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American Morning
Radical Muslim Hearings; March Madness Losses; Three-Year Glitch; Data Mining Dangers; From Harvard to the NBA; Small Business Boon
Aired March 10, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. 8:00 here in the New York on this Thursday, March 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
We need to begin with a slow moving but very powerful storm. It is just creeping and creeping its way to the north and the east. Already seeing round one of this powerful thing. It hit the south, it hit the Gulf Coast. Tornadoes reported.
Take a look at all of this damage. Tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama reported. Homes, stores wrecked, roofs ripped off. However, just minor injuries to report. That is a good thing, at least, certainly when you see all of this damage.
Meanwhile, parts of New Jersey are under a state of emergency right now. People still trying to recover from heavy rain they got just a few days ago. People there are busy trying to fill sandbags to hold back a lot of this water.
CHETRY: Yes, it's a tough situation especially for areas that already were hard hit.
Rob Marciano is tracking this massive storm for us from the CNN weather center this morning.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Hey, listen, all the way from Florida to the Canadian border, we are seeing some stretch of this rainfall and it's going to be intensifying across the Northeast as we go throughout the day today.
And you mentioned, earlier on the week, the damage already done with the first round of 30 inches of snow across parts of northern New England and Upstate of New York and several inches of rainfall across the swollen rivers of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and parts of New England and, that's where we have the flood warnings that are posted already because the rivers are already in flood stage. In most cases, just minor flooding but with the addition of several inches of more rainfall -- this is what our forecast calls for, the bright yellow and red, that means anywhere from three to four, maybe in some cases, five inches of rainfall across, right over the Passaic River and right over eastern Pennsylvania and up through New England as well and that's going to be a cause for alarm in those communities that are already seeing the rivers on the rise.
The other threat is going to be severe weather across the mid- Atlantic today, Virginia, the Delmarva and parts of North Carolina. I don't think we'll see the extent or the intensity of the severe weather yesterday we saw in the form of tornadoes but we will see damaging winds and what we saw yesterday, also guys, with all the rainfall that this area has seen, you don't need tremendous wind to take down big, big trees. I think we're going to see some trees come down today as well because the ground is saturated across parts of the Northeast that saw so much rain earlier in the week.
We'll keep you posted throughout the morning -- guys.
CHETRY: What a mess! All right. Rob, thanks.
HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.
Well, Democrats in Wisconsin are crying foul this morning. They are upset because Republicans in the state Senate now have made what they call a legislative end run to get a bill passed to essentially end collective bargaining rights for most state workers. You remember this story that the 14 state Senate Democrats had fled the state three weeks ago in order to prevent a vote.
Well, the GOP was able to get around that. What they did was they separated the part about stripping the union rights, stripped those provisions from the broader budget bill. This kept from needing a quorum or needing those Democrats to be there to vote.
This move was met, as you can imagine, with anger. Protesters out there chanting, "You lie," also, "Shame on you," outside the Senate chamber in Madison. We talked to one of the Wisconsin's boycotting Democrats about, what do you do now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON ERPENBACH (D), WISCONSIN STATE SENATOR: If we were to go back to Madison without discussing our options this morning, they could always basically do a call of the house, lock us in the Senate chambers, bring up the budget repair bill and forced a vote on it just like that right away. So, we're going to get together and see what our options are, and we'll take it from there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the state assembly now -- so, now -- again, now that the state Senate has voted to approve these provisions separately to strip the union rights, now, that has to go over to the assembly where it is expected to pass there as well. They are going to take it up in just a few hours.
CHETRY: Well, we have some new video in this morning from the fighting taking place in Libya. It comes from our Ben Wedeman. He is in Ras Lanuf where forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have been pounding the rebel-held city.
This is the second straight day now. Bombs and rockets fired by Gadhafi ships in the Mediterranean Sea are hitting homes, according to witnesses. At one point, troops were seen firing mortar rounds into a hospital parking lot.
HOLMES: Well, these highly anticipated and highly controversial hearings on Muslim extremism in America are expected to take place in about an hour and a half from now.
CHETRY: And one person testifying at the hearing will be Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. I had a chance to talk to him in our last hour about today's hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: This hearing actually can set us back because, one, it reinforces the al Qaeda narrative which is that America is at war with Islam. America is not at war with Islam. America is not at war with any religion.
