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Nursing Homes Have Special Stake in Health Care Debate; Mortgage Assistance Program; For Veterans' Sake
Aired October 14, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We can't help but feel like a broken record when we talk about problems with the Veterans Administration, but we're going to keep sounding off and pushing forward. Where do you start and where does it end?
The massive backlog of claims, colonoscopy equipment that might have exposed veterans to HIV, botched doses of radiation for prostate cancer, a letter that told some vets that they had Lou Gehrig's disease when they didn't, suicide, PTSD -- all of that swarming in the ranks.
We've covered every single one of these stories, and we've asked the head of the VA to talk about all of them with us time and time again. The answer every time, no.
Well, today, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is talking, not to us, but a House committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERICK SHINSEKI, U.S. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: We have aggressively disclosed these issues when we've discovered them to establish high standards and accountability and transparency. We'll continue to do that.
Most of the shortcomings were discovered by our own staff and then publicly disclosed. In each case, we notified the Congress, VSOs, veterans and the public. Our forthrightness was the right thing to do, and transparency, I am convinced, will ultimately result in a higher level of trust in the quality and the safety of VA's services.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, we have had no luck getting Secretary Shinseski to talk to us and push this forward, but one powerful woman has managed to get his attention. You can't ignore her. Senator Patty Murray is with us in just a moment to talk about her push for veterans' sake.
The great American headcount otherwise known as the census gearing up, and the people in charge say it's too late to change the rules for 2010. But that's not stopping the Senate from voting on a measure that would ban the counting of illegal immigrants. It also would make census workers ask whether people are in the U.S. legally.
As you may know, census data determines representation in Congress and the doling out of vast amounts of government benefits. Even so, many Hispanics are deeply suspicious of government workers who knock on doors asking questions. And later this hour, a clergyman's call for Hispanics to stand up and not be counted.
Consider everything that's happened so far in the cause of health care reform act one. Well act two starts today.
Today, Senate leaders act like editors, cutting and pasting two very different bills into one, one that they hope can win 60 votes. The same process is well under way in the House with three bills.
So, what happens after all that? Well, I'm glad you asked.
Later this hour, CNN's Josh Levs guides us through an obstacle course that leads eventually, if all the hurdles are cleared, all the pitfalls avoided, to the president's desk.
Older Americans have a special stake in the health care debate, and so do the nursing homes that care for almost two million of them. Even modest changes in government benefits have big ripples, as CNN's Ines Ferre found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): West Hartford Health and Rehabilitation Center has been around for over 30 years. It houses some 116 nursing home residents. Like the rest of the industry, it's suffering from flat or lower Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. Director of operations Russell Schwartz said he's already cut some staff.
RUSSELL SCHWARTZ, WEST HARTFORD HEALTH & REHAB CTR: While I don't see this facility any time soon closing, the cumulative effect ultimately catches up with itself, and there's only so far and so much you can cut before business is not viable. It's scary. These are scary times for our industry.
FERRE: Just this year, four nursing homes have closed in Connecticut. And over the last year, 15 were in bankruptcy or state receivership. Nationwide, in October, Medicare cut home reimbursement rates by 3.3 percent.
One industry association says that amounts to $16 billion over the next four years, putting 40,000 jobs at risk. Nursing homes are funded primarily by Medicaid, followed by Medicare, insurance and private payments. And there's often a real juggling act that takes place between all of those sources in order to keep that running.
If one or more are cut, it could put the whole structure at risk. This year, some 24 states already have cut funding for nursing home care or other services for the elderly or disabled. Industry experts fear some of Congress's health care proposals would cut Medicare funding and reimbursements for nursing homes by up to $32 billion over ten years.
BRUCE YARWOOD, AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ASSN.: That goes into quality of staffing. So, the delicate balance is upset, and at the same time, there will be a reduction in the ability to pay staff.
FERRE: Between 1999 and 2005, some 1800 homes in the U.S. closed in part because of lower reimbursements and the migration towards home care.
Ines Ferre, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, are you looking for a tax break on a new house or car? You'd better get a move on. Some big-time breaks getting ready to die.
Right now, you can get an $8,000 tax credit if you're a first- time homebuyer. It's part of this year's stimulus bill and it expires December 1st unless it's extended. And if you're looking for a new set of wheels, you have until December 31st to sign on the dotted line. Then you can deduct the sales and excise taxes. That tax break, also part of the stimulus.
