned to the ground in Southern California. Here's what we know right now. Firefighters are trying desperately to get ahead of a wildfire in Santa Barbara that has already destroyed as many as 20 homes. More are in danger right now.

Around 13,000 people were ordered to flee their homes. A lot of them are doing just that, while others say they'll stay put until it gets too hot.

The fire is also been making some unexpected turns. Three firefighters were injured when their truck got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. A total of eight firefighters have been hurt fighting the unpredictable blaze.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency as the fire continues to burn out of control. And our Kara Finnstrom is live in Santa Barbara, California this morning with the very latest on that.

Kara, firefighters are keeping a close eye on the winds there. What do they think is going to happen today? Will they be able to get a handle on it, they feel? KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those winds are a huge concern. Expected to gust again today. 25 to 40 miles per hour. Possibly up to 65 miles per hour. So they'll be keeping a close eye on those winds.

Overnight, early this morning, we've been keeping an eye on this house. We've been watching as it burnt to the ground. Literally been gutted as the fire has eaten out the inside of this home.

Now joining us live is the battalion fire chief who was in this neighborhood last night as the fire came through. Very intense.

And you were telling me that it was really the situation of a perfect storm.

MITCH BROOKHYSER, BATTALION FIRE CHIEF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: At about 4:00, the humidity has dropped to about 10 percent and the winds had picked about 25 miles an hour. It had been relatively docile the whole day. They were doing air attack and air drops up on this hill. And then when the winds -- when the winds started to pick up and the humidity dropped, we call it that the fire reached an alignment point and it just took off. And it flared up. It got really, really intense. Burned northwest towards the beach here and it jumped Mission Road and a tunnel road behind us here. And it took several structures out.

There were about four or five strike teams that were deployed up here to protect structures along with a couple more to support the hand crews that were up on the hill and all people engaged the fire at that point and tried to make the stops as best they could.

FINNSTROM: And I want to just very quickly, Don, show you what's going on just beyond this house. We heard some chainsaws a little bit earlier this morning. This is part of the work under way now to protect the structures around homes that have burned.

BROOKHYSER: Yes. This morning, there were some smoldering eaves in the house behind us. And we tried to do is get an engine company down here as quickly as possible to save the house because if you don't -- if it went unchecked it would eventually end up like this one back here.

FINNSTROM: All right. A lot of work for these firefighters out here today. We appreciate your time with us this morning. Don?

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kara Finnstrom for us in California.

Our Rob Marciano is monitoring the situation from our Severe Weather Center. He'll be along just a few minutes to tell us what the winds are expected to do in Southern California today. And he's also going to have a look at the dangerous storms that are crossing through the southeast right here where we're broadcasting from.

Your money this hour. We're looking at how it is being spent and how it is being saved. Our Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House where the president will talk about his planned budget cuts this hour.

And in New York, Christine Romans looks at the banking crisis and the bailout you're paying for. Today we're bracing for more mixed news on this.

And Wall Street closes at a four-month high. Will the rally continue today is the question. Who's may be found in the latest numbers that come out -- just came out, I should say, just a few minutes ago.

And this morning on Capitol Hill, Congress is officially receiving President Obama's spending plan for next year. The delivery is ceremonial. The details are more substantive than that.

Next hour, the president will discuss his $17 billion in planned cuts. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House with the latest on that.

Suzanne, what can you tell us about that?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, this is actually one of those copies of some of the cuts that we'll be talking about. Much of the information inside here is embargoed until about 10:30 or so when the president announces it. But we can tell you some of the highlights of this brief from senior administration officials. They're talking about $17 billion in savings next year. Half of it out of defense. Half of it nondefense. This is about 121 government programs.

One of the examples that they gave -- this is a long-range radio navigation system. They believe it will save about $35 million. They say this system has been made obsolete by the GPS system that's already in place.

Another proposal, which is quite controversial, Don. This is the Even Start program for kids. They believe it will save about $66 million. It's a program -- literacy program for children, as well as their parents.

And many of the senior administration officials say, look. Many of the goals of this program have not been met. That this is not an efficient program. They look at other ones like head start and say that works a lot better. They say it does not matter what the intention of the government program is.

