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Watching Porn, Not the Economy; A Fix for Wall Street; Immigration Bill Protests
Aired April 23, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen and usually does. Here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's left to the devices and desires of their own hearts. They will take it all and run. And it's nothing new. It's always been this way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: How do to get Wall Street on the road to redemption. Democrats push ahead with a financial reform bill risking a Republican filibuster.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to have the freedom, citizen or not a citizen, to travel through any state without fear of being judged based on my appearance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Immigration crackdown in Arizona. Protesters demand the governor veto a bill. It is a bill President Obama criticizes at misguided.
Let's do this -- let's get started.
They were supposed to be watching the economy, but some of them were watching pornography and cruising sex sites. Can you believe it? On their government-issued computers, during work hours, in the middle of the financial crisis.
That is according to an investigation at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC.
CNN's Ines Ferre with details.
Ines, exactly how big a problem are we talking about here?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Tony, the investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the SEC cites 33 cases over the past five years. Thirty-one of those were in the last two and a half years, during the financial crisis that almost brought down the U.S. economy. And 17 cases involved employees at the senior level who made salaries ranging from $99,000 to $233,000 -- Tony.
HARRIS: Whoa. Whoa. That's a lot of money. So some of these cases in the report were pretty outrageous. Any examples?
FERRE: Yes. The report says that, actually, one senior attorney at the Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading porn. And when he ran out of space on his computer, Tony, he burned the files on to CDs and DVDs that he kept in boxes around the office. He agreed to resign.
Also, an accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month from visiting porn sites. But that person used Google images to bypass the internal filter. The result? A 14-day suspension -- Tony.
HARRIS: Use to --
FERRE: Yes.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I have information on that.
HARRIS: Ali has information.
VELSHI: Because I was saying to myself how much -- like, how can you download 16,000 -- you could do nothing else. You wouldn't even be able to get lunch. Apparently, if you go to one of these sites -- this is all hearsay -- and there's sometimes like 100 pictures on --
HARRIS: Nice qualifier, by the way.
VELSHI: Like, that would count as 100.
HARRIS: Oh, OK. OK.
VELSHI: Yes, it's not each time that he pressed return. That said, sorry, Ines.
HARRIS: No, no, no, no.
Ines?
FERRE: Yes.
HARRIS: So what is the SEC say about all of this?
FERRE: Well, they issued a statement today saying that the employees involved are being disciplined. And the statement says, "We will not tolerate the transgressions of the very few who bring discredit to their thousands of hardworking colleagues."
Tony.
HARRIS: Any numbers on how big a problem this is, generally speaking --
FERRE: Yes, generally speaking.
HARRIS: -- in the workplace.
FERRE: There is a study in 2006 that was done by Websense Incorporated that found that about 16 percent of men with Internet access at work admit to surfing porn sites on the job. And also, Internet sales of adult content totaled an estimated $2.8 billion in 2006. So, definitely a very big market.
HARRIS: Anything --
VELSHI: And it's relatively recession-free. I don't actually think they've suffered a great deal.
HARRIS: No, no. Not at all. It's one of the few businesses making money on the Web, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: Anything on women searching the -- I guess not. All right.
Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.
VELSHI: If you take that -- if you take it out of context, it seems like a lot of people searching the Internet, cruising porn on the Internet. But if you put context into it in terms of the workplace, where people used to go out for smoke breaks and big lunches and things, some people are searching porn, some people are shopping on the Internet, some people are -- so I don't know that it's people coming to work to search the Internet as a separate category as people wasting their time. And in doing so, they're looking up --
HARRIS: And even in the context of the SEC story, I mean, look, we're talking about, what, 31, 32 cases here? And how many employees, 3,600 or something?
VELSHI: Yes. It's big.
HARRIS: It's big.
VELSHI: They've got their problems and they need to fix some things. I'm not sure this is as big as it seems.
HARRIS: Yes.
Ali is back in just a second. We're going to talk about this financial regulatory reform.
