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Same-Sex Marriage Disputed in California

Aired January 11, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here are some of the other stories we're watching right now.

Oil prices going up; blame it on the cold weather and the demand for heating oil along with a weakened dollar. Oil prices are trading at their highest level since October of 2008.

Another victim of the cold, Cleveland's airport. The power was out for almost eight hours yesterday after road salt that had built up on a utility pole caused a fire and knocked out service. Flights are running on schedule, but the lines are long.

Fighting for the right of same-sex couples to marry. California's proposition eight is going on trial today. Our Dan Simon has the story from San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's a staunch conservative who backs same-sex marriage. Yet Ted Olson says there's nothing inconsistent about that.

TED OLSON, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: This gives us an opportunity. They call it a teaching moment these days.

SIMON: Ted Olson's teaching moment will take place on the 17th floor of the Federal courthouse in San Francisco. It's where the former solicitor general will argue to a judge that proposition eight, which bans same-sex marriage, violates the U.S. Constitution. California voters narrowly approved the ban in November 2008. Though the California supreme court upheld the vote, it said those who had already gotten married, 18,000 couples, could remain so in the eyes of the state, little consolation to backers of gay rights. Why do you feel so many of your fellow conservatives are still on the other side of this issue?

OLSON: Because I haven't had a chance to talk to them all yet.

SIMON: He jokes. But Olson has made it a goal to try to convince more conservatives.

OLSON: The first thing to think about is that the right to marry is a fundamental right in the United States. It's a right that's protected by the constitution. The Supreme Court has held over and over again that it may be one of our most fundamental rights, to unite with the person that you love to form a partnership. ANDREW PUGNO, PROTECT MARRIAGE: I think it's bewildering for conservatives to see Ted Olson do this but that's a decision he's made.

SIMON: Andrew Pugno is the lawyer for an organization called Protect Marriage, the group that came up with prop eight.

PUGNO: Seven million Californians voted to preserve or restore what marriage has meant since the beginning of time. And if they're not permitted to do something as basic as that, then there's something really wrong with our system.

SIMON: The fiery case has attracted even more attention because of Ted Olson's co-counsel, his long time adversary David Boies. Does the case Bush versus Gore ring a bell? Olson represented Bush. Boies represented Gore. For those against prop eight, the partnership represents something of a dream team. The two appeared together last year on "Larry King Live."

DAVID BOIES, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: We both believe and we both recognize that this is a critical civil rights issue.

SIMON: Olson, now in private practice in Washington, represents CNN's parent company Turner Broadcasting in an ongoing legal matter. Whatever the judge decides in San Francisco, both sides believe this is just one of a few stops before the case ultimately reaches the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Dan Simon joining us now live from the courthouse in San Francisco. All right, Dan. So the prop eight people did not want this case televised. Why is that?

SIMON: Well, first of all, Heidi, let me just tell you where we are. We're just outside the Federal courthouse and supporters of gay rights beginning to swarm this area. This, of course, a very important issue to much of the San Francisco community.

But as far as televising this trial goes, this case is a first because it would actually be the first time that cameras have been allowed in in a Federal case. It's not going to be broadcast live, though. Instead the video will be uploaded to YouTube the following day. Now prop eight supporters did not want this case to be televised. They did not want cameras in the courtroom because they fear that this case could turn into a media circus.

But they also argue they fear that people who testify on their behalf could face harassment. So they actually filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. They filed an appeal over the weekend directly to Justice Anthony Kennedy. No word yet from Justice Kennedy. In any event, we expect this case to begin at 10:00 this morning here in San Francisco -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Dan Simon, thank you. Here's a quick time line now of the court cases surrounding prop eight. In May 2008, a ruling in California supreme court allowed same-sex marriage. That window closed in November 2008 when California voters passed prop eight. Then in May 2009, the state supreme court upheld prop eight, but under the ruling, 18,000 same-sex marriages performed before the ban were allowed to stand.