But this hearing seems kind of like a targeted persecution. And also in that same vein that -- look, Muslim Americans have died with fellow Americans in tragedies like 9/11 and have been part of the solution and are part of every aspect of our society. And we need to include and pull people in, not alienate -- not alienate them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And our Dana Bash is covering this for us today. She's live right now inside the hearing room.
Dana, what do we expect in there? We talk about witnesses. We talked about the members of the committee.
But are members of the public going to be there? Expect possibly increased security and also a lot of protesters?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Members of the public will be in here. You probably can't tell from where I'm standing. It's a small room, so that's going to be limited.
You know, you see a lot of protests here on Capitol Hill. So, it's hard to imagine there won't be one.
But this is where the chairman that we have been talking about, Peter King, is going to be sitting. And he -- I got -- obtained some of his opening testimony. And he is going to say it would be craven to surrender to political correctness.
He argues, T.J., that this is his job as chairman of this Homeland Security Committee, to what he says protect America and that from his perspective is looking into the radicalization of Muslims in America. He says that is really essential to digging in how to protect this country.
But I got to tell you, I'm walking over to this side because this is where the Democrats are going to sit. Laura Richardson, a Democrat from California, she sent him a letter yesterday saying that she wants these hearings to be canceled. Eight other Democrats signed onto it. She said because she believes, like you just heard from Congressman Ellison, that these hearings are too one-sided.
Because what Congressman King has done, in addition to having some members of Congress testify, he really is focusing on what he says is the Muslim community having what he calls every day Muslims. Now, there's a bit of a controversy in that as well because the people who he is going to have in come to this witness table and testify, two of them are going to testify about members of their family being radicalized in this country and talk about what that meant and how that happened, and blame the Muslim leadership in this country for not stopping. And that really does play into a big concern that Peter King, the chairman, says that he has.
He says over and over again, T.J., that he believes that Muslim leaders in this country are not helping law enforcement enough.
The question you might ask, which I asked him is: then why, at this witness table, are we not going to see members of the law enforcement community that he has invited -- one of the FBI director or the attorney general or people who he says tell him that they are not getting cooperation? And the answer that he gave is that they say it privately and he thinks that if he invited them here to publicly testify, they would contradict him, because, as we have been talking about, there is concern in the national security community and in some -- in the administration, that by doing this, by -- because of the tone and tenor this has taken on, that this could alienate some of the important leaders in the Muslim community that they say they are reaching out to.
HOLMES: All right. Our Dana Bash is going to be covering this for us throughout the day, happening in about an hour and a half from now. Dana, we appreciate you.
And to our viewers, you can keep it tuned to CNN, CNN.com, extensive coverage of the Peter King, Muslim extremism hearings all day.
CHETRY: All right. Well, the campaign against bullying. Today, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will host students, parents, and teachers at the White House for the first conference on bullying prevention. The conference includes communities that have been affected by bullying, as well as those taking action to try to prevent it.
HOLMES: Well, just one day after burying their fallen teammate, Michigan's Fennville High School team has advanced once again. They are moving on to the district finals. They beat Bangor High School 79-50, a pretty convincing win last night. This is the second straight win they have had since the death of their teammate junior Wes Leonard after he collapsed and died on the court last week after scoring the winning bucket that gave them an undefeated regular season. And once again, the gym filled with emotion last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN GONZALEZ, FENNVILLE HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: It just goes to show how big of a person he was. You know, he was a very humble player on the court and in school. He was a funny guy. You know, a lot of these schools recognized him for that, for being humble, for just a great guy that he was. And, I mean, I'm thankful they are showing that respect for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, listen to this. The young man who replaced Leonard in the starting lineup -- last night, he scored 25 points, Xavier Grigg. Also, Fennville will be playing for the Class C Championship, the district championship. The opposing coach last night said it felt like they were playing six against five.
CHETRY: They've certainly been through a lot and they're plowing through anyway.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: Are you pumped up for March Madness? Well, many of you are. But your bosses may not be after they found out after doing a study on this just how much money and time is lost because of NCAA tourney basketball.
HOLMES: Also this morning, a lot of companies out there are collecting your information every time you're on the Internet. You'll find out how they are doing it and why they are doing it.