Senate Democrats, right, pushing ahead with efforts to crack down on Wall Street. They have set of initial showdown vote on financial reform legislation for Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the time for stalling is over. But Republican Mitch McConnell firing back. He says Democrats should allow time for bipartisan negotiations to continue. The test vote could show whether Republicans are unified in opposing the legislation.
Ali, I know you have some thoughts on that.
So, how much regulation on Wall Street is enough and how much is too much? It depends, it seems, on who you ask.
Here is senior correspondent Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Veteran investor Barry Mann believes Wall Street is out of control, an opinion based not only on the ups and downs of his portfolio but also on his years as a corporate salesman for Tiffany, where he often dealt with securities executives.
BARRY MANN, INVESTOR: It's left to the devices and desires of their own hearts. They will take it all and run, and it's nothing new. It's always been this way, and now it's time to change that.
CHERNOFF: What Wall Street wants to change is its public perception, especially after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with fraud last week.
So Tim Ryan, chief executive of Wall Street's lobbying and trade group the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, says he welcomes new regulation.
TIM RYAN, SECURITIES INDUSTRY AND FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION: Wall Street needs reasonable reform. Everybody in the industry is in favor of getting something done.
CHERNOFF (on camera): That change of position is historic. For decades, Wall Street successfully fought off efforts to impose more oversight over the securities business. Industry executives said self-regulation works just fine.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): But the financial meltdown turned Wall Street topsy-turvy and President Obama told executives to face the new political reality. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to urge you to join us instead of fighting us in this effort.
RYAN: We know reform is coming. We'd like to see it be responsible.
CHERNOFF (on camera): And the way that the bill stand now, can you live with them?
RYAN: We'd like to see change. I mean, we're close.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The industry supports the mechanism to ensure the orderly liquidation of failed firms to avoid the near catastrophic chaos caused by the Lehman Brothers collapse, independent directors on compensation committees to determine executive pay, more oversight of investment contracts known as derivatives that often trade between firms but not on official exchanges.
But the industry remains opposed to a plan from former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to limit the kinds of investments security firms can make.
RYAN: The biggest concerns are we -- we don't think the Volcker rule really makes any sense.
CHERNOFF: That means the battle is not over. Wall Street will be lobbying intensely in the coming weeks to ensure reform is not too burdensome.
And for people like Barry Mann, even new regulation wouldn't make Wall Street appealing. He says bailed out of the stock market three years ago and is never putting a dime back in.
MANN: Things are not good, and that's it. I'm glad I got out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. Let's do this -- let's bring in Allan Chernoff -- he's joining us live from New York -- and Ali Velshi, our chief business correspondent, host of CNN NEWSROOM, 1:00 until 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Allan, let me start with you.
If some investors aren't trusting Wall Street, isn't the answer more regulation?
CHERNOFF: Well, indeed. Something's got to change, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
CHERNOFF: After our meltdown, there was just incredible distrust. A lot of people were burned.
Wall Street knows that if they accept some regulation, that actually could reduce the chances of another meltdown, and it certainly could bring a lot of people back into the financial markets, even more than those who have already returned. So, yes, that could be a benefit here.
HARRIS: So, Ali, is it your sense that a lot of people left the markets and they're not coming back any time soon because they just don't trust? And how do you get trust back when you've lost it?
VELSHI: Well, that actually worries me a great deal because that's exactly what happens. And what happens after a meltdown like we had is, typically speaking, markets do quite well.
HARRIS: You wrote about this.
VELSHI: I wrote specifically about this --
HARRIS: Yes, you did. VELSHI: -- because markets are up 70 percent from where they were, let's say, a year ago. But people get so offended and so scared and so -- they start to feel that the system is so weighted against them, that a good move toward reform can bring average Americans back into the market just in terms of their 401(k) or their IRA, and they can say someone's watching the foxes.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: So I can get back in. So I actually think just the shift in culture to say we've got cops on the beat now might actually bring people back out into the Street.