The father of a suspected terrorist has been invited to testify before a Senate committee. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wants retired Nigerian banking executive Allaha Umaru (ph) Abdulmutallab to come to Washington. He has contacted the U.S. embassy in Nigeria with concerns about his son. Twenty three-year old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest passenger jet as it came into Detroit on Christmas Day. No word yet on whether the father will talk to the Senate.

Senator McCain wants someone to pay the price for missing signals about that bombing attempt. President Obama says the buck stops here when it comes to protecting our nation's security. John McCain, though, says that's not enough. He talked about it on CNN's "State of the Union with John King."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know many conservative critics of the president said he doesn't view this as a war. When you hear him say that, do you see just a new tone or are you seeing new substantive policy shifts that make you feel better?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, I appreciate the president's comments and I think they're important. They are a departure from his language before. Second of all, people should be held responsible for what happened. And we can't go back to the old Washington kind of routine. We're all responsible, so therefore, no one is responsible. Someone's got to be held responsible.

Second of all, I don't think the president's action matched his rhetoric when we send this individual to a civilian court. That person should be tried. He's an enemy combatant. He's a terrorist. And if we're at war, then we certainly shouldn't be trying that individual in a court other than a military trial. To have a person be able to get lawyered up when we need that information very badly, I think betrays or contradicts the president's view that we're at war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The president has ordered changes in the intelligence community but said he will not discipline or terminate anyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: The reality of it is this. There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it's racism. It's either racist or it's not and it's inappropriate, absolutely. So if the standard is the one that we saw with Trent Lott as speaker, as leader at the time, I think this absolutely falls in that category. It's more than just an apology here. It's a reflection of an attitude. Remember, this is the same leader who just a few weeks ago was talking about health care in the context of slavery. Clearly he is out of touch not only with where America and this district are but how African-Americans generally feel about these issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Republicans are calling for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to step down from his post after making racial remarks about President Obama. The comments appear in a book out today called "Game Change." The book quotes Reid as saying privately in 2008, candidate Barack Obama could succeed partly because of his, quote, light-skinned appearance and speaking patterns, quote, with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one. Over the weekend Reid called the president who accepted his apology. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic party says the case is closed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: Senator Reid very appropriately, immediately went out and apologized for comments that were insensitive. They were comments made in the context of him praising Senator Obama and supporting his candidacy for president. But, still, they kind of reflect the thinking of a day gone by. The senator was wise to immediately apologize and the president talked very specifically about how he knows who Senator Reid is and he accepts the apology.

REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTIONNETWORK: I said to him that I think that it was certainly the wrong use of language and offensive. But at the same time, there has been a lot said in the '08 campaign by others that we moved on. And that he would be judged by his deeds, not just by these words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The congressional black caucus has also accepted Reid's apology and is dismissing calls for him to step down.

That brings us to today's blog question. We are asking you to fill in the blank. Harry Reid's comments were. Go to my blog, cnn.com/heidi. Tell us what you think. I'll go ahead and read some of those comments coming up later this hour.

The big chill express is making its last stop in the sunshine state, of all places and causing big concerns for citrus growers. The fields have had back to back nights with temperatures hovering around that freezing mark. A spokesman for a citrus growers group says some groves sustained substantial damage on Saturday night. It's expected to take about five weeks to put a number on the industry's losses. But don't be surprised to see your cartoon -- cartoon -- carton, that is, of orange juice become more expensive. We've been talking about this a lot. What is it, Rob, 28 degrees that it has to be at for at least four hours?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right, Rob. Thank you.

Six troops killed in an intense firefight in southern Afghanistan. Three of the service members are Americans. U.S. military officials say they were caught up in a fire fight with militants during an operational patrol. Word of their deaths comes from NATO.