They are looking for efficiency, what is actually working. And so they are eliminating some projects, Don, that Democrats have been trying to hold on to. This is one of them. The Bush administration has been cutting that program every single year or so, trimming it. Now we see President Obama essentially saying it is not effective and he wants to do the same, Don.

LEMON: Yes. And Suzanne, this really is minuscule when you think about all of it. I mean the numbers we are talking about here, 1/2 of 1 percent of the total budget.

MALVEAUX: And I want you to take a listen. I interviewed the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, this morning. I put that question to him and here's how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER ORSZAG, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: Well, $17 billion by anyone's accounting is not chump change. It's true that our fiscal future depends mostly on health care and the rate at which health care costs grow, which is why we want to get health care reform done this year in a way that brings down costs.

But it's also true $17 billion a year in unnecessary, wasteful or inefficient spending doesn't make any sense. We don't need the Department of Education to have a permanent representative in Paris, France costing us $630,000 a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Don, one of the things that he talked about was that this is just the beginning. But he also said that there's about $300 billion they believe they can save in health care costs. So that is something that you're not necessarily going to see reflected in these numbers here and that that is something that people should take into account, Don.

LEMON: Suzanne Malveaux, appreciate that.

And next hour we'll have live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the budget. That event now scheduled 10:35 Eastern, 7:35 Pacific. That will happen our next hour.

Now want to get the latest numbers on the economy. Just minutes ago, we learned that new applications for weekly jobless benefits have taken an unexpected drop. They are now at their lowest level in 14 weeks. But continuing claims, that is, all people receiving benefits have set a record for the 14th week.

Also last hour, we learned that productivity rebounded slightly in the first three months of this year.

The nation's struggling banks, billions of your dollars, helped bail them out. How many can now stand on their own? Well, today we get the official results of the government's stress test.

And our Christine Romans joins us to explain that.

Christine, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the results of these tests will be reassuring. How is that?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And the hope is, from the administration at least, is that this will lift a fog of uncertainty about the stability of the banking sector. And Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary, on "Charlie Rose," also saying that none of these banks are insolvent.

Some of these banks have to raise money. Some of them don't have to raise more money. They will be given time to do so and the idea here is that these stress tests are going to give a good foundation for a solid recovery. That's the administration's view.

So let's look at who we think are the banks that are going to need more money. Because these results have not been announced yet. They've been announced to the banks and there have been pretty colossal leaks here, I will say. It's one of the most leaked pieces of information I have seen in a long time.

Look. Bank of America, $34 billion. Widely reported they'll need to raise $34 billion. Wells Fargo, maybe $15 billion. GMAC, Citigroup, among the banks that are expected to -- in the announcement this afternoon -- be told that they're going to more capital. Also Morgan Stanley, Regions Financial Corp and State Street among others.

Now there are some who are likely to be told that they have adequate capital, including JPMorgan Chase. That is on the list of banks that don't need to raise any more money. Also Goldman Sachs, MetLife and some others.

Now, OK, so Don, if you need -- if you're one of these people who bank at one of the banks that needs to raise money, does this mean anything for your bank account? No. I keep getting a lot of questions about this. I want to be very clear.

If you have a bank account at Bank of America or a bank that -- is going to need to raise a lot of capital, this does not change the situation for your banking. This is basically the government regulators saying you need to raise more capital so that you will be ready if something terrible were to happen in the economy.

LEMON: Yes.

ROMANS: How do you raise that money? A couple of different ways. And some banks have already started to do it. Selling off divisions and assets. I've already seen this already. There are stakes in foreign banks trying to raise money that way. They can go to private investors and ask for more money and some of them have been successful in doing that.

They can also -- you know, go to the government, at the very least, at the very end, they can go to the government and get more money if they need to. It's about $110 billion left in that TARP plan. And we're expecting maybe over the next few weeks, frankly, maybe months is a better way to put it, some of these banks are actually going to be paying back some of their bank bailout.

So there'll be more money available. And you just saw we had a list there of what -- you know, what they have to do. Well, they have a month to come up with a plan for how to do this.

LEMON: Yes.