CHETRY: Well, you've heard of the seven-year itch, right? How about the three-year glitch? A new survey reveals the passion killers that show up in the marriage around the three-year mark. We'll tell you what they are, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twelve minutes past the hour.
Google is making it easier for Gmail users to navigate through their email. The new smart label feature automatically sorts messages into groups. It will focus on email that people subscribe to but don't have time to read when it arrives. Bank statements, airline frequent flyer updates, targeted ads will be sorted into different labels clearing your main inbox for e-mails from coworkers and family and friends.
HOLMES: Also this morning, it is the most wonderful time of the year.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Lent.
HOLMES: March Madness.
I have, Christine -- every year, I've worked in this business, I take off the first Thursday and Friday of NCAA tournament.
ROMANS: Do you really?
HOLMES: I sit on the couch and I do nothing.
ROMANS: Well, so then you're not a drag on productivity?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: You use your personal time off to do this. You are not costing your --
HOLMES: I do.
ROMANS: Well, you -- you might be different than most people because you know what? Challenger Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm every year that tries to come up with a number for how much our madness with March Madness is costing us. That most holy of Lenten traditions -- March Madness costing about $200 million in lost productivity.
Why? Well, extra games and there's more accessibility to the biggest games. And, you know, you can watch them online, right at your desk, your bosses even don't have to know. You don't have a TV on. You can --
HOLMES: You know, they actually what they call a "boss button" --
ROMANS: Really?
HOLMES: -- that if the boss is walking by, you just click that and it puts up just a screen of money, finance or some spreadsheet. Yes.
ROMANS: That's interesting.
HOLMES: Brilliant, isn't it?
ROMANS: I like that. I have to look into that.
CHETRY: We're going to outsmart ourselves someday, aren't we?
ROMANS: Yes, we certainly are.
Also, the Challenge predicts that total online viewership during work hours is likely to exceed 8.4 million hours. Imagine what you can do with 8.4 million hours. It keeps people happier.
Speaking of keeping people happier, there's also an interesting little statistic here about royal wedding searches on Google. Do you know that people are Googling for royal wedding details like crazy? This has -- I mean, this sort of surprised me. I wasn't sure that Americans were totally into it.
But ever since they got engaged, the royal wedding related searches have swept through Google. And advertisers are taking notice. Luxury goods retailers are taking notice. Apparel retailers are taking notice and they're trying to maybe find ways to put advertising around those searches.
CHETRY: That is interesting.
ROMANS: They like to sell -- you know, they like to sell those wedding aficionados.
CHETRY: Of course. And they also -- they opened up their own Web site or they started their own Web site to give wedding details as well because of all the interest.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: So, clearly, there is interest beyond the U.K. about this wedding.
ROMANS: I know you're incredibly interested in this. But what did you think of the childhood photos of Kate Middleton this week? I've been dying to know what you think.
HOLMES: I haven't seen them. I'm sorry.
ROMANS: They are on royal wedding Web site. There you go.
HOLMES: Have you seen them?
ROMANS: Chosen by the family.
HOLMES: That's my bad.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: My favorite this week was the trench coach she wore flipping pancakes. So --
ROMANS: There you go.
Anyway, so, in case you're wondering, a lot of people -- just like you, T.J. -- are out there Googling for royal wedding details.
HOLMES: Well, speaking of, we have got another royal wedding detail for you. We are talking cake, a piece of cake. What is that like? Do we really have a live update about the cake coming up?
CHETRY: Yes, of course!
HOLMES: We have a live update, folks, about cake. A royal cake. Coming up.
CHETRY: All right. Well, let's hope that Prince William is not a snorer, because according to a new survey, snoring is one of the ten passion killers that could dampen the spark in your marriage. Coming up, we're going to tell you what else is on the list. Fifteen minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Eighteen minutes past the hour. Seven-year itch they call it in marriage? That's when things get what? Get a little dicey?
CHETRY: I don't know. We cleared both of those hurdles, thank goodness.
HOLMES: So, you're good. All right. Now, we have another three-year glitch they're calling this now.
CHETRY: You cleared one year, so you have two years till the three-year glitch and then you have four more and there's a seven-year glitch.
HOLMES: I got some issues right now to get past. Well, we're talking about a new British study here. They say three years, that is the point when married couples begin to take each other for granted. That is when those little things, those minor irritations that maybe weren't such a big deal, maybe they were even cute at some point, now, they just get flat out annoying, and they can kill the passion.