Just when it seems like we're getting a little break at the pump, the gas pump that is, prices seem to inch right back up. Are we headed toward paying 3 bucks a gallon again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Gas prices seem to be headed in the wrong direction. They're going up instead of down. Prices at the pump have jumped 14 cents over the past few weeks. Our Stephanie Elam has been following that and joins us now. What's the deal, Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You may have noticed, Heidi, if you've gone to the gas station over the last three weeks, it's been going up, up, a little more up and up. Over the last five days, we've seen it tick up in a row. So let's go ahead and show you where we stand right now according to AAA. Today we're at $2.75. Just a month ago, we were at $2.62 and a year ago we were at $1.79.

So a lot of this has to do with what you just heard Rob talking about. It's dang cold out there right now and that means demand is up for heating oil. So you're seeing that effect here throughout. And so it's also affecting gas prices.

If you take a look, though, just to make you feel perhaps a little bit better, we could see this top out above $3. That part's true. We're probably going to take above $3, but you know what? When we get to March, things should slowly start to thaw out. If mother nature is working with us, we could see these prices come back again.

For this next period of a couple months or so we could see some volatility in the gas prices and the heating oil prices for a lot of people out there. Not what you want to hear. But it's still 33 percent less than we were paying for gas back in July of 2008. Remember when we hit that record high of $4.11 for just a gallon of regular gas? It's still less than that. For a lot of people, especially you think about the unemployment rate, all those things, people trying to just get to a job and having to drive even farther, they're paying a little bit more to do so now.

COLLINS: Or a job interview, even.

ELAM: Exactly.

COLLINS: Stephanie Elam, thank you. It's show time in Detroit. The North American auto show kicks off there today. After a crippling year for the industry, automakers are trying to put their best foot forward now. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in Detroit with a look at the hope there is this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is the beginning of a new year and hopefully a new beginning for the U.S. auto industry. As you can see, we are here at the Detroit auto show. A host of automakers here showing off their newest products for 2010.

What's really interesting this year is that you have a number of U.S. government representatives, including high-profile law makers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. They're all here to see what billions and billions of dollars in government aid is going towards. Of course, U.S. government bailed out GM and bailed out Chrysler. They want to see what that money is going for, what changes are being made at these companies. I can tell you the one hope here this year is that 2010 is better than 2009.

As the Detroit auto show kicks off this week, the U.S. auto industry can't put 2009 in its rear-view mirror fast enough. U.S. auto sales fell by nearly three million units compared to 2008 and nearly 200,000 American jobs were lost in the industry. While buyers were tight fisted in the showrooms, the government was loose with its lending, doling out more than $80 billion to rescue automakers and the companies that lend to them. The biggest recipient, General Motors.

CHRIS ISIDORE, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: The best that most automakers could say about 2009 is that they survived.

HARLOW: Once the largest industrial company in the world, GM hasn't turned a profit since 2004 and was forced into bankruptcy by the government.

ISIDORE: GM had to get much smaller if it was going to survive. There are hopes that the four brands which are left will be well positioned. But GM's never going to be able to dominate the marketplace the way it once did.

HARLOW: Chrysler also dipped in and out of bankruptcy then went to Italy in economy class, its ticket bought by Fiat with financial aid from the U.S. government. Ford was bruised, but not broken. It's the only one of the big three that didn't take a bailout. Sales were tough, but trade-ins were hot especially those sponsored by the government's cash for clunkers program. More than $2.8 billion was kicked back to owners of gas guzzlers. As we roll into the new year, analysts expect more restructuring and that could mean more job losses unless sales find the accelerator.

ROBERT SCHULZ, AUTO ANALYST, STANDARD & POOR'S: For the domestic automakers, certainly there's not an end to the restructuring. It might not be quite as dramatic, probably won't be as dramatic as what we saw in 2009. But there's still the product mix shifts, they're ongoing. HARLOW: Of course, that product mix is what is key here, a major focus this year at the Detroit auto show on electric vehicles. They have an entire part of the show called electric avenue. You're also seeing fierce, fierce competition, especially from the Chinese automakers here. It's going to be an interesting show. We're updating you constantly on the latest from here on cnnmoney.com. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: All right, Poppy. Thanks.