Buying a new hours or car is one thing, holding on to them is another. President Obama's mortgage assistance program helped a lot of people stay in their homes, but a lot of others got the boot.
CNN's Jessica Yellin takes a closer look at the success stories and the failures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): After CNN first reported on problems with the president's mortgage assistance program...
MARK KOLLAR, HOMEOWNER: Now I feel like we have been -- what's the proper word? Screwed?
YELLIN: ... we were flooded with iReports, like this one from Joe and Jill Woods (ph), trying to hang on to their Ohio house. They say the bank kept losing their paperwork, finally approved them for the program, then came back and denied them.
Now Timothy Geithner's Treasury Department says the program has hit a milestone -- 500,000 Americans now have lower-cost trial mortgages through the program. If those homeowners stay current for three months, the offer could be made permanent.
A financial industry lobbyist is optimistic.
SCOTT TALBOTT, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE: We're confident that a vast mortgage of these trial mods will turn into permanent modifications and be able to stay in their homes at the end of the three-month program.
YELLIN: So, how are the banks that got big taxpayer bailouts doing? Citibank, 33 percent of their eligible customers have the trial mortgage payments. JPMorgan Chase, 27 percent, not bad. But Bank of America, they have struck the deal with only 11 percent of their eligible customers. And Wachovia, which is owned by Wells Fargo, also a huge bailout recipient, only 3 percent.
DIANE THOMPSON, NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER: I think so far the program has been a disappointment.
YELLIN: Attorney Diane Thompson has given congressional testimony about the program. She says plenty is still going wrong.
THOMPSON: Some people are still being asked to sign waivers of all their legal rights. We have lots of examples of people being put out of their homes while they're waiting to hear back on the status of their modification, lots and lots of cases of people being wrongly denied without any explanation.
YELLIN (on camera): As for the banks mentioned, Bank of America insists it's taking the problem seriously, even sending some employees door to door to reach customers who haven't responded to offers. Wells Fargo says overall, the company has dramatically increased the number of its customers participating in the president's program in the last month alone.
Bottom line, the banks insist they're doing what they can to make it easier for Americans to stay in their homes.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: He lost his legs but he didn't lose his hope, and now he's taking bigger strides than ever before. He's our hero and you'll meet him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Who will be the CNN Hero of the Year? Well, it's up to you. We recently named the top 10 heroes of 2009, and you can vote on them.
Now we're calling on their famous friends to tell you even more about them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.
HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE, ACTRESS: Hi. I'm Holly Robinson Peete.
As one last year's CNN Heroes' blue ribbon panelists, I helped recognize the extraordinary work of everyday people are changing the world. As co-founder of the HollyRod Foundation, which supports those suffering from debilitating life circumstances like Parkinson's Disease and autism, I see just how much the world really needs heroes. JORDAN THOMAS, CNN HERO: They say I'm a bilateral transtibial amputee. In layman's terms, I lost both my legs from the mid-calf down.
I'm just kind of a normal kid that was thrown into an abnormal situation, just a freak accident when I was 16 years old. My parents and I were going to go scuba diving. There were tons of waves that day, and I jumped into the water. I just got pushed behind the boat, and I looked down and I just saw blood.
I had such great support. That's what helps me just kind of get through it. Like, when I saw all the other kids that were in the hospital that didn't have great support, you recognize that something has got to be done.
My name is Jordan Thomas and I started my foundation there in the hospital. And I provide kids with limbs that they deserve.
A lot of insurance companies will put a cap on prosthetics, or they will provide them with one pair of legs for their lifetime.
Oh, check that.
You never would know that you need new legs every year and a half. It's like shoes. You just outgrow them.
Noah (ph) is six. His first leg, it didn't bend. They asked for a new knee, but he was denied, so we provided him with a bendable knee. Now he is so proud to show off how his knee bends, it's great.
We've committed to these kids until they are 18, and so we have a lot of work ahead of us. A lot. But we're excited about it.
We need to really work on this one.
If we provide them with prosthetics, then that creates a whole gamut of opportunity for them to achieve whatever they want. And I think they deserve that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can go to CNN.com/Heroes any time to vote for the top 10 hero that moves you the most. Then on Thanksgiving, from Hollywood, Anderson Cooper honors them at a star-studded tribute. And you'll see it right here.
Plus, follow our CNN Heroes on Facebook and Twitter.