So, what are some of those little things? Kiran, weight gain after three years, excessive --
CHETRY: Why do you say Kiran?
HOLMES: Because I was trying to get you engaged and involved in the story here.
CHETRY: Gosh!
HOLMES: I was just trying to engage you here. Working long hours. And this is one we kind of got into a debate here in the studio, snoring.
CHETRY: Snoring.
HOLMES: Starts to turn --
CHETRY: Yes. But the thing is that at the beginning of it, you said these were minor irritations. Weight gain was a minor irritation and working long hours?
HOLMES: Those, you could accept it early. OK, You're working hard. I'm sorry, sweetheart, da-da-da. And then, after awhile, this is getting old. Maybe that's what it means.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, I tell you what, once you get over these humps, including the three-year and a ten, we're now going to 11 years, it's so much better. It's great, but, see, I think that one fact they're leaving out is when you have little kids and you have babies, that is not a fun period for the marriage. It's a great period for the kids, but it's not a fun period for the actual romance of a marriage. So, once they get a little older, you find the romance again.
HOLMES: OK. I take your word for it.
CHETRY: Yes. You'll live it. You'll live it. You don't take my word for it, you'll live in it.
Well, we're counting down to the royal wedding. Just 50 days now until William and Kate tie the knot in front of the whole word. This morning, our Max Foster goes inside the wedding venue, a place steeped in personal history for the groom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN-I ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Britishness can in part, be defined by its royalty, then this church is as British as they come. Westminster Abbey is what's called the royal peculiar. That is it comes under the jurisdiction not to the church but to the queen, herself. She was crowned here as were all heads of states going back to 1066.
Prince William's Uncle Andrew was married here. And William walked here to mourn the loss of his mother, Diana. His memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey.
FOSTER (on-camera): The couple told an aide that they chose Westminster Abbey not just because of its thousand year royal history but also because of its staggering beauty. But once you're in here, you really do get a sense of what they're talking about.
FOSTER (voice-over): Elaborate moldings, decorate arches and (INAUDIBLE) ceiling. Kate will likely be aware of how the long single narrow aisle was designed to help make the space feel even bigger.
FOSTER (on-camera): Once she's inside the church, Katherine will come through the choir screen there with her father past the choir stalls where the choir will be standing, and we expect to come up here to the high altar where she will meet William and be married.
FOSTER (voice-over): Westminster Abbey is a church steep with British history but with William and Kate, it also means family history. Their wedding will be a personal event in the most public of settings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER (on-camera): Well, you can just imagine what's going on, T.J. and Kiran. Behind the scenes at Westminster Abbey as preparations are under way. I'm here at Buckingham Palace. Things are going on here as well as you can see those statues are covered up and being cleaned, ready for the big day, April 29th. A million people expected just in this area in front of Buckingham Palace, plus not to mention the billions watching on TV.
CHETRY: It's going to be exciting. Wow. All right. Max Foster for us this morning. Thanks so much for that report. HOLMES: Coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING, the government could shut down next week if lawmakers don't do something like reach an agreement. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, Representative Paul Ryan, is holding hearings this morning to talk about the budget. He'll talk to us, first, though, live coming up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Computers have things called cookies that track just about everything you do on the internet, from you spending habits to even your income. "Time" magazine wanted to find out what is behind these devices, really who is following you and what personal information do they gather along the way and then how do they use it.
Jill Stein chronicled his investigation in the latest 'Time" magazine issue. He joins me from Los Angeles this morning. Thanks for being with us this morning.
JILL STEIN, CONTRIBUTOR, TIME MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: So, explain why you wanted to look into this, in the first place.
STEIN: Well, first of all, I'm incredibly self-obsessed. So, any information I can get on myself, I wanted, but no, I just heard that these giant data mining companies have like permanent files on us. And I kind of wanted to see what was in my permanent file. And it turns out so much and from so many companies that I got bored as I started looking at them. It was about me.
CHETRY: It was scary. You said that you would ask them to check into this. You got a phone call a couple of hours later, and they already had your Social Security number, and in fact, they had found it within minutes. They just said, sorry, I didn't call you back. I was at lunch. How is that possible? We do so much to try to protect our privacy and then you just -- seems like everything is out there for the world to see.