Good times for buyers, rotten times for sellers. We're looking at the housing market in today's snapshot across America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking some of our top stories now, jury selection begins today for an abortion opponent accused of murder. This is Wichita, Kansas, where Scott Roeder (ph) goes on trial for killing one of the nation's few late-term abortion doctors. Roeder told reporters he killed Dr. George Tiller (ph) last May to save unborn children.

The father of Colorado's so-called balloon boy goes to jail today. Richard Heene (ph) will serve 30 days in jail and then 60 days in a work release program. Heene says he pleaded guilty to avoid having his wife deported to Japan. Heene's young son was thought to be aboard an experimental balloon that broke free from the Heene's backyard.

Congressional Democrats have gone back to work on that health care reform legislation. It's looking more and more like the so- called public option we've been hearing so much about and talking about for months will not be part of the legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is indicating she'll back off the public option as long as the reform package is affordable, has accountability and provides access for more Americans.

When you have a migraine, every bright light feels like another knife through your head. Now, scientists have found out why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: If you are one of the 30 million Americans who suffer from migraines, you probably know that finding a dark room is one of the first things you do when your head starts hurting. A new study helps explain why that seems to help.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now with more on this. I get these migraines every now and then. I've never really known why that seems to work sometimes. What did the research find?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Research found that when people are sensitive to light when they have migraines, it's not all in their head, so to speak. These actual brain images show you what's going on. First, let's take a look at this one. In this one you see that when someone had just a migraine where there's not a lot of light, certain (INAUDIBLE) pathways are activated, these red ones here. Now take a look at this blue one. This is crucial. This pathway is not activated. It is inactive. That is really, really important considering this next image that I'm going to show you.

Take a look at this. This is a migraine where there is light present. What happens here is that not only do you have these path ways activated, but this one is activated and that is really important. And that is why they think that when you have light, you have much more pain. Now there are actual images that sort of show what people have always felt. Heidi?

COLLINS: Is this going to lead to a cure, maybe, for migraines or something like that?

COHEN: I think the hope is, is that with this knowledge they can use that to start building on more knowledge and get medicines eventually that could help deactivate that pathway. But this isn't going to happen any time soon. This is years and years away, Heidi.

COLLINS: Tell us one more time, remind us what people with migraines can do in order to cope.

COHEN: In the meantime, before they sort of work all of this out, here's what you can do to cope with migraines. First of all, as we know, turn out the lights. Also take your migraine medication. Hot or cold therapy sometimes helps. A cold pack or a heating pad on the head and the neck. Also, this is kind of counterintuitive. Drink a caffeinated drink when you feel a migraine coming on. You don't want to drink caffeinated drinks every day all the time. That could actually bring on a migraine. But if you really feel it coming on, you can nip it in the bud possibly with a little bit of caffeine.

COLLINS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

The housing market, still a scary place for a lot of people. So who's swimming and who's sinking? We're going to talk with three realtors today in today's snapshot across America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, the results are in. Wall Street has completed its first week of trading in the new year. So now we look at what it might tell us about the months to come. Susan Lisovicz looking at it all and joining us now from the New York Stock Exchange. So we were talking about this last week, the January effect and what it really means for the rest of the year.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And if you hold by the January effect, it means our portfolios will be that much better, thank you, Heidi. The first five days of the trading year are extraordinarily accurate in forecasting results for the full year. Stock Traders Almanac does this every year. Has been doing it for decades. Holds true about 90 percent of the time. The S&P 500 is the particular focus. And the S&P 500, which is the broadest of the three major averages -- a lot of our mutual funds track the S&P 500, well, that average rose 2.7 percent last week. The Dow and the NASDAQ were each up about 2 percent.