ROMANS: And then six months to actually raise the money.

LEMON: All right. Six months. We'll see what happens. We'll be watching Thank you, Christine Romans.

ROMANS: Sure.

LEMON: A peace deal in tatters. Pakistan launching a major offensive against the Taliban. We've got a live report for you.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Another morning with severe storms across the south. And those fires continue to blaze out west. We'll talk about those weather conditions when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Yes, we've been dealing with a lot of bad weather lately, especially across the south. Parts of the south now bracing for more severe spring weather today. Strong storms swept across Alabama yesterday, damaging buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to thousands of customers.

In North Carolina, blue tarps are shielding homes damaged by a round of storms Tuesday. The National Weather Service says six tornados touched down in counties including Johnston, Nash, Wake and Wilson. At least three people suffered minor injuries.

CNN's Rob Marciano joining us now from the CNN Severe Weather Center with the latest on that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates says no U.S. ground forces will be deployed to Pakistan. He offered that assurance today while visiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Gates also says the Pentagon is working to get troops longer home visits between deployments to Afghan battle zones. Thirty-eight thousand U.S. troops are now stationed in Afghanistan with another 30,000 heading there by this fall.

The Pakistani military using air strikes today to pound Taliban positions in the country's Swat Valley.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more on the offensive from the capital of Islamabad.

Hello, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

Well, what we're hearing from a senior Pakistani military source is that the Pakistani government should officially announce an end to its controversial peace deal with the Taliban later this evening. But that really is just a formality at this point.

The Pakistani military and the Taliban have been fighting in mountains just a few hours' drive from here where I'm standing for the past two weeks. And today some fierce clashes in the Swat Valley.

The first time we've heard of fighter planes being used to carry out air strikes against targets in the Swat Valley, in the district capital of Mingora, which Taliban fighters have controlled for the past several days. They've actually taken over government buildings there.

And we're hearing reports of major humanitarian crisis coming out at this point. With the international committee of the Red Cross preparing to provide aid for some 120,000 people displaced by fighting over the course of the last two weeks - Don.

LEMON: All right, Ivan. So you've been to these camps and you've seen them set up for civilians fleeing the fighting in Swat. What can you tell us about them and what's going on there?

WATSON: Well, they are sprouting up in the Pakistani countryside. We went to one which had been an open field just five days ago, Don. And then there were 1400 people living there. And we were watching people build tents for new arrivals as they were walking in over the course of an hour. Fifty people arrived at this one camp alone.

Now the stories were very similar. People describing air strikes, describing artillery hitting their villages, neighboring houses getting damaged, civilian casualties in the nearby area and basically having to pick up with just the clothes on their back and having to run out of those areas as fast as possible.

And what's really ominous is we're hearing that a lot of the people in the conflict zones that are spread out across northwest Pakistan are not able to escape because it's simply too dangerous - Don.

LEMON: Ivan Watson in Islamabad. Thank you very much, Ivan.

Top Pakistani and Afghan officials are in Washington for a second day of security talks. The leaders of the two nations met with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They did that yesterday.

They want to coordinate strategy. A strategy in the fighting. Fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda in that region. There are meetings today at the State Department, the CIA, the FBI and all on Capitol Hill.

And our Wolf Blitzer has one on one interview with Afghan president Hamid Karzai. You can watch that, "SITUATION ROOM" tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Wolf Blitzer interviews Hamid Karzai in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Many parents keeping their kids from getting vaccinations. Is this safe? We ask our Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, parents, this story is for you because a number of parents opting out of vaccinating their kids is on the rise. And so are these parents taking undue risks for their kids?

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to help us sort all of this out. Sanjay, first question, a lot of parents are wary of vaccines. We know that. And that's why they have their children exempted from getting them? Is this really a problem?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a nutshell, yes, it is a problem. And you know, people sort of thought of this as a theoretical problem, not getting vaccines for their kids. But now new studies coming out showing just potentially how big a problem it is.

First off, Don, you may know this. But in every state across the country, for medical reasons, parents can opt out of vaccines for their kids. Forty-eight states say you can do it for religious reasons and others, 21 states, as well, that say you can do it for personal reasons which obviously leaves it wide open.