HARRIS: And yet, Allan, you've got a huge lobbying effort against this reform. It seems to make sense, what Ali is saying here. So why the fight against reform? Some kind of reform. All right. We can disagree on the margins and the form it takes, but some kind of reform.
CHERNOFF: Right. Well, Wall Street is accepting reform.
They're saying, hey, we know it's coming. We're not fighting this whole tidal wave. But there are certain portions that they do want changed.
One of the key elements that we talked about in that piece, the Volcker rule, that would restrict how Wall Street firms can invest their own money. Right? Wall Street, it's all about making money, right, for you and me? But also very much for the Wall Street firms.
So, they want to put their money to work in hedge funds, private equity, all these different areas where they can sometimes gamble their money. And that's what Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, doesn't want. He does not want those firms to be able to gamble their money.
HARRIS: Don't gamble with my money.
CHERNOFF: He wants to take some risk out of it.
VELSHI: Right. If you want your money not gambled with, you should know that you put it into a type of account, it gives you probably a lower return than if you're prepared to have your money gambled with. But the disclosure needs to be there. And there needs to be some separation between people who take your money and the --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And the banks, hedge funds, and you can't be in both businesses. Come on.
VELSHI: Right. And that's what the Volcker rule is a little bit about.
So I think Allan is right. I would say for most of it, Allan, that Wall Street is accepting it. There are some things on the margins, but what's happening is I almost think that -- and Allan, you know this as well as I do -- I feel like maybe some of the opposition is just starting to back down a little bit.
CHERNOFF: Yes. I mean, it's -- look, this is going to be resolved pretty soon.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHERNOFF: And, you know, Wall Street is -- they are going to fight hard. They've got a lot of money. They've supported a lot of these Congress people. So there are big bucks at stake here, no doubt. So, behind the scenes, there still is intense fighting, but there's also an acknowledgement.
VELSHI: And there's negotiation going on.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: You saw Mitch McConnell saying we want to be able to me negotiate. It's not like health care, where they're saying kill the bill.
HARRIS: Right. Right. Right.
So, about, what do you think, a week, two weeks?
VELSHI: I think by the end of next week you'll see some resolution of this.
HARRIS: Gentlemen, appreciate it. See you next hour.
VELSHI: All right.
HARRIS: All right, Doc.
Next, I'm going to talk to legal analyst Sunny Hostin about the Arizona immigration bill that is prompting protests, outrage, iReports.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Arizona immigration showdown. It's amazing what's going on right now. Did I say it's about 50 people are sleeping with sleeping bags. They just brought covers. They're just sleeping right in front of the capitol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Immigration demonstrations set to resume minutes from now in Arizona. Protesters have been gathering at the state capitol to oppose what could become the strictest immigration bill in the country. The governor has until 5:00 tomorrow afternoon to sign or veto the bill. If she does nothing, the bill would become law, making it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and requiring police to check people for documentation with or without provocation.
CNN photojournalist Gabe Ramirez followed a group of student activists on a bus ride from Los Angeles to Phoenix.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILO QUIROZ, NYU STUDENT: What we're doing today is going to support and be in solidarity with the protests that are continuously going on at the capitol building of Arizona.
My name is Camilo Quiroz. I'm a student at New York University. I grew up in east Los Angeles.
I know that the consequence of this bill can reach California. I like to have the freedom, citizen or not a citizen, to travel through any state without fear of being judged based on my appearance.
ANGELICA SALAS, COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS OF LOS ANGELES: The first thing I want to say is thank you, all of you, forgetting up so early in the morning and making this trip. We're going in order to stand with all the people in Arizona, especially in the immigrant community, and especially people of color.
(SINGING)
QUIROZ: Personally, I just have a feeling that not doing anything is the same as supporting something, even if you are against it, because it's easy to say I'm against this bill. But if you don't do anything to stop it, you're going along with it, you're allowing it to happen. That's why we're all here.