So, if you believe in the January Effect, that's good news for the rest of the year. As for what's happening just now, well, not a whole heck of a lot. We started out higher. The Dow, yes, I guess you could say it's up two points. The NASDAQ is off about 0.3 percent. It's kind of a quiet week, Heidi. One of the reasons why is we're going to start hearing from a lot of companies about their report card for the final three months of the year.

COLLINS: Yes, right. You know, it seems pretty early to say that stocks will end the year with a gain. I mean, we still have a lot of companies laying people off. I get it. It's a leading indicator and an unemployment lagging indicator.

LISOVICZ: That's right. That's why this is important. Because we'll be hearing from hundreds of companies and all sorts of different sectors over the next few weeks. They'll report their results for the final three months of the year. We'll hear from Alcoa after the bell.

Well, we also have a positive outlook there. Thompson Reuters says it expects earnings results for companies in the S&P 500 to have tripled from a year earlier. This would be the first overall increase in more than two years.

Why is that so much better? Well, not really. A lot of it's coming from cost cutting. But some of it is from an improving economy, not only here in the U.S., it is overseas as well. And why is this important to us? Well, not only for our portfolios, but if companies are making money, they're going to do things like hire.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: Finally, one of the reasons why we're expecting that things are going to be so much better is that the comparison is so easy. The final three months of 2009 as compared to the final three months of 2008. Well, that was one of the worst in recordkeeping history, according to Thompson Financial. When you think about it, when Lehman failed and the credit crunch really was a paralysis at that point. So, it's an easy comparison.

But the bottom line is, keeping it in perspective. Things are better than they were. We expect that to hold true with each report card, hopefully.

COLLINS: Yes. When you start from here, though, you know, things are looking good even if there's just a little bit of an improvement. We'll try to hang on to any good we can find.

LISOVICZ: We'll take it. Exactly.

COLLINS: All right, Susan. Thank you. Today's housing market can look very different depending on what side you're on. It's a good time, of course, for home buyers if you can find a loan. But a tough time all around for sellers.

Take a look at this now. The average home price in January 2006, $221,900. The average home price at the end of 2009, $172, 600.

In today's "Snapshot Across America," we're looking at the real estate market in three U.S. cities. Joining me from Hampton Roads, Virginia, Dorcas Helfant-Browning with Coldwell Banker. In Chicago, Juliana Yeager, a realtor with Remax. And in Las Vegas, Juan Martinez, also a realtor with Remax.

Thanks so much, guys, for being with us. So much to talk about, especially when you put numbers like that on the screen, to see the disparity between the average home price over the last couple of years. I know you're in an area that has a very high military concentration. People there are using traditionally FHA or VA loans. You still a lot of problems where you are. Tell us what the headline is out of Hampton Roads.

DORCAS HELFANT-BROWNING, REALTOR: Well, the headline for Hampton Roads is we are actually in much better shape than the rest of the nation. Unemployment is below 7 percent. There's good inventory. Inventories are beginning to shrink a little bit. Buyers are moving into the market to take advantage of the first-time buyer tax credit. And folks who thought they never would own, due to low interest and plenty of inventory, have entered the market.

COLLINS: Then why are we reading about some of the sellers, at least, who are offering some pretty interesting incentives for people to buy their homes, like giving away plasma TVs or throwing them in or anything they can think of to get their house sold?

HELFANT-BROWNING: Well, it's competing for the buyers' attention today. Sellers are understanding for them to move and move up, they need to compete. And to compete, they're being very creative. They're trying to draw attention to their home, staging it well, making sure that they sell within that 90-day timeframe so they can move up and take advantage of the other tax credit.

COLLINS: So, exactly who is buying right now? We know about first-time homebuyers because they're getting some tax credits, of course, with we've been talking about for a while. Other than that what are you seeing?

HELFANT-BROWNING: Well, folks need to move. They are thinking maybe it's time to move rather than remodel. I can get more for my money. It's an opportunity to move to a different location.

COLLINS: Are people really doing that? Because we're hearing people are taking the opportunity to remodel now instead of move because of all the cost?