And what we can now tell you that people are starting to do that. In fact, if you look at the overall opting out of vaccines between 1991 and 2008, not sure you can read that. But the numbers have tripled, Don. They may not seem like large numbers, but those are large numbers overall when it comes to the idea of vaccines.

Now one thing to sort of keep in mind is that oftentimes it's done in clusters. So parents in a certain community will say well, we're not vaccinating our kids. Other parents in the same community will do the same.

And that's probably one of the biggest problem of all, because when you start to do that, what happens is you start to get outbreaks of cases, diseases that were previously thought essentially nonexistent. So for example in 2005 in Indiana, there were 34 cases of measles. In 2006 in Boston, there were 18 cases of measles. And the most recently 12 cases of measles in San Diego.

The issue here is that, you know, when you talk overall about who these kids are and how these number of cases are increasing, over the last decade, you've had almost a doubling in the number of cases of measles and most of those cases are in unvaccinated children. About 91 percent, Don, as you can see there. And again, compare that to about a doubling just over the last decade.

LEMON: Let's stay on this topic of measles. And it's always interesting you can tell when someone is over a certain age because they get that old -- they have the old mark on the left arm.

GUPTA: Right.

LEMON: Remember the measles, mumps, rubella thing...

GUPTA: That's right.

LEMON: ... that everybody got. But -- you know, what if you get something like measles? How bad is that?

GUPTA: Well, measles -- you know, it's funny because we hardly hear about it anymore because we all did. A lot of us did get those shots in our arm. It can be a pretty devastating disease.

Beyond the -- sort of, you know, scary rash that people get and the scarring that's often associated with that rash, it can also lead to pneumonia, it can lead to things like meningitis or something known as encephalitis, which is an inflammation, infection of the brain. And it can also -- in, you know, relatively rare cases but still happens, can lead to death.

So we don't talk about measles that much, but we're starting to have to talk about it again because of these children not getting vaccinated.

LEMON: And what about something like chicken pox? I mean, it seems like -- you know, if you were concerned about too many vaccines, this may be one that you can possibly skip?

GUPTA: Well, you and I probably didn't get the chicken pox vaccine because it didn't exist when you and I were kids.

LEMON: We got chicken pox. Yes.

GUPTA: What sort of -- yes, we got chicken pox instead, which gave us the immunity. But what's interesting now is because you do have a large segment of the population getting the chicken pox vaccine, the people that are still getting chicken pox are much older. They are adults often.

And it can be a much more serious problem in adults. Chicken pox is something that -- you know, you get through as a kid. But in an adult it can lead to pneumonia, it can lead to longer term problems along your nerves. So you still want to get the vaccine chicken pox as well. You know it would be the best advice, I think, from most doctors.

LEMON: All right. Sanjay, thank you very much for that. We appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Hey, check your calendar and you'll see that it is an odd day today. May 7th, 2009, 5/7/09, 5/7/9. It's one of the only six days this entire century that sport three consecutive odd numbers. The last was March 5th, '07. Before that January 3rd, 2005. Ahead we have July 9th, 2011 and September 11th, 2013.

There's one other, but I'll let you do the math on that one.

Teenagers and sex. Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin's daughter, has some advice for everyone. It might be a case of do as I say, not as I do or not as I did.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Don Lemon.

LEMON: Well, today is a day many people have been waiting months for. The government will release the results of the bank stress tests. Leading up to today, financial stocks have been rising, but what will happen next is the big question.

Our Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

Good morning to you, Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

Yes, well, financial stocks have really been rising because there have been reports that bank like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs did well in the stress test. And that they actually have enough money. That optimism likely to send stocks higher again today.

Also helping a $6 billion loss from GM. The number is huge, no doubt about it. But it's not as bad as Wall Street expected. The automaker burned through more than $10 billion in the first three months of the year but it's trying desperately to cut costs by temporarily idling 23 of its parts plants. GM shares are on the upside right now by three percent.

We also have a round of upbeat economic news. Productivity rebounded slightly in the first quarters. Many retailers like Wal- Mart are reporting better than expected April sales. And new unemployment claims plunged to 600 and 1,000. That's the lowest level since January.