A backlog of claims, a backlog of bumbling and botched jobs. Something's got to change at the Veterans Administration. And one lawmaker might be just the person to push things forward.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, if we never reported another veteran's horror story, it would be fine with us, but as it is, we can barely keep up with them. The huge backlog of claims, faulty colonoscopy equipment, botched radiation treatments, a later that mistakenly told some vets that they had Lou Gehrig's Disease, suicide, PTSD -- the system is definitely sick. And thankfully, people like Senator Patty Murray of Washington are pushing forward a solution -- a number of solutions, actually, that she's made there to the VA and veterans. That is her mission, for sure.
Great to see you, Senator.
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: Well, nice to talk to you.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you, you know, time and time again, we have tried to talk with the secretary about these various issues. We're definitely not going to stop reporting the stories. We can't seem to get through to him to talk to us, but you sure have.
Do you think that this is the right manned for the job, Eric Shinseki, and why do you believe yes or no?
MURRAY: Well, you know, I have lived through a lot being an advocate for veterans in the VA system, where, for a long time, we've had a VA that downplayed problems, didn't want to talk about them, hid the truth. And it was horrible for our veterans and what we were able to do with them.
I think the change that is good with General Shinsheki is he is a man who speaks truth to power and is willing to say, yes, we have a problem. But we still have a long way to go to meet many of these needs, as we have so many people coming home now from Iraq and Afghanistan and an aging population of Vietnam and all their veterans.
PHILLIPS: All right. I've laid out so many of the problems that already exist. They're all stories that we cover here on a regular basis. But now you're telling me one of the newest problems to be added to the mix, women.
MURRAY: Women. You know, 14 percent of the veterans today are women. Yet, when women come home, they don't see themselves as a veteran, so they don't often get diagnosed, particularly for the PTSD, or traumatic brain injuries, some of the signature issues of this war.
And importantly, they don't get the benefits that they have worked to earn to deserve. So, why is that? They go to a VA and it doesn't feel like a hospitable place for a woman to enter. That's why I think it's really important that the VA wake up to where we are in this time in the nation's history and say we've got to make sure that our VA facilities work for women.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, as we well know, it takes money to do these things. It also takes people within the Veterans Administration that know how to handle this money properly and where to put that money.
So, there was a bill that was signed off last night?
MURRAY: Yes. Well, one of our challenges has been is the VA doesn't know how much money they're going to get until late into the year because it takes Congress so long to get their so-called appropriations bills through.
We just had a major victory here, where, last night, the Senate passed the bill, also been passed by the House and now to the president's desk, that's called advanced appropriations. This is something our veterans have asked for, for a long time.
So, the VA knows well ahead of time what their resources are. And then we need an honest system where the secretary of the VA comes back and says this isn't enough, or this will get us there, or we need more and why, so that they aren't waiting for money to make sure they get the resources out to our vets.
PHILLIPS: Finally, we have been talking so much about PTSD and how it's been ignored, how men and women have gone to their superiors to talk about this, have ended up committing suicide, dealing with depression, getting out of the military. We have heard all the horror stories. Now, finally, some changes are being proposed, changes that are getting somewhere.
Can you tell me about that? We were reading about it today.
MURRAY: You know, one of the hardest things that has been for all of us to face is that too many people within the VA system and within the country don't recognize PTSD. And we had a VA itself for a very long time that downplayed the issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In a major change, this administration is now saying that they will recognize PTSD, not just when a soldier has been around a violent incident, but if there is a threat of a violent incident. So, if a soldier is driving to and from a very dangerous place, and there is a threat of IEDs going off, often, before they were not recognized as having PTSD. Now with this new rule change, it will recognize that as a trigger to PTSD.
So, we're starting to change attitudes about a very critical issue.
PHILLIPS: That's what we want to hear.
Senator Patty Murray, we'll continue to follow up or your efforts. Thanks so much for your time today.
MURRAY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Top stories now.
A key sign of just how brutal swine flu can be in healthy people. New research suggesting nearly half the patients hospitalized with the H1N1 virus didn't have any underlying conditions. That's a boost from previous findings.
Two former enemies teaming up on missile defense? Secretary of State Clinton pushing for the U.S. and Russia to work together. Clinton is on a two-day visit to Moscow, but Iran's been the focus. Russia's president says he's not ready to talk about punishing Iran for its nuclear program.