STEIN: Yes. This guy who owns this company called reputation.com. I just gave him my name and my e-mail address, and he came back and called me back two hours later with my Social Security number and my sister's Social Security number, and mom's Social Security number, which, by the way, I haven't told them I have. So, I have blackmail power over them now.
CHETRY: Hopefully, they're still sleeping.
STEIN: Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure.
CHETRY: But let's take a look at it. We have a graphic just to sort of outline the process of how you went from figuring it out. It's kind of interesting. So, here you are. We're going to show it.
STEIN: Let's do it.
CHETRY: OK. There is you. And you browsed through, let's say, sports websites, right? So, the computers have this Matrixy code, funneling code, right? They drop these cookies into the browser and then they're, in effect, tracking you. They were able to find out, let's say that you had a favorite hockey team, and then, you would see an online ad for those exact hockey tickets. It seems complicated, but it seems like they're able to do this rather quickly and on a very wide-ranging scale.
STEIN: Yes. No, they're able to really customize ads for you which kind of is a good thing, I think. In that, instead of seeing ads that aren't relevant to me at all, when ads become super relevant, they kind of become information because it's about what band that you love is in town or, you know, what director has a movie coming out that you really like.
So, at some point, I think we stop thinking of them as ads or like, oh, great, I was wondering when that restaurant was opening near me. So, I think that's much better than those jumping monkeys where you don't know what they're up to. Those banner ads that used to exist
CHETRY: Right. I know exactly what you're talking about, but the thing is, so, you talk about it being a little bit benign in that way, but the fact that somebody has your Social Security number, I mean, that could turn ugly pretty quickly, can't it?
STEIN: Yes. that's the thing that, obviously, your bank is worried about even more than you, which is protecting your data and making sure that your passwords are secure and that people can't, you know, steal your identity and break into your bank. That's kind of a separate issue, in my opinion, than this data mining thing which is more -- mostly about advertising.
CHETRY: Right. So, I did it. I used the same privacy tracker that you did just to check it out --
STEIN: And so we found out stuff about you?
CHETRY: Well, they were pretty accurate. I mean, they pretty much had my age range. They had my gender correct. They said I'm interested in news sites, obviously, and current events, well, because we do a lot of stuff -- they said I was interested in anatomy, which is interesting. I didn't know where that came from.
STEIN: I've heard that about you, though.
CHETRY: But they were pretty spot on. My researcher who did it as well, she's very young. She's only 24.
STEIN: Come on! We found out other stuff about you, didn't we?
CHETRY: No, no. They had her pegged like a 55-year-old man who liked sports, so we were confused about. They're not always spot on.
STEIN: No. And it depends on what they're up to. Like, sometimes, they're really just interested in what you're doing on the web right this second or the last few hours. So, there was a while where one of the companies thought I was an 18 to 19-year-old woman because I bought some lingerie for my wife. I think that's why.
CHETRY: Wow.
STEIN: Or maybe I was just kind of girly that morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: You gave away a ton of secrets.
STEIN: It was nice, though.
CHETRY: Yes. I'm sure it was beautiful. You're so romantic. All right. Joel Stein, contributor with "Time" magazine, interesting topic, and it's a great cover story this week. Thanks so much.
STEIN: Oh, stop. Thanks.
HOLMES: We're here at the bottom of the hour here now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Give you an update on some of the stories that are making headlines. I want to go over to Libya where rebels there are on the retreat with rockets and bombs pummel the oil-rich city of Ras Lanuf. It's rebel-held city under attack by troops loyal to Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, and Libyan ships also reportedly bombing homes near the Mediterranean. They fired mortar rounds into a hospital parking lot there as well.
CHETRY: A new report says the number of foreclosures has fallen by 27 percent in the past year, the biggest drop on the record. It may seem like good news but experts say we may have to take it with a grain of salt, that some of the decrease may have been exaggerated because of improper foreclosure processing that could account for some of the decline.
HOLMES: And the standoff over controversial union bill in Wisconsin now appears to be over, some would say, but protests you can expect them to go forward. Demonstrators outraged after state Republicans passed a bill to restrict bargaining rights.
On Capitol Hill, U.S. Senate failed to pass two budget bills. One was a Republican-backed bill that would have cut about $60 billion from this year's budget. Another Democratic bill would have cut around $5 billion. It failed as well but two bills failing, but some see this as progress. Does my next guest see it that way? We have Congressman Paul Ryan, a key part of these negotiations and the chair of the house and budget committee. Good morning to you, sir.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: Thank you. How are you doing?