But now on the down side, the number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits hit another record high. 6.3 million. Also, chemical maker DuPont is the latest company to cut jobs. About 2,000 jobs will be lost there.

Tomorrow, we'll be talking to labor secretary Hilda Solis about this and the big jobs report we'll be getting from the government. She'll be on at about 9:35 a.m. Eastern Time. So you have about a good 24 hours to clear your schedule to watch that.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the numbers in the early going. The Dow Industrial is up 52 points, 8565. NASDAQ better by 13 at 1772. It's another strong start off to the trading day here this week - Don.

LEMON: Good. We like strong starts.

Thank you very much.

Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange.

Jobs and layoffs on so many people's minds right now. We'd like to ask the secretary of labor some of your questions when she joins us tomorrow morning. She'll be here tomorrow morning. So we want to ask some of your questions. Here's what you do. You go to cnn.com/newsroom and you post your questions there, and we will get them to the secretary of labor for you. Let's get back to our big story here today. A wildfire burning out of control right now in Santa Barbara, California. Eight firefighters have been hurt fighting the fire. The wildfires already destroyed at least 20 homes and there are many more in danger.

Around 13,000 people were ordered to evacuate. Strong winds have been pushing the fire towards neighborhoods. Those same winds also caused firefighters to ground the helicopters they were using to help fight that fire.

We want to go now to our meteorologist Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: An about-face from the Obama administration. The White House says a report from that low altitude flyover in New York last month will be released soon along with a photo. That was just last week as a matter of fact. The controversial flyover was a training mission and a government sanctioned photo shoot.

It cost taxpayers -- get this -- almost $330,000. New Yorkers panicked. The president said he was furious. White House officials initially said there were no plans to release the photos to the public, but then they changed that on yesterday.

Bristol Palin has a message for teenagers. Don't have sex, she says. The daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is on a media blitz promoting abstinence as a way to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swarmed by photographers, 18-year-old Bristol Palin walked the receiving line in her new role, "The Ambassador to Abstinence." Saying her message to teens is...

BRISTOL PALIN, TEEN AMBASSADOR, CANDIE'S FEN.: Teens should just wait to have sex.

FEYERICK: The Alaska governor's daughter, who gave birth to son, Tripp, in December, is taking part in a national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy.

PALIN: Girls now, they think that having a baby is like having an accessory on their hip. And they don't realize that it's such a huge responsibility and it's such just hard work.

FEYERICK: In February, during a FOX interview, Palin's message on abstinence didn't seem so clear cut.

PALIN: Everyone should be abstinent whatever, but it's not realistic at all. FEYERICK: She now says her comment was taken out of context and that it's the only way to prevent pregnancy. Her ex-fiance, Levi Johnston, with whom she has a strained relationship, had this take speaking on a CBS early show.

LEVI JOHNSTON, FATHER OF BRISTOL'S BABY: I'm telling young kids you can't have sex it's not going to work. It's not realistic.

FEYERICK: In 2006, a total of 435,000 children were born to mothers 15 to 19 years old, slightly higher than the previous year. Thousands more teenage girls chose abortion.

ANN SHOKET, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "SEVENTEEN": Bristol gives a very public face to a real private struggle that 750,000 teenage girls go through every year. It is a tremendous turmoil in young lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ADVERTISEMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is nothing to worry about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing to worry about, huh?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The campaign sponsored by shoemaker Candie's debuted on what's being billed as National Teen Pregnancy Awareness Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ADVERTISEMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Sitting next to Palin at a panel in Manhattan was actress Hayden Panettiere with a somewhat different message about sex.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE, ACTRESS: There's nothing wrong with it. It's human nature. People do it. As long as you're educated, as long as you're safe and you are smart about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Deborah Feyerick is joining us now from New York this morning.

Deb, here's a question that I have. You know, it's good that she's talking to people and being honest with them. But is she a paid spokesperson for this campaign?

FEYERICK: Well, she's not an official paid spokesperson. What Candie's Foundation said is that right now she's an ambassador. She was compensated for her appearance, not clear whether there will be other appearances. And also her expenses were covered. But as an official spokesperson, not yet.