The battle against the Taliban getting a conditional boost from Britain. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is pledging to send hundreds more British troops to Afghanistan, but only if other allies also pitch in.
It's just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill. Can you hear the song? What's next for the Senate's health care legislation?
We're going to look at the progress and the process straight ahead on CNN NEWSROOM Rock.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: What happened to all the great cartoons? That Saturday morning diddy rings oh, so true today as lawmakers gets down to the nitty-gritty of combining different bills, all with the same goal: revamping America's health care system.
The Senate Finance Committee approved the so-called Baucus plan yesterday, and lawmakers are meeting again today, but it's not for all ears. Some select company doing all the talking and listening. Democratic Senators Harry Reid, Max Baucus, Chris Dodd joining White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
OK. So, he may not have the voice to sing "Schoolhouse Rock," and maybe he's even too young to remember ABC's Saturday morning lineup back then. But I bet Josh Levs can tell us the next step for the Baucus bill.
Maybe I should say the next crawl.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a crawl, isn't it?
I remember "Scooby Doo "and stuff. It played some time during that, right?
PHILLIPS: OK. Wait a minute. "Scooby Doo" and "Schoolhouse Rock," OK, two different things.
OK, Josh, I'll school you later.
LEVS: Oh, man.
Well, here's the thing, it is a crawl, and unfortunately it's a little more complicated than it used to look to us in the "Schoolhouse Rock" days. So, what we have done, thanks to our great folks in graphics, is we have some pictures we're going to go to right now to try to talk you through how this works one step at a time.
Let's zoom in right here, because the latest thing that we saw has been this pretty big step, which is the Senate Finance Committee creating a bill. Our bill, as you can see, has little legs coming off of it. Let's go to the next one, because this is where things go from here to help you understand.
Now you've got two Senate committees, and what they need to do is merge the bill into this next screen. If these two Senate committees can manage to make a merger in one bill, then what it does -- go to the next screen -- is it will go to the Senate. You should be able to go to that there. So, that would actually be an accomplishment on the Senate side.
Now, we're going to wipe all this away, we're going to jump over to the House for the next screen, because, meanwhile, while you have all this work in the Senate, you also have this going on in the House. Let's go into that.
What the House has is three different committees, all of which has a different version of a bill. They need to merge that into one bill, and that goes to the House.
So, you've got some work on the Senate side and you've got some work on the House side. That in itself sounds pretty good.
And then this is the last step. If the House and the Senate manage to do it, then you get a House/Senate committee that gets together, and they try to merge all their stuff into one bill. And if they can do that, yet another "if," the House and the Senate will each have to vote on it. And ultimately, if it passes, it goes to the White House for the president's signature.
So, see, Kyra, all it boils down to really here is a merger, vote, merger, vote, a merger, another vote, another vote, and then it gets to the White House for the president to sign.
PHILLIPS: "Schoolhouse Rock" Part Two.
LEVS: It makes us miss "Schoolhouse Rock," doesn't it?
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Things were simpler in those days.
PHILLIPS: All right. The fight for Afghanistan. Now, I don't know if the president is a fan of country singer Charlie Rich, but he and his national security team are lifting a line from one of his best known songs, "Behind Closed Doors."
The president holding his fifth briefing this morning with the team and out of the public eye. In ear once again, and the topic once again, the Afghanistan War and America's next strategic step. Drawdown or escalate in the fight against the Taliban? Still no word either way.
New details on that 15-year-old attacked and set on fire in Florida. Michael Brewer remains in the hospital sedated and on a ventilator. His condition? Even shakier than we thought. Doctors say that he's at a very high risk of infection and organ failure now. Three of five teens arrested in that attack have made their first court appearances. Police say the boys threw rubbing alcohol on Brewer, shouting that he was a snitch and then they set him ablaze. An officer says some of the suspects were laughing about it last night in jail.
Same eyes, same smile, same Jaycee. The world is getting its first look at Jaycee Dugard 18 years after she was kidnapped on her way to school. People.com posted the photo this morning. And the magazine also doing an interview with Dugard, now 29 years old. She was 11 when she disappeared in 1991. Suspects Phillip and Nancy Garrido have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and sex crimes.
Everyone is losing jobs and making do with less, but the recession is really bruising working moms. We're going to have a look at some of the reasons.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from Fairfax County, Virginia. The president now delivering remarks on the Recovery Act. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I want to thank the folks at Cherry Hill Construction for having me here today.