HOLMES: I am doing all right. Man, the question is how are you all doing? Two bills failed in the Senate. Do you consider that progress now?
RYAN: I do see progress. It's basically a test vote where we're headed. Eleven Democrats opposed the Democrats' bill because it spent too much money. To me that is an encouraging sign and means we're heading in the right direction.
Our position all along we do not want to accept the levels. We're going in the right direction. And 11 Democrats more or less sided with our side of the position which is we got to cut more spending. We can't keep spending money we don't have in this country and start prioritizing spending. We need to get the deficit under control. I see it as a good thing.
HOLMES: Chairman Ryan, you see it as a good thing because some Democrats seem to have agree that maybe they need to be moving your direction but there are some Republicans that believe and do you believe you got some markers now so maybe that $60 billion you need to move toward the Democrats' direction as well. What is going to be that number that get y'all to meet in the middle between your $60 billion and their roughly $5 billion?
RYAN: If I knew the answer to that I'd give it to you. I do believe you have to compromise and meet somewhere. The good thing for us we're moving in the right direction and moving off the 2010 really highly elevated levels and try to stop spending money we don't have and we have a lot of Democrats that are coming our way so we feel pretty good about this.
Will we have another short-term extension? Quite possibly. Then have to negotiate a longer term solution to this which is rest for the six months and rest of the cr.
HOLMES: You said a possible continuing resolution. The current one expires next Friday.
RYAN: Right.
HOLMES: Some members -- you might have a problem because some members of your caucus, your party that don't want to give an inch beyond that 60 billion, including Alan West who says the party should stand behind its plan, even a failure to pass a bipartisan bill results in a government shutdown. Do you agree with that? It's better to shut down the government than to give anything?
RYAN: Our goal is not to shut the government down, it's to cut spending. We have prorated these cuts to total that $61 billion to right now under two weeks to go and $4 billion in cuts and president Obama offered four weeks and $8 billion keeping the same kind of proration going. We believe he is willing to give us another $4 billion in cuts another two weeks if we can't get an agreement within that time frame you discussed. I don't think it's necessary if the president is willing to give us another $4 billion. I think the thing is going in the right direction.
HOLMES: Congressman, you just mentioned the president. Do you talk to him?
RYAN: No. I haven't talked to him in a long time. Since -- I talked to him in November very briefly. No, I haven't talked to him about this. HOLMES: Is that normal? I ask that on behalf of our viewers here because you are a key player in these negotiations. The president a pretty key player, I think all would agree. Why have you two not talked?
RYAN: Look, different presidents have different styles. And some presidents delegate to their negotiators. I think that is the way this president operates.
HOLMES: Do you think that is good for this process or do you think he needs to not delegate and not get involved?
RYAN: I would prefer a different style personally. But he is the presses of the United States. He has a vice president and people he can delegate these things. So lots of presidents, not just this president, you know, use the delegation tactic or strategy probably more than others and don't directly engage themselves.
So I'm not trying to say this is something wrong with president Obama. I would prefer a different style but this is the way he handles things.
HOLMES: You did mention the vice president and how the president delegates. His point person is Vice President Biden.
RYAN: He's in Russia right now.
HOLMES: Is that where he should be right now?
RYAN: No. We don't know who to talk to about this stuff. He is supposed to be negotiate with us but he is in Russia and tough to negotiate with somebody in Russia.
HOLMES: Senator Schumer called for a possible reset on these discussions. Do you think you should continue where you are or maybe reset and as he suggested get into more of these entitlement programs and, yes, in fact, talk about tax increases?
RYAN: First of all, you're kind -- he is mixing the procedure around here. We're talking about a continuing resolution just for discretionary spending for this fiscal year. In April when the budget is written when we get into bigger issues of entitlement programs and tax policy and all government spending programs.
So let's make sure we stick to what we're dealing with here which is just discretionary spending and government agency budgets for six months. Then in April we get into the budget itself. So I don't think we should be confusing what happens around here and how the budget process works.