We have that hope that people will -- can change and will change. Really, we have a lot more in common than we have differences.
I mean, we live in, like, similar communities, we have similar values. We want to grow, we want to have our children educated, we want to be educated ourselves. We want to have good jobs. And we have a lot in common with these people. And I wish they could see that and I wish I could see beyond their initial anger and hatred.
If you're worried about having your rights, and having your rights taken away from you in any scope, you should be worried about this. This is a first step. And we're going to stop that -- we're going to stop it before it happens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK.
President Obama is now weighing in on this controversial immigration bill. He questions the legality of it, but he also blames the federal government for failing to clamp down on illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the administration and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation. But if we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: "In Session" contributor Sunny Hostin is here to help us understand the legal implications of -- Sunny, good to see you again.
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": Good to see you.
HARRIS: Why did you say last night on "AC 360" -- yes, I was watching -- that, "This law embarrasses me"? Why did you say that?
HOSTIN: Well, it does embarrass me, Tony. It embarrasses me as an American, it embarrasses me as a Latino-American, and it embarrasses me as lawyer, someone who has always believed in the law. I'm a former federal prosecutor, as our viewers know and as you know, and I've always believed in the law. My parents instilled that in me. And when I hear that a law is being passed, sort of intellectual predicate, it's based on fear, it's based on hate. It embarrasses me because it bastardizes our law.
HARRIS: Fear and hate. You know, 70 percent of Arizonans back this legislation., and partly because they see this as a real crime issue.
HOSTIN: Yes. And I think those that back the law don't really even understand it.
And again, it's a knee-jerk reaction based on hate, based on fear. I mean, the real province of immigration reform is the federal government.
And so if you want to protect American citizens from illegal immigrants coming in, then target businesses that hire illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, target the border areas. But you don't pass a law that will terrorize American citizens just based on the way that you look, because this is really legalized racial profiling.
HARRIS: All right. So, wait a minute, Sunny. You know you're running the risk here of coming off as elitist -- smart, attorney, you know. Come on.
You're suggesting that a lot of the people who support this don't understand it. Maybe they're really saying, you know, the federal government has dropped the ball on this, and maybe we don't mind a little legalized racial problem.
What's the problem with that?
HOSTIN: Well, you know, I understand that. And I don't mean to come off as sort of an elitist lawyer. But when you really look at the body of this law, giving the police the authority to stop someone and even, perhaps, frisk them based on the way that they appear, if you really understand that, I can't imagine that in these United States, Tony, that an everyday American citizen would support that.
HARRIS: OK. I want to circle back because you really messed me up last hour.
We were playing the Supreme Court nominee name game, and your wildcard pick --
Joe, throw the picture up here.
-- Ann Claire Williams, a federal appeals court judge -- right -- 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Sunny Hostin, she's a black woman.
HOSTIN: Yes.
HARRIS: You know the president just appointed a wise Latina to the court. Have you been paying attention to what's going on? This president cannot, after appointing Sonia Sotomayor, come back and appoint a black woman to this court.
Have you been paying attention to what's going on?
HOSTIN: I've been paying attention. I think that this president can do it, I think he will do it. I think that he is about our country and the diverse nation that we are. And what better way to support that very truth than to appoint a woman who is not only African- American, but is supremely qualified to be a Supreme Court justice, who went to the best law school in the world?
HARRIS: And you're an alum, right?
HOSTIN: There you have it. That's right.
HARRIS: I had to revisit that.
Sunny, good to see you.
HOSTIN: You too.
HARRIS: Again, come on down here to Atlanta more often.
HOSTIN: Would love to.
HARRIS: Let's get you to our top stories now.
Eleven suspected pirates are now in the United States, where they will face criminal prosecution. They're accuse of attacking U.S. Navy ships near Somalia. That word from a federal government source. The case will be prosecuted in Norfolk, Virginia.