We just took a look at this construction site and I had a chance to talk to all the outstanding men and women who are working here.
Talking with them was a reminder of just how hard they work every single day, just how hard they fight on behalf of their families, and just how hard these times have been for working men and women like them.
You know, hardworking Americans have borne the brunt of this recession. They've been laid off in historic numbers, they've seen their hours trimmed and their wages cut, they've lived in fear of being the next ones to be let go. And that's not right.
Middle-class Americans are the ones who built this country. They made it great and they keep it going each and every day. And they deserve leaders in Washington who are willing to work as hard as they work, who are willing to fight for their futures as hard as they fight for their families.
And we need to all live up to our responsibilities as faithfully as these workers here are living up to theirs, and that's why our goal is not just to rebound from this recession, but to start building an economy that works for all Americans, where everyone who's looking for work can find a job; and not just a temporary job, but a permanent job that lasts from season to season; where our stock market isn't only rising again, but our businesses are hiring again.
That's our goal. And I know we have a lot of work to do to meet that goal. But I also know that thanks to the governor here in Virginia, Tim Kaine, thanks to two outstanding senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and a great congressman in Congressman Jim Moran, and as well as Congressman Gerry Connolly, and thanks to the work of Ray here and the rest of my administration, we've made some meaningful progress over the last several months.
Because the fact is, as difficult as these times are, and they're profoundly difficult for a whole lot of people all across the country, we are moving in the right direction. Our economy is in better shape today than it was when I took office, when we were hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month and when our financial system was on the brink of collapse and economists from just about every part of the political spectrum were predicting that we might be sinking into a great depression.
And one of the reasons our economy is in better shape today is because we voted to move forward, boldly and swiftly, to pass a recovery act that's being carried out under the outstanding leadership of people like Ray, as well as my vice president, Joe Biden. It's a recovery act that has spurred job creation and economic growth with projects like the one that I'm talking about here today.
Back in February, Governor Kaine and I came here and work was just getting under way. This project, the Fairfax County Parkway project is designed to be completed -- to complete the original version of this parkway by connecting both ends of Fairfax County. The current phase of construction will create new private sector jobs. And that won't just make a difference to all the people who get these jobs, it will make a difference to all those communities where they spend their paychecks.
Businesses of all size will be fueled by their paychecks, in Fairfax County, in Virginia and beyond.
This project is the largest of its kind in the state, but is just one of more than 60 that are being planned all across Virginia. And it's one of 8,000 highway projects that have been approved under the Recovery Act across this country, nearly 5,000 of which are already under construction.
To put this another way, roughly three-quarters of Recovery Act highway funding is already being invested as part of the largest investment in the nation's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the interstate highway system back in the 1950s.
And because so many of these projects are being managed so well, and I want to thank the team that's been working so hard out here, these projects are coming in on average 10 to 20 percent under budget. That's unheard of -- 10 to 20 percent under budget. And that means we can do more. We can create more jobs and launch more projects with every taxpayer dollar.
It's important to note that the jobs we'll create are not government jobs, but private sector jobs. And Cherry Hill Construction was able to put people to work because of its - this project, just as other private contractors are doing because of similar projects across the country.
And ultimately, that's the engine of our economy - businesses large and small getting back on their feet, and that's the focus of our efforts. But what makes these kinds of projects so important isn't just that we're creating so many jobs. It's that we're putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done. We're rebuilding our crumbling roads, our bridges, our waterways.
We've already approved nearly 1,000 transportation projects to upgrade airports and railroads and mass transit systems and shipyards. We're strengthening our nation's infrastructure in ways that will leave lasting benefits to our communities, making them stronger, making them safer and making them better places to live.
Now, this is just one part of what we're doing through the Recovery Act to create jobs and spur economic growth. We've also provided the middle class, with 95 percent of working families, a tax cut, including 3 million families here in Virginia. We've increased and extended unemployment insurance for 12 million Americans to help them weather this economic storm, and that's benefited over 220,000Virginians.
We've made COBRA 65 percent cheaper, so if people are looking for work, they still have health coverage. We've offered emergency relief to more than 1 million seniors, veterans and other Virginians who need it most.
We've provided assistance to states like Virginia to help prevent police officers and teachers and firefighters from being laid off, and we've supported over $250 million in lending in Virginia and 30,000loans to small businesses across America that have helped to create or save thousands of jobs.