HELFANT-BROWNING: Well, it depends on their motivation and their inventory. If they run the numbers, sometimes it's easier to remodel. You redo that kitchen, it's beautiful. All of a sudden, the bathrooms, even if you remodel, they're not quite big enough. Or you'd like something different. There are first-time buyers out there who are willing to come in, buy your home and allow you to free up that equity and buy another home, very well priced, that has those amenities.

COLLINS: Julianne (ph), let's get to you in Chicago. Who do you see that's buying right now? We talk a lot about credit and whether or not it's going to free up for the average American. What's your take?

JULIANA YEAGER, REALTOR, REMAX: Well, we're absolutely working with a lot of first-time homebuyers. But the plans as far as financing goes, buyers are planning a lot better these days. They're saving more than ever. They're meeting with the mortgage professionals early on.

And they're buying within their means. They really want to make sure it's something that they can afford, and they're taking the right steps to do so. As far as lending goes, all of our buyers are definitely able to get financing these days. But, again, they are putting the money down. They're taking advantage of the low interest rates. And staying within their means.

COLLINS: All of your buyers are able to get loans?

YEAGER: Yes. We've actually been very fortunate with that. But it takes the right steps.

COLLINS: So, what are some of the problems in Chicago?

YEAGER: There are some foreclosures scattered throughout the Chicagoland area. We do have quite a bit of inventory. But as far as foreclosures go, I don't think that they make up the majority of the inventory. What we're still seeing is some of the sellers have a misconception of what their home is worth. You really need...

COLLINS: That's always the case, isn't it?

YEAGER: Yes.

COLLINS: People always love their home better than pretty much anybody who's going to walk through it and consider buying it.

YEAGER: Right. But if you are in the market right now and you are a realistic seller trying to sell, you need to know the -- I'm sorry. The sold comparables that are out there right now. You have to be priced in line.

COLLINS: Yes. So you joined the real estate industry back when it was sort of at the height of the boom. You've seen a couple of really tough years, to say the least. But you're sticking with it.

YEAGER: Absolutely.

COLLINS: What do you talk about amongst yourselves when you're not on TV about some of the challenges in real estate right now?

YEAGER: There are a lot of challenges in real estate. Especially being in the industry as a realtor. You have to go above and beyond for all of your clients because it's tough times out there. There's a lot more marketing dollars.

You've got to educate your sellers and your buyers. You want to make sure they're making the right investment on the buy side. You're helping them on the sale side. Educating them if there is an accurate price point to sell, we're helping them do so.

And you have to stay optimistic. It can be hard with all of the doom and gloom that's out there. You have to stay strong. You have to be optimistic and stay positive. I think both buyers and sellers really appreciate that.

COLLINS: Yes. Juan Martinez, I want to get to you in Las Vegas. We've talked about Las Vegas for a long time in all of these foreclosures, very, very high there. How's it affecting the market now?

JUAN MARTINEZ, REALTOR, REMAX: Well, 2009 was a record number. We had 48,000 transactions that happened, which was a record year in sales. The problem is that we don't have any sellable inventory. We have probably over 10,000 approved buyers, first-time homebuyers ready to go. But they can't get in because of all the -- all the offers that are coming in on the few inventory that we have. There's just too many officer. They're getting beat out by the investors.

COLLINS: What does that mean? What sort of a snapshot is that? Does that mean that there are properties out there that people can't really afford to sell because they can't get the money that they put into the home?

MARTINEZ: The majority of the transactions that happened in 2009, the sellers were bank-owned properties. And very few equity sellers and few investors flipping properties.

So, the majority were bank-owned sales. And that's what's attracting the investors, the first-time homebuyers, the owner occupieds. The issue is 45 percent of the transactions that happened in 2009 were sold to cash investors. The issue now is that a lot of the first-time homebuyers, whether they're trying to take advantage of the tax credits or the NSP funds or whatever opportunity is there, a very low-down payment or down payment assistance programs, they can't get in because of the bidding wars that are going on.