LEMON: All right. Obviously, you see her there with the baby. They are very happy. It's a lovely baby. But does she say that she made a mistake by doing this, by having a baby?

FEYERICK: Well, it's a very interesting line when she talks about this. She says that her son, Tripp, not a mistake. Love of her life. She says what is a mistake is that she wishes she had her son 10 years down the road when she was able to go to college, able to have a job, a house, more established. Because she says it's just bone crushingly hard to be a teen mom, and the choices she makes now are very, very different than the choices she would have made.

LEMON: Yes. Every teen mom that I've spoken to says, I love my baby, but if I had to do it all over again, I would do it differently. And I think that's usually the sentiment there.

Deb Feyerick, thank you very much.

We want to tell our viewers here that if you want to know about -- we want to know what you think about Bristol Palin's new role here. Will kids listen to an unwed mother talk about the virtues of abstinence, or is she the perfect role model here? All right?

So go to cnn.com/newsroom. Post your answers on our blog, and we'll check them out. Some of them may get on the air as a matter of fact.

We want to go back to our big story in Santa Barbara, where firefighters are fighting a blaze there.

And joining us now from that area to talk about what is going on, the efforts there is Derek Johnson. He's a public information officer for Santa Barbara County; Santa Barbara County, PIO.

What is the very latest, sir, because we're hearing that 13,000 residents were forced to evacuate and about 20 homes, sir, had been destroyed.

Do you have updated information for us at this hour?

DEREK JOHNSON, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, SANTA BARBARA COUNTRY (via telephone): We've had over 13,500 residents who have been either -- have been forced to evacuate or have been warned to evacuate the area as a result of the fire. We currently do not have an estimated number of homes that have been destroyed from this fire.

Last night, our efforts focused on life, safety and protection of property as we brought in strike teams to protect homes within the Mission Canyon area, which is just above the city of Santa Barbara. The winds last night continued to challenge firefighters in gaining the upper hand on the blaze. And, unfortunately, the National Weather Service is forecasting a return of the winds, which are expected to be 25 to 45 miles an hour with gusts to 60.

LEMON: OK. And just looking at the latest information here. We're looking at live pictures that are coming in here to CNN. Again, these are some of the first daylight pictures of the fires that are happening in Santa Barbara. And if you're just joining us, we're talking to a public information officer who is giving us the very latest.

Talk to us about injuries. We're hearing that eight firefighters have been injured in this. What about any civilians and the condition of those firefighters who are injured.

JOHNSON: We have confirmed reports of three firefighters that were injured as a result of burns and smoke inhalation. Those firefighters were taken to Sherman Oaks, which is near Los Angeles to a burn center. And are now in stable condition undergoing further observation and treatment.

LEMON: So it's only three. It's not eight then.

JOHNSON: At this time, we have confirmation of three firefighters.

LEMON: OK. And no civilians, right?

JOHNSON: No civilians have been reported at this time.

LEMON: Best of luck with that. We appreciate it.

Derek Johnson, public information officer for Santa Barbara County.

We'll be checking with him and we'll be checking also with our meteorologist Rob Marciano.

We appreciate you joining us today in the CNN NEWSROOM.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

LEMON: You can also weigh in on another debate that we have been talking about online. We've been talking about marijuana here.

Marijuana because California is considering whether to legalize pot so they can collect more tax money.

And a desperate situation in Pakistan. Thousands fleeing the fighting between the Taliban and government troops. Will the U.S. end up helping with humanitarian crisis?

Also, now this for you. We have all been told how important it is to have regular check-ups with your doctor. But how important are the routine tests, as you hit the milestones of 30, 40, even 50?

Well, for women, the answer is very important. And Judy Fortin has the explanation for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She may seem energetic now, but seven years ago, Page Hager (ph) was exhausted for no apparent reason.

PAGE HAGER, PATIENT: My symptoms included weight gain, continual weight gain and extreme tiredness.

FORTIN: Her diagnosis? Hypothyroidism. A condition that affects millions of people. Yet many never know they have it.

DR. DEBORAH KELLY, PIEDMONT PHYSICIANS GROUP: Thyroid disorders are more common in women. Also, if you have a family history of it and as we get older.