HOLMES: One last thing to you, sir, here on another topic but near and dear to you your home state of Wisconsin has been in the national spotlight for weeks with these protests. First of all, have you advised anyone in your state, the governor or otherwise, about how they should proceed in this budget or this collective bargaining discussion there and battle there, if you will, and, also, how do you think both sides, Democrats and Republicans, have behaved in your state?
RYAN: Look. I got enough problems up here in Washington to deal with! You know? You think I'm trying to tell people in the state government how to run their jobs? We got enough problems to fix up here in Washington. We got a massive deficit, a massive debt we have to get under control if we want this economy to start growing again so I'm trying to stick with my job.
HOLMES: You haven't advised anybody?
RYAN: I'm home every weekend. I live in Wisconsin so I've talked to lots of people and I've talked to Democrats, I've talked to Republicans. I usually ask them what is going on and what is going to happen? It's usually them telling me what is going to happen. I'm busy fixing this budget mess up here and working with my colleagues.
HOLMES: We leave it there. We know you have a busy day. The deadline, the clock is ticking on this latest continuing resolution expiring next Friday. Sir, appreciate your too many this morning.
RYAN: Thank you, T.J.
CHETRY: Still to come, extreme weather and bracing for severe flooding again in the northeast this morning. Rob Marciano is tracking the forecast and the preparations to try to prevent more trouble.
HOLMES: Also, he is an NBA player. He is playing for the golden state warriors. But he is making history. He is one person in the NBA who hasn't been there in some 60 years. We'll explain history. It's 37 minutes past the hour on this "American Morning." your
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HOLMES: All right, 20 minutes to the top of the hour here. Folks, you tell me which of these names does not belong? LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Jeremy Lin, and Carmelo Anthony. You would probably say Jeremy Lin, but the name does belong. Everybody I named is a standout in the NBA.
But Jeremy Lin is a standout for a different reason because he is the only NBA player right now that also holds a Harvard degree. He is the first Harvard grad to play in the league in almost 60 years, the first Asian American in 60 years. You're seeing him right there. Last week, he picked up his diploma and he is sitting here in the studio with me. What was it like to pick up the diploma? Was it a little more emotional than you thought it might be?
JEREMY LIN, NBA PLAYER, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Yes, absolutely. Just to be able to see four years of hard work in class and to have my diploma. Not a lot of people can say they graduated from Harvard. I'm the first in my family so it's a big deal for me.
HOLMES: It's a degree in economics?
LIN: Yes. HOLMES: The NBA is known notoriously for the trash talking that takes place. Now throughout this season, maybe even some of the guys you're playing against, even some of your teammates, what kind of things do they say about you and say to you knowing you're a Harvard grad?
LIN: I just have to make sure I get everything right and if I don't, I hear about it. So everyone makes fun of me about going there.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Now, how is the season going for you so far? Again, you're not a breakout star necessarily just yet. You're just getting going. But I guess what do you anticipate down the road? Can you be a guy with a long-term career in the NBA?
LIN: Yes. You know, it's just, right now, being patient, working hard and just going with the flow. Just being a rookie is pretty tough and not always getting to play as much as you want, but I just think staying with it and working hard will be all right.
HOLMES: How tough was it at Harvard? It's known for being premiere academic institution in this country. The course work is not easy. How did you balance that with basketball in school?
LIN: Well, you know --
HOLMES: What is that about? What?
LIN: Just trying to stay focused, time management.
HOLMES: Sounds like it was tough?
LIN: It was definitely tough. My first two years I struggled a lot, just trying to find out how much time I have for everything and on the road trips, you know, taking four days off from school, it was pretty tough, too.
HOLMES: What did your parents emphasize with you when you're growing up? I assume certainly I got into Harvard. They certainly emphasized education. But at what point did they allow you to focus on basketball, or did they discourage you from the basketball?
LIN: No, they encouraged me to do it and I appreciate that a lot. But in my house it was always school first and take care of your schoolwork and finish your homework and play as much basketball as you want. So that was the philosophy I tried to adopt in college as well.
HOLMES: There are numbers out say -- "Sports Illustrated" put this out. I think the players union put this out, 20 percent hold their college degree in the NBA, and 60 percent are actually broke by the time they leave the NBA.
Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with those numbers, but what does that say to you about the kind of example you can set, not just for young people, but also maybe for some of your fellow NBA players about what they should be aspiring to?