In the Gulf of Mexico, crews have searched an area twice the size of Rhode Island, but still no sign of 11 missing oil rig workers. The rig, about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, exploded earlier this week. There's an oil slick at the site, but authorities say the drill itself isn't leaking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Wall Street doesn't run through Harlem, but one investment whiz is taking it there to teach young people the ways of finance. It is "What Matters," and it's next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, Wall Street may seem a world away from Harlem, but a former banker is trying to bring them closer together. He is teaching inner city young people to be responsible with their money.
It's "What Matters" today.
Debra Feyerick reports from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may wonder what the co-founder of a multibillion-dollar hedge fund is doing in Harlem. He is teaching a course on money or, rather, financial responsibility.
(on camera): What do you this is the biggest thing holding these kids back?
STEVEN MANDIS, HARLEM INVESTMENT TRAINING: Access.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Meet former Goldman Sachs banker and trader, Steven Mandis. These are his students, most of them seniors at the Thurgood Marshall Academy on 135th Street.
(on camera): What would you say is the biggest misconception when it comes from people thinking about this area and the inner city?
MALCOLM WICKS, STUDENT: They think that we are Street smart and not actually book smart. But, it is our goal and it is up to us to get pass that.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Malcolm Wicks grew up in the inner city surrounded by crime, drugs, poverty, gangs. Now, once a week after school, these teens learn about things like investing and mortgages.
MANDIS: How much do you typically want to have as a deposit when you are buying a home? About 20 percent.
WICKS: Everything I learn, I bring home to my parents, and my family, and then they could understand what I'm doing.
FEYERICK (on camera): Are they, are your parents a little surprised? Did they say, boy, I wish I had known that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. FEYERICK (voice-over): Though Wall Street is just a subway ride away, none of them has ever spent time there, much less met anyone who worked there.
INVESSA TUWANI (ph), STUDENT: Before Steve came, it always seemed like it was a secret and now he like unveiled it.
FEYERICK: Invessa Tuwani (ph) is 15 and the only sophomore in the group.
TUWANI: Yes, it's like learning to sing from Beyonce.
FEYERICK: Learning, for example, how to ask the right questions like the day they analyzed the credit crisis. Role playing Invessa (ph) asked --
TUWANI: Do you have proof and documentation?
MANDIS: And I said, jeez, if somebody had just asked that common question at the beginning, we would probably would not be in this big a trouble as we are. And it's a matter of giving them the confidence that they understand that that's actually a very good question. That's sort of a big part of finance.
FEYERICK (on camera): Before you started this class, when you thought about people who were really rich, who did you think of?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill Gates.
FEYERICK: Bill Gates. Who else?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oprah Winfrey.
FEYERICK: Oprah Winfrey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Athletes.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Now they've learned to see, well, differently.
SHAQUEEN HINTON, STUDENT: It's not about how much you can spend, it's about how much you can save.
FEYERICK (on camera): About how much you get to save, OK. And Malcolm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She took the words right out of my mouth.
FEYERICK: OK.
In your mind, what is success? If these kids go off to run a Fortune 500 company or something perhaps more modest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Success, I think, is for them to be happy. And I think part of happiness is having control of your financial destiny.
FEYERICK: All the kids say they're a lot smarter now about money. All will be going to college. But so far, only one plans to go into finance. Maybe even start a hedge fund.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And to read more stories like this that matter to all of us, pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A string of bombings in Iraq. Dozens of people dead outside mosques. And just as U.S. troops are getting ready to leave Iraq. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is in Baghdad.
And, Mohammed, first of all, let's start here with some of the basic facts of this. What's the latest on this round of violence?
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, according to Iraqi officials, at least 61 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in a string of attacks today targeting mainly Shiites. Now this comes just days after Iraqi and U.S. forces killed the two most senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders. And Iraqi officials had predicted retaliatory strikes. Now, while nobody has yet claimed responsibility for these attacks today, Iraqi officials have already stated they believe these attacks bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda.
Tony.