FORTIN: Family history and regular exams are critical for women as they age. Page's condition was caught by her doctor thanks to a regular exam. And medication has improved her health.

A check-up isn't always at the top of a busy woman's to-do list, especially in her 30s. But doctors say it should be. Particularly, if she has a predisposition for certain illnesses. Around age 35, it's recommended all women have a thyroid test and repeat it every five years.

And in their early 30s, women need to be getting a Pap test, every one to three years to check for cervical cancer.

KELLY: They need to be aware of their personal family history, because if they do have an increased risk for a particular illness, you may need further diagnostic testing.

FORTIN: Even in her 30s, diabetes and heart disease could play a role in a woman's health, especially if it runs in the family. Heart disease is the number one killer of women. So make sure you know your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. Adding on exercise and good diet will also help.

Middle age brings on new problems. Women are encouraged to begin getting regular mammograms in their 40s.

And at the age of 50, women should begin having colonoscopies. But these ages may vary depending on family history.

KELLY: If you have a strong family history of colon cancer, first-degree relative you should again back up ten years earlier than the age of diagnosis of your first three relative. So you should be having a colonoscopy if, for instance, your father had colon cancer at 45. Well, you should have one at 35.

FORTIN: Another reason for women to know their family health tree.

Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The Pakistani government planning to scrap a controversial peace deal with the Taliban as it launches a bigger push against the militants. The site of the offensive and peace deal is the Swat Valley. Under the deal, Pakistan and -- had pulled out troops allowing the Taliban to implement strict Islamic law there. But after the militants moved into a neighboring district last month, Pakistani forces enter the region to battle the Taliban.

CNN's world affair's analyst Fareed Zakaria spoke about the offensive on "AC 360" just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You look at the Pakistan offensive right now against Taliban forces. I mean Taliban militants were 60 miles from Islamabad, from the capital. You have 80 percent of Pakistan forces focusing on India, now they're suddenly faced with basically fighting a counter insurgency.

Did they even know how to do this? They're evacuating huge amounts -- huge numbers of civilians from this area. That's just going to inflame civilians against the government.

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: They're doing everything we did in Iraq in 2003-2004. It is very large scale operations, as you pointed, basically bombing civilians, mortaring, shelling, herding them out. The result is, of course, people...

COOPER: Which is exactly what the insurgents want.

ZAKARIA: Which is what the insurgents want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, meantime, a humanitarian crisis is emerging in Pakistan as civilians seek to escape the fighting.

CNN's Barbara Starr has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of Pakistanis now moving into camps trying to escape raging fighting between the Pakistani and Taliban forces in the Swat Valley region. Many have been forced by the government to evacuate their homes.

This man says, "The fighting has been fierce. Women and children are waiting here for food, water and somewhere to sleep."

All of this a result of Pakistan trying to crush Taliban insurgents, but it's a counterinsurgency strategy that many say is certain to backfire.

DAVID KILCULLEN, ADVISER TO GENERAL PETRAEUS: What we're seeing is a heavy military approach. It's a -- what you might describe as a search and destroy or sweep and kill.

STARR: Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency expert says the problem, tens of thousands of Pakistanis are now newly alienated from their government.

KILCULLEN: They close ranks behind extremist. And you actually -- you bring more support to the enemy and the whole population pushes back against you. And you find yourself fighting everybody who lives there.

STARR: Behind the scenes, senior U.S. military officials say the Pakistanis must abandon wide-scale operations that force tens of thousands from their homes and focus on precision targeting, just going after Taliban and militant targets. And officials say aid and assistance is now vital. Pakistani and international relief officials estimate 40,000 have fled their homes in recent days. And another 500,000 may be in jeopardy if forced evacuations continue.

Refugee advocates say the crisis cannot be ignored.

PATRICK DUPLAT, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: This is happening in Pakistan. The foreign policy priority of the Obama administration. And, quite clearly, the U.S. has a greater role to play in publicly acknowledging the scale of the crisis.

STARR (on camera): U.S. officials say it's tough to criticize Pakistan too harshly right now, because the government there is so fragile. But if the humanitarian crisis continues to grow, it may be even tougher for the Obama administration to sit on the sidelines.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Barbara, thank you very much.