And every American can track how their dollars are being spent by going to recovery.gov, because I'm committed to upholding the highest standards of transparency and accountability for how we spend taxpayer money.
So here's the bottom line. We're moving forward on a number of economic fronts, and we're going to continue to explore each and every avenue that I can think of that will lead to job creation and economic growth. But it all starts with projects like this, because if we can put Americans to work rebuilding the Fairfax County Parkway, we can help get the economy moving again in Fairfax County. And if we get the economy moving in Fairfax County, we get it moving across Virginia. And if we get it moving across Virginia, we're getting it moving all across America.
That's what we committed ourselves to doing when I took office. We are moving forward. I'm grateful to the outstanding work of the people who are standing behind me, as well as the -- all the contractors and private businesses that are involved. And we are going to keep on going until we make sure that every single American in this country who's looking for work is going to be able to get the kind of well-paying job that supports their families.
Thanks very much, everybody.
PHILLIPS: Live pictures there from Fairfax County, Virginia. The president delivering remarks on the Recovery Act -- in other words, his stimulus package. He's right there on the Cherry Hill Construction site, where he's saying exactly where the money is going to go. To guys like this working on construction building, creating jobs. The president spent time touring the Virginia highway project as well. That was a huge recipient of the stimulus money.
Top stories now. She's the Ohio teen who fled to Florida fearing that her dad would kill her. Now, she'll be returned to Ohio. Rifqa Bary says her father threatened her life after she converted to Christianity from Islam. But authorities in Florida say they could not back up her claims.
Next month, we should know if accused Holocaust Museum shooter James van Brunn is mentally fit to stand trial. The 89-year-old white supremacist is accused in the June 10 shooting death of museum security officer, Stephen Johns. Van Brunn did not appear in court as he recovers from gunshot wounds himself.
Dow Jones, the comeback kid? Sure, if only for some fleeting moments. Seven months after hitting a 12-year low, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reclaimed an old stake: the 10,000 mark. Upbeat earning reports helping bump the numbers on Wall Street, and consider this. The Dow is now up 53 percent from that March 9 free fall.
It's back. Public outrage over AIG executive bonuses. Remember AIG? Well, you should. You own it. Along with other taxpaying Americans, a House committee is holding a hearing on a new audit. Bottom line? It says the Treasury didn't fully understand the company's pay structure when it doled out billions of your taxpayer dollars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL BAROFSKY, BAILOUT SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL: Our office (ph) concludes that Secretary Geithner did not find out, did not learn of these bonus payments until just days before they were made. But this too is a failure. It's a failure of communications and it was a failure of management.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, I'll say. Congressional investigation into these latest bonuses is on the way.
We have heard this recession being called a "man session" because men have suffered more layoffs. But a new study actually says that women, especially working moms are really feeling the pain. Stephanie Elam in New York. Stephanie, why are working moms getting the hardest hit now?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, and I'm sure for a lot of working moms out there are saying, yes, we know this already. But it's true. More than half of working moms say they are working more just to make ends meet.
New Citigroup survey that is out says 53 percent of working moms pulling longer hours now. That's compared to 24 of women (sic) without children and 33 percent of men.
And the pain of this recession has been transformational. The study finds 75 percent of women with children say they -- the way they spend and save has been forever changed. That could have a major on the economy, since women control 80 percent of all consumer purchases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CAPUTO, E.V.P., CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETING: Women are an economic force that have to be reckoned with, and they're going to account for half of the private wealth in this country by next year. And so, if they're feeling they their spending and savings habits are going to be permanently changed with this economic downturn, that could have very profound long-term implications.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And it's not just working families who are cutting back. The study finds two-thirds of the women with assets greater than $250,000 are also changing their spending habits as well, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, what about the end of the recession? Are women feeling optimistic that thing are improving?
ELAM: Not quite yet. A lot of women out there who are still feeling a lot of pain. The study finds three in five -- three in five -- think the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. Lisa Caputo from Citigroup says one upside is that women have been reassessing. Many working moms are going back to school to improve their economic opportunities, She's encouraging women to save as they earn and plan for time-outs in live.
But there's no question, Kyra. The recession has definitely taken a poll (sic). This story reminds me of commercials for perfume way, way, way back in the day that said "She can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan." Remember that? Doing all these things that they can't and make sure that they're managing their households and holding onto the money. I know you remember it.