HARRIS: Mohammed, you know, several are actually blaming the government and the Iraqi security forces, saying you're not doing enough to protect us. Is that correct?
JAMJOOM: Oh, absolutely, Tony. You know, when we go to the site of these attacks and the aftermath of these types of attacks, we hear the same refrain over and over again. Usually it's very quick. The mood changes from chaos and confusion to one of anger. Not usually anger towards the perpetrators of the crime or towards al Qaeda or whomever is behind it. Usually anger towards the politicians and the government because Iraqi citizens here feel that government is not doing enough to protect them.
Right now you're more than a month away from when the elections happened. You still don't have a government. Iraqis here feel the government is not doing enough to ensure their security and safety.
And if you look at the pattern in the past year, after U.S. forces withdrew from cities, you've seen more and more attacks targeting government installations, heavily fortified areas, embassies, ministries, hotels. These are areas Iraqi citizens look at, they say, if you can't protect even these places, how are you going to protect us? And they get angry.
Tony.
HARRIS: You know what its -- Mohammed, it's interesting, from the U.S. point of view, it's exactly where you want the pressure applied. You want Iraqis demanding more from Iraqis. But I'm curious, are Iraqi forces going to be ready when U.S. troops pull out?
JAMJOOM: Well, that's the concern. Iraqi officials and U.S. officials, they continue to maintain that the Iraqi forces are going to be ready. But you see that these attacks are still happening. And you see the frustration among Iraqis. They say this is still happening. This is random and spectacular violence that can pop up at any time, like today.
You know, in the past two weeks, you see that Baghdad is still very much under a lot of security. There are troops in the streets. There are checkpoints everywhere. Traffic is always at a stand still. People can't get places. And yet these attacks are occurring. And they ask, how come Iraqi security forces aren't able to protect these places?
It really befuddles everybody here. They don't understand why it keeps happening. And they're quite angry about it.
Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. Mohammed Jamjoom for us in Baghdad.
Mohammed, good to see you. Thank you, sir.
You know, many of you are worrying about money for college and refinancing your home. Our "Help Desk" has answers for you. Here's CNN's business news correspondent Stephanie Elam.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk" where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Doug Flynn is a certified financial planner and founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, and Rod Kurtz, he's executive editor of AOL Small Business.
Gentlemen, thanks for being here.
ROD KURTZ, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, AOL SMALL BUSINESS: Good to see you, Steph.
ELAM: All right. Our first question is from Elizabeth in California. And she writes, "can my daughter, who attends a public university, apply for financial aid or a scholarship for her junior year?"
What do you say, Doug?
DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Of course. Everybody every year should fill out the FAFSA form that will help you figure out what financial aid you qualify for. And where you find that online at actually a really easy website. It's fafsa.ed.gov. And that's one place you want to look.
You also want to go into your favorite search engine, AOL or otherwise, and
KURTZ: I appreciate that.
FLYNN: No problem. Do a search for scholarships. And there are so many scholarships that you can qualify for. And then you should talk to your employer, your alma mater, your local town, high school, everywhere. There's so many $5,001 scholarships that you can apply for that people just don't take advantage of. So that combination of all that is very important. But definitely get on there and fill out that FAFSA form every year.
ELAM: And you will find other options when you look out. There's so much money out there.
All right. Our next question comes from Tony. And he writes, "where can I go to get information on lowering the interest rate on my mortgage?"
What do you say, Rod?
KURTZ: Well, it's a good question. A lot of people are asking it. There are a lot of resources out there. That's the good news and the bad news. If you go to Google, you find a ton of stuff.
I was actually poking around, federalreserve.gov is actually a very -- has a great comprehensive guide. A lot of frequently asked questions. And, obviously, the Fed knows a thing or two about interest rates. So that's one place to look.
I think you want to, if you're looking at an existing loan, you want to go to the bank that you got the loan from, look at their website, because a lot of the banks now have these mortgage calculators and different tools, a lot of frequently asked questions, that help you decide how this is going to benefit you, if it's going to benefit you, and what the steps are. But there's also, you know, you see real estate brokerages now. Coldwell Banker, I noticed, had something on their site, as well as lendingtree.com.