Question here. Can bong hits boost the U.S. budget? That's a $1 billion question. California is considering. Other states are waiting to see where the debate ends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. A lot happening in Washington today. So let's get right to it. Some of the headlines from The Hill.

President Obama's 2010 budget just delivered to Congress this morning. Lawmakers will get a detailed look at his spending plan. The president wants to cut or eliminate 121 government programs totaling $17 billion.

The president will make remarks on the budget cuts next hour, live here on CNN.

In the Senate, Attorney General Eric Holder gets ready for some questions next hour. He'll testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing on funding and oversight for the Justice Department.

And battling the flu in our schools, how ready are we? That's a focus of a hearing in the House that will happen next hour. The education and labor committee will look at preparedness against the flu virus not only in schools, but in the workplace, too. Education and health officials are set to testify. There's a lot going on this morning as I said, and we've got reporters and correspondents covering it all for you. Let's begin on the economic front.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don, I'm Christine Romans in New York, where I'm waiting for those stress tests from the banks. They're officially released later today. But these have been leaked pretty well. We know which banks are stressed, which aren't. Where does your bank follow? I'll have that at the top of the hour.

MARCIANO: And they're stressing out in the south, again. Hi, everybody. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. More damaging storms across Alabama and those fires continue to burn in California. And weather is not helping.

We'll talk about that at the top of the hour.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. The future of swine flu. Will it come back in the fall? And will there be a vaccine?

I'll have answers to those questions at the top of the hour.

LEMON: All right. Thanks to all of you.

Also next hour, more of our in-depth look at the challenges facing the class of 2009.

We'll talk to some college students who are wondering if the economy is going to derail their dreams before they even get started.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So California is considering a new revenue source to try and offset its budget shortfall. It's called a pot tax. It could be $1 billion idea. That's what we hear.

And CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at the pros and the cons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly 15 million Americans smoke marijuana each month. The U.S. government says 44 percent of high school seniors have tried it and some adults openly use it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do. I'm not afraid to admit that.

FOREMAN: Now amid rumbles that legalizing and taxing marijuana could bring California $1.3 billion a year, lawmakers there are considering just that. A poll shows voters favor it and the governor wants to talk it over.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: And I think that we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana.

FOREMAN: In New York, the Drug Policy Alliance, encouraged by more than a dozen states that have already approved medicinal marijuana has long argued for full legalization comparing the costly war on drugs to Prohibition.

ETHAN NADELMANN, DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE: The number one, two and three factors that brought alcohol prohibition to such a rapid end in 1933 were the Depression, the Depression, the Depression. And what's driving things very quickly right now with ending marijuana prohibition is the recession, the recession and the fear of another depression.

FOREMAN (on camera): Drug opponents disagree saying any new revenue could be swallowed by new problems for law enforcement and health officials because as the marijuana trade has grown lucrative the drug itself has been re-engineered to be stronger.

Drug Watch International is a non-profit group against legalization.

JOHN COLEMAN, DRUG WATCH INTERNATIONAL: No question about it. I mean, it's the difference between having maybe a 4-ounce glass of beer versus an 8-ounce glass of Jack Daniels. It's far more potent today than it was back in the 60s.

FOREMAN: The president himself doubts the positive economic impact of legalization.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy.

FOREMAN: But the drum beat to consider it is growing.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Here we go.

All right. There are some other stories that we're keeping an eye on for you right now. Students and faculty at Wesleyan College in Middletown, Connecticut, are being told to stay away from campus today. The warning went out on the school's Web site following a fatal shooting of a student. The suspect is still on the loose there.

Nine people are hospitalized in Elizabeth Town, Kentucky this morning after two tour buses were hit by a tractor trailer truck. Three of the injured are children. The tour buses are owned by the Morgan family, a Christian music group. They had parked on the side of the road after one of the buses broke down.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage wants to be allowed into Britain. He was included on a new list of 22 people banned by the UK. The government feels they are stirring up hatred there.

In an interview on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," Savage said he wants an apology and said England has a quote, "demented attitude."