PHILLIPS: I do. But I'm trying to - Anjolie.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: I was singing it. Singing it in my head. I was watching her with the pan...
ELAM: ... and the whole thing.
PHILLIPS: Every now and then, we still sing that. It's frightening.
ELAM: That's true. PHILLIPS: All right, Steph. Thanks.
ELAM: Sure.
PHILLIPS: It's annoying, even silly, but is an online poke criminal? It could mean time behind bars for one woman. What's that? You don't know what an online poke is? Stay with me. You'll find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, could a poke send you to the pokey? I'm not talking about a literal poke, but the online social networking poke. Yes, this really exists. We have now become so techie we have forgotten the meaning of touch.
A poke is the digital equivalent of a nudge or a wave across the room. Sounds stupid? Slightly annoying? Sure is, but a crime?
Well, get this. Tennessee police have arrested Shannon Jackson for allegedly sending a Facebook poke to Dana Hanna (ph). The problem? The woman who's the pokee actually had a judge's protection order preventing Jackson from communicating with her. Hanna says Jackson's alleged online poke violated that order. Jackson's lawyer says she was shocked when she was arrested.
She has a court hearing this month. So, while that alleged poke may land her in the pokey...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD (singing): ... and you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: ... we think this type of poke is pretty hokey and should be outlawed. That is what that is all about.
Don Lemon filling in for Rick Sanchez today.
(LAUGHTER)
C'mon, you remember the hokey pokey, Don. I know you have out there shake your booty. Yeah, exactly.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You turn yourself about, that's what it's -- you're talking about...
PHILLIPS: Put your hip in...
LEMON: Put your left foot in, put your left food out.
PHILLIPS: Ha! Does that mean you're liberal?
LEMON: What? PHILLIPS: Uh-oh. Now we're getting into politics.
LEMON: I'm going to put my right foot in, right foot out. Hey, you know, I'm sure you've seen this. Jason Carroll reported on it. Did you see this...
PHILLIPS: The "Vogue" models?
LEMON: Yeah, what do you -- it's -- it's -- I'm having a tough time with it. I'm not sure if it's offensive, if they should have known about it. But there's this white model who's in black face, and you know we had the controversy in Australia last week, and there's a thing on "Mad Men," and it looks like we're having this black face, sort of menstrual show -- kind of renaissance coming back in the media right now. We're going to talk about that. Is it offensive?
Some models, some people work in the fashion industry, say it is, some people say, "I don't get the big deal, it's art." So, we're going to talk about it.
Hey, Kyra, I know you listen to Tom Joiner, and you remember when we were covering the professor Henry Louis Gates story. Do you know the Tom Joiner story where he went back to try to correct history about his two uncles?
PHILLIPS: No, I didn't know that.
LEMON: We're going to -- yes. It's very interesting. Henry Louis Gates for his PBS show did a genealogy search for Tom Joiner, find out where his people came from. Well, as it turns out, two of his uncles, his great-uncles, were executed in the electric chair for killing a man. It turns out they didn't do it, they were set up.
So, Tom Joiner goes back to correct into history a century ago to rewrite the history books, and I should say correct the history books. And today, just a couple of hours ago, they pardoned his two uncles. It is the first -- I think it says here that is the first capital pardon, for a capital murder case in South Carolina's history. So, I spoke with him, you're going to hear from him. We'll tell you about those stories. All right?
PHILLIPS: Wow. Interesting stuff. Thanks, Don.
LEMON: See you then. Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Check out the prez; he can salsa, too. The entire Obama family moving to the Latin beat. President and Mrs. Obama dancing with daughters Sasha and Malia. The White House event celebrating Hispanic culture. The first family was joined by stars like Eva Longoria Parker, Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Lopez. The concert is going to air on PBS and Telemundo. President Obama praised the diversity and soul of Latin music.
Earlier, I mentioned the census. The Senate plans to vote today on measure that would bar undocumented immigrants from the great American head count. But a Hispanic clergyman says immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should count themselves out in protest. CNN's Brian Todd heard both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miguel Rivera holds an impromptu rally on Capitol Hill for a campaign he never thought he'd take on. Rivera is an Evangelical minister from Bergen County, New Jersey. He leads the National Coalition a Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders and he's leading an effort to get undocumented Latinos in the United States to boycott the census next year. It's a protest, he says, against the Obama administration and Congress for not passing a bill to improve the immigration status of undocumenteds.