COLLINS: So, you're saying basically if there was more stuff available, then you'd have even more transactions as you call them?

MARTINEZ: I think in 2009 if we had more inventory, we probably would have hit easy 60,000 transactions in 2009.

COLLINS: All right. To the three of you, we sure do appreciate it. Trying to get a snapshot of things that are going on in the real estate market for both sellers and buyers out there. From Chicago, Las Vegas and Hampton roads, we appreciate it. Dorcas Helfant- Browning, Juliana Yeager and Juan Martinez. Thank you.

MARTINEZ: Thank you.

YEAGER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Florida certainly not in the news for its nice, warm, sunny weather right now. The state's citrus crop is getting hit hard by freezing temperatures. Meteorologist Rob Marciano here now with the very latest. How're we doing, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're going to start our gradual warm up today. But it won't really take hold till Wednesday or Thursday in earnest. We'll talk more details about that, and why it's been so cold for so long. We'll explore those details in just a few minutes. We'll see you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now. Former NBA star Jayson Williams pleads guilty to aggravated assault for the death of his limo driver in 2002. That is according to the Associated Press. At Williams' trial in 2004, witnesses said he was handling a shotgun carelessly when it went off and killed his driver. But the jury was deadlocked over a reckless manslaughter count. Williams pleaded down to the lesser count just as his retrial was supposed to start this week. He faces at least 18 months in prison.

Members of the Senate want to talk to the father of the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Northwest passenger jet. Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab's father is invited to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The retired Nigerian banking executive had contacted the U.S. embassy in Nigeria with concerns about his son just weeks before that Christmas Day bombing attempt. No word yet on whether he will appear.

People in parts of northern California cleaning up after a weekend earthquake. The quake hit Saturday afternoon in the Pacific west of Eureka. It knocked items off store shelves and in homes. There were reports of cracks in walls and floors from the 6.5 magnitude quake. These people racing for the exits there in that store. Knocked out power to thousands of people. Crews have not restored service to most areas. No serious injuries were reported.

Florida's two big businesses taking a hard hit from the bitter cold. We'll show you how citrus growers and tourists are responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Warm weather seems like only a memory in what used to be sunny Florida. It snowed there for the first time in 30 years this weekend. The freezing temps in Florida citrus groves could mean big losses, though, for farmers.

This picture from Tallahassee says it all. Something like 14 degrees there, I think, this morning. The cold out there so bitter it's even ruining things for kids, as you can see. One of our iReporters, a grandmother in Florida, took the picture.

Rob Marciano joins us now. Is that right, isn't that what you said -- 14 degrees in Tallahassee?

MARCIANO: Yes. I suppose you could take the garden house out and spray it on the swing set, that's what it's going to look like.

COLLINS: Do you think that was an orchestrated picture?

MARCIANO: Listen, grandmas are pretty savvy these days.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes. I was talking to some people who came by for a tour of CNN here. They were from Europe. They said, yes, we came to the southern part of the U.S. because it's supposed to be warmer this time of year. So, I sent them directly over to you.

MARCIANO: And I'll send them directly to southern California.

COLLINS: Very good. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: See you later, Heidi.

COLLINS: Those comments Harry Reid made about President Obama. We've been asking you to let us know what you think about them. And we're getting a whole lot of comments on our blog. We'll go ahead and read some of them coming up in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Republicans want him to step down. Democrats say his apology was good enough. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the eye of a storm with a new book out today called "Game Change." Reid is quoted as saying in 2008 in the book, candidate Barack Obama could succeed partly because of his, quote, "light-skinned appearance with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."

Reid has apologized to the president and the Congressional Black Caucus. And those apologies have been accepted.