So there's a lot of stuff out there. You want to make sure it's reputable stuff. And then, you know, the question your -- you have at hand, if you have a fixed rate mortgage, you can possibly lower that rate. And if you have an adjustable rate, you can switch to a fixed rate and hopefully get some stability out of it. So it's an important question. A lot of tools out there.
ELAM: A lot of people who are wondering the same thing.
KURTZ: Yes.
ELAM: Gentlemen, thanks so much.
All right, "The Help Desk" is all about getting answers to your questions. So send us an e-mail to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. We might just have the answer to your question right here next week. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It's on newsstands now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: And checking top stories for you now.
Coast Guard crews in the Gulf of Mexico are searching an area more than twice the size of Rhode Island. No sign yet of the 11 missing oil rig workers. The rig sank yesterday after a devastating explosion. An oil slick is all that is left.
For the third time this week, a Catholic bishop resigns. This one's from Belgium. He admits he sexually abused a young boy 25 years ago.
The Reverend Franklin Graham won't be speaking at the Pentagon on the National Day of Prayer. He has been uninvited over comments he made recently about Islam. Graham says he regrets the Army's decision, but stands by his comments.
Now, before you toss your old mattress out with the garbage, think about recycling. There is a company in California that takes mattresses apart to make something new.
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HARRIS: So we use something, then we throw it away without thinking about what happens to it next, right? Take mattresses. Can you really recycle them? Photojournalist Jeff King says in Oakland, California, you can, in a way.
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TERRY MCDONALD, ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY: What you're seeing here is a DR3 mattress recycling company. It's a non-profit organization (INAUDIBLE).
In here we take apart dirty mattresses. Literally taking all the materials out of that mattress and recycling them.
You have the quilted top. That material goes back into the carpet industry and turned into commercial carpet pad.
The cotton goes back into a moving pad material where it's blended and put into a moving pad.
Wood goes back into soil amendments or else into fuel.
The steel goes back to the steel industry and it's recast into whatever vehicle we'd like to have or else rebar for our freeways.
This facility runs a staff of between 12 to 16. It also spins off an additional nine to 10 jobs elsewhere. It's permanent, long-term, sustainable jobs. Part of the green economy.
So between the fee that is charged and the commodity value, there's enough in there to make a profit on the product. That makes it's a viable business.
You can put it into the landfill for less. But the problem with the mattress in a landfill is, it does not break down, it takes up a lot of space in the landfill and it does not compact well. We have the richest waste stream in the world. If we would handle that as an asset, instead of a liability, we could create long-term permanent jobs, sustain a lot of programs that we really want for our community in a way that actually is very cost effective and help save the environment.
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HARRIS: I was actually thinking of another story. Maybe I'll make a pitch. Catch more of these stories from our photojournalist tomorrow afternoon. CNN goes behind the global environmental movement to see the positive impact people are making in their neighborhoods. "Green Solutions In Focus" tomorrow, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Cessna using the recession to really soar. We will look at how the company is actually recreating itself.
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HARRIS: You know, I got to tell you, after taking a real beating during the recession, Cessna aircraft is working to get its wings back. The company is rebuilding itself and is therefore building up America. CNN's Tom Foreman has our look.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony, a lot of people may not know this, but Kansas is famous for making airplanes. Lots and lots of airplanes. Particularly corporate jets and smaller privately owned planes. And they've been hit very hard by this recession. But places like Cessna here have used this as a time to regroup and get ready to bounce back.
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FOREMAN (voice-over): A few years back, Cessna, one of the most renowned names in aviation, was selling hundreds of multimillion dollar airplanes annually. Then the recession, scandals over the misuse of corporate jets and the company lost half of its orders and half of its jobs. Six thousand in Wichita alone. For CEO Jack Pelton, a wake-up call.