TODD (on camera): What have they not done that you believe merits this kind of action?
REV. MIGUEL RIVERA, NTL. COALITION OF LATINO CLERGY & CHRISTIAN LEADERS: They basically have done nothing. The truth is that, as of to now -- as of right now, I'm sorry, basically we're not seeing that this is a true priority, nor for the White House or for this Congress.
TODD (voice-over): Contacted by CNN, a White House spokesman flatly refuted the claim, saying President Obama has tasked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to work with Congress on reform. And, "the president has consistently said we would begin work on comprehensive immigration reform this year, and that's what we're doing."
But Rivera's group believes the census boycott in the only bargaining chip undocumented immigrants have to improve their conditions.
TODD (on camera): One of Reverend Rivera's biggest complaints is that counting more undocumented immigrants doesn't necessarily give them more power in Congress. They may have more numbers in a given congressional district, but because those people can't vote, they don't really get the representation from their congressman that they should. He calls those ghost districts.
TODD (voice-over): But several Latinos groups are against Rivera's stand. They say it's ludicrous to believe that not getting counted will actually improve access to resources. Gabe Gonzalez, of the Center for Community Change, also says there's a bigger picture.
GABE GONZALEZ, CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE: But what I do think is fundamentally important is that people participate in every aspect of American society that's open to them. The census, as I said, is part of that participation.
TODD: Gonzalez's group and many other Latino organizations argue that not participating in the census will only place undocumented immigrants further in the shadows. Most of them, he says, want to be citizens, want to be part of the fabric of American life and a census boycott isn't the way to go about it.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We're a week a way from "LATINO IN AMERICA." CNN is bringing you a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing the nation forever. "LATINO IN AMERICA," next Wednesday and Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.
Enabling addicts to help them quit? We're going to tell you why the government's pushing drugs, hard. Handing out pure, potent heroin for free.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: People trying to help addicts get clean often stage interventions. The goal? Cut them off from their drugs and ship them off to a clinic. In Britain, they're trying a different approach. And I'm talking different. Putting pure, potent, free drugs in addicts' hands. CNN's Paula Newton is in London.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a radical idea, isn't it, Kyra? You're actually becoming a drug dealer. The government here is getting the business of dispensing heroin, injecting heroin into patients two times a day. The startling thing, it seems to be working.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice-over): This is heroin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look for the right syringe for the right client.
NEWTON: Ninety-seven percent pure better than anything sold on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just place it (INAUDIBLE). That's it.
NEWTON: And the British government is giving it to addicts for free in an effort to make them drug-free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is pure stuff. This is clinical stuff. This is a clinical procedure and this is medication.
NEWTON: A safe, steady supply of heroin is apparently just what the doctor ordered. A recent study suggests it's working. Reducing the use of street heroin by three quarters and the crimes committed in trying to get that drug, by two-thirds.
For Sarah, a steady fix of heroin dispensed at a safe clinic with wrap-around support has worked where nothing else has.
SARAH, DRUG THERAPY CLIENT: You'll always be an addict, basically. It's about managing it and leading a positive life.
NEWTON: After 20 years, the morality of it was stripped bare for addiction distilled to its physical essence. SARAH: It quite quickly became, well, I do want to stop actually. I don't really want to. I have to stick needles in me for the rest of my life.
NEWTON (on camera): It seems to be that taking heroin off the streets is making a difference. Treating it like any other dangerous but necessary drug and then matching that with intensive therapy and counseling.
JOHN STRANG, KING'S HEALTH PARTNERS: The intensity of the program is quite striking. The bond formed and the commitment that's established between the patient coming in for treatment and the staff is far greater than you'd ever ordinarily see.
NEWTON: Mr. Strang says the key seems to be treating heroin addiction like any other illness. Having the patience to see the treatment through. Even if that means the government is the drug dealer of choice for months, if not years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): So, it's worked in reducing crime. It's getting heroin off the streets. The jury is out in terms of how well it works to actually keep people off heroin permanently. Certainly, a sobering statistic, you know, it costs $22,000 a year per patient to keep them in this program. People here say it would cost almost three times as much if they landed in prison -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Paula, thanks so much. That does it for us. We will see you back here tomorrow.
Don Lemon in for Rick Sanchez, and he takes it from here.