Want to bring in our Brianna Keilar now on Capitol Hill with more on this. So, Brianna, Harry Reid not the first politician, of course, to cause an up roar with racially charged comments, is he?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. He is certainly not the first to cause an uproar over rationally charge -- racially charged comments. But what you have now, Heidi, is some Republicans saying you have a double standard. The Democrats can say something that's racist, and an apology will give them the pass. But it's not the same for Republicans.

Taking a look at some of the different things that we've seen over the years. For instance, senator Joe Biden said something similar about President Obama when he was trying to pay him a compliment but really used a very poor choice of words. He said, "You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy." And he said, "I mean, that's a storybook, man." He was obviously trying to talk about why President Obama was a good candidate, but a very poor choice of words. He really had to fall over himself apologizing for that, Heidi.

But in the end, as we know, he is now vice president. And the one example that Republicans are really saying shows a double standard is Trent Lott. He was back in 2002 the majority leader of the Senate. He was at the 100th birthday party for Strom Thurmond, who in 1948 had run for president on a segregationist platform when he said this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRENT LOTT, FMR. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it! And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We wouldn't have had all these problems over the years. That is a comment that Trent Lott paid dearly for. He actually stepped down from his post as the majority leader. And Republicans are saying this is a similar situation. And some top Republicans are saying that Senator Reid needs to step down, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Michael Steele, head of the RNC, very vocal about Reid in all of this. He's also been on the other side of things, though, too, right?

KEILAR: He has been. In fact, as recently as last week. He said something that it seems, you know, he said this inadvertently. But something very offensive to Native Americans. He was trying to make a point, and he sort of -- to make his point at the end, he said, "Honest Injun on that." Which obviously was very offensive to Native Americans.

And back in July when he was talking, this is something he caught flak for. Back in July, he was talking about broadening the GOP tent. About bringing people of color into the GOP party. Take a listen to what he said and what he took some flak for.

Actually, I guess, we do not have that sound bite. But what he had said was -- he was telling bloggers this back in July, Heidi. He said, "my plan is to say, y'all come. I've got the fried chicken and potato salad." Certainly a lot of attention was paid to that. He is still in his post.

It just goes to show you, I think, Heidi a lot of these things where people are just -- they're trying to say one thing and they just use a very, very poor set of words to communicate what they're trying to say.

COLLINS: Brianna Keilar for us on Capitol Hill, thank you. Brianna, thank you. And that brings us to today's blog question. We actually asked you to fill in the blank on this statement. Harry Reid's comments were... Here are some of the responses we got.

From Jason, "Reid's comments were racist in the truest sense of the word."

From Michael, "Harry Reid's comments were not racist. He was merely pointing out that because of racism, a dark-skinned man who was less articulate would have a hard time getting elected."

From Charles, "Harry Reid's comments were awkward and stiff but were based on several realities that African-Americans such as myself clearly understand."

From Keann, "Harry Reid's comments were very inappropriate. I hope he now realizes he could have used a better choice of words. As a young black man, however, I do not see this as a big deal."

From Jeff, "Harry Reid's comments were inappropriate and a little ignorant. But fall way short of Trent Lott's comments."

From Jay, "Harry Reid's comments were grounds for dismissal."

Remember, we always like to hear from you. Log on to CNN.com/heidi. You can put your responses there, and we'll read them throughout the show each day.

Well, now you see them. Now you don't. What happened to wearing pants in Portland? Apparently, not a requirement. We'll tell you the reason behind the extra exposure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A celebration you certainly don't have to dress up for. And it leaves very little to the imagination. Check this out. Several hundred commuters hit the trains Sunday in Portland, Oregon, with one important item of clothing missing. They did it to observe the third annual No Pants Day. Listen to this guy and what he says about why he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON BEACH, PANTLESS COMMUTER: I got the invite on Facebook from a random person that I know a little bit. And it just looked like a great thing, so...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (off camera): A random person you know a little bit told you to take your pants off in public, and you did?

BEACH: That's a regular thing, you know!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS; Important things people do for absolutely no reason. The whole pantless thing was part of an event organized by a Seattle Improv group.

I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.