FOREMAN (on camera): How is this company fundamentally different than it was two years ago?
JACK PELTON, CEO, CESSNA: I think now every day we wake up, we feel we have to go out -- go out and earn our right to be that number one manufacture in the general aviation space. It's not just a given. It's something that you have to prove every day.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Proving it has meant using the downtime to reconsider many manufacturing methods. For example, they found that by raising jet wings to a vertical position, technicians can move up, down, and across them quicker, saving time and labor that was previously lost maneuvering above and below the wing. By acquiring and attaching the most expensive parts, liken engines, last, they reduce the holding time for costly inventory. They have stepped up customer service with rapid response teams on the ground and, if need be, in the air to fix any plane that need repair. And throughout the chain of production, they say they are looking for new ideas, new savings, new efficiencies.
FOREMAN (on camera): In many ways, it sounds like you completely rebuilt your production line.
PELTON: We did. We cleared out this entire part of the building and said, let's go re-examine how we build airplanes and how we can become better at it. And, you know, not only is it affect the cost and quality, which our customers are going to view positively, but it's also to help our employees.
FOREMAN (voice-over): All of that has allowed the company to maintain aggressive research and development and to roll out its latest model despite the hard times.
FOREMAN (on camera): And you really believe that if you don't keep developing and bringing new products on, you're never going to recover.
PELTON: You're not. Innovate or die. You can't just hunker down and hide during this period of time. You have to continue to invest.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Because that, he believes, is what protects jobs on the ground and puts planes into the sky.
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FOREMAN: It's going to take a while before they get all the business back that they've lost. They know that this is one of those trailing indicators of an economy. But they're convinced that when they do, they will be on a more sound business footing and better off than they were before the recession began.
Tony.
HARRIS: Good stuff. Tom, appreciate it. Love that line, innovate or die.
It's an air base in a critical spot for America's war efforts. CNN's Michael Holmes will give us an insider view of one of the most diverse bases in Kandahar.
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HARRIS: So, you have your orders. You're sent to Afghanistan and you wind up with a lot of other troops from places far from your hometown. CNN's Michael Holmes gives us a taste of life on the base in Afghanistan's second largest city.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Kandahar Air Base is the second biggest base in Afghanistan, and quite possibly the most diverse in the world when it comes to who's work there. Take a look around. The uniforms are worn by soldiers from the Czech Republic, Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Canada, and, of course, the United States. In all, 17 nations work here.
CPL. ADAM WALSTER, ROYAL AIR FORCE: Yes, it's nice. Good to chat over in the Britt (ph). We've got the coffee shop and everything. It's good to chat to them every now and then.
HOLMES: Germans have their own PX, or retail store, open to everyone. So do the French. They have a particary (ph) as well. And the Dutch, as well as the Americans. The notice board inviting the uninitiated to a game of Aussie rules football, while on the volleyball court the Slovakians play on the same side as the Americans.
And this has got to be one of the busiest and most diverse places of worship you're likely to find. Friday, prayers for Muslims on base, and Sunday they need a roster. The Solovak mass at 7:45 a.m., Latter Day Saints just after lunch, and then Anglican, Episcopalian, you get the idea.
MASTER SGT. JAN VOZAR, SLOVAKIAN ARMY: It's a great experience, of course. You meet a lot of new people. You can make a lot of new friendships, you know. You can learn a lot about the new countries.
HOLMES: The base, and those who work here, are crucial to what senior military bosses say is a pivotal operation that continues to unfold in Kandahar and surrounding districts.
HOLMES (on camera): It's a slow, methodical operation. No big gun battles are expected. Instead, the focus is on building trust-worthy local government and law enforcement. And convincing the citizens of Kandahar that they're better off without the Taliban, who still rule large areas around here and who continue to carry out attacks inside of Afghanistan's second biggest city.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Kandahar.
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HARRIS: Can't wait to watch this man's show. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the man, Ali Velshi.