LIN: Well, you know, I just try to be who my parents raised me to be, and me being a Christian, I just try to work hard in everything I do, and schoolwork is definitely one of those situations. So I just try to be an inspiration to everybody.
HOLMES: You mentioned you're very religious.
LIN: Yes.
HOLMES: Let me get this right. You're a Harvard grad playing in the NBA. You're very religious as well. You're the only Asian- American in the past 60 years. Do you ever feel like, quite frankly, you don't fit in in your environment, that you kind of stand out? Those things aren't synonymous with the NBA, frankly.
LIN: Yes, I definitely stand out for sure, and I know my story is very unique, but that is something I embrace and enjoy. And just this whole journey has been a blessing from god. And so for me to be here, I'm just taking it one day at a time and really enjoying it.
HOLMES: Why not more Asian-Americans in the NBA?
LIN: I'm not sure. I think that there's multiple reasons for that but I think there's going to be a lot more coming -- coming up in the next few years. And I just think basketball is growing within the Asian-American community for sure.
HOLMES: Ten years from now -- last thing to you -- ten years from now what's going to look better on your resume: former NBA player, Harvard degree in economics?
LIN: I -- I think -- I think the NBA player.
HOLMES: Really? Come on. You got a Harvard degree. Nobody has a Harvard degree. Well, some do, but still.
LIN: Yes.
HOLMES: But -- you -- you're more proud of the NBA part of that resume you think than the -- than the Harvard degree in economics?
LIN: That's tough to say.
HOLMES: Yes.
LIN: That -- that put me in a tough spot. I think I'm pretty proud of both.
HOLMES: Well, really congratulations. I've been wanting to speak to you for a long time. It's a -- it's a heck of an accomplishment. And it shows really to young people out there you can have an Ivy League education and you can make it to the NBA.
So a great example you are setting. Thanks so much and good luck to you the rest of the season, all right. LIN: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right, Kiran.
CHETRY: But only if you're a smart and as intelligent as he is. Of course, that's a little catch-22.
All right, good stuff. Well, still to come one business, two best-selling products. How the struggling economy may have helped one small company strike gold.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. Forty-six minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
It's shaping up to be a pretty rough day weather-wise. We are watching a massive line of severe weather hitting the East Coast this morning. We're going to get a check of all of this with our Rob Marciano who is keeping track of it in the Extreme Weather Center. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning again guys. This is all part of that system that went through the south yesterday it's got right to the video out of Alabama, just south of Mobile this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon because these storms came through in the morning about mid-morning. Tornado touching down just south of Theodore there and then it crossed over Mobile Bay and got on to the other side and trekked towards the western Pensacola area and western panhandle of Florida for some rough weather there as well.
There was also a tornado that touched down in -- in Louisiana doing some damage.
And then this is not a tornado, but just up the road in Georgia, in southwest Atlanta, big trees coming down. It had a tremendous amount of rain in a short period of time, saturated ground and some gusty winds and no tornadoes. But just a little bit of wind gust and that saturated ground will take down these big trees and do some damage.
And that may very well be the problem today as well across the northeast. So be aware of that along with your flood threat.
The -- the storm itself is beginning to broaden out it's a slow mover; it's got a lot of moisture with it. Down in Florida they will take the moisture. Ongoing drought here, you know about that. So bring it on. This is not a bad thing down there, maybe some embedded thunderstorms and nothing severe.
We've got some rain here and no thunderstorms. We've got some snow across parts of northern New England and upstate New York after 30 inches they saw earlier in the week and some of that snow melt, because it's a wet snow will again begin to forced down the rivers of New Hampshire especially and Massachusetts and because of that, there are flood warnings that are already posted.
A wet commute obviously that's slowing things down on the roadways and there's going to be some flooded roadways. And flood -- flood warnings out for parts of Jersey, Passaic River, parts of Central Pennsylvania and we've -- we've already seen a decent amount of rain so far. We're going to see some more as we go through the day today.
I mean, this thing had a -- had a ton of it. Yesterday, over seven inches fell in some parts of Louisiana. And the rain that we expect to see across Philly to New York to Scranton right in that corridor anywhere from two to four isolated areas of maybe five inches of rainfall.
So where the rivers are flooded, it's going to be a bad situation. Severe storms possible today. Not quite as bad as yesterday but there'll probably be some wind damage with these across parts of the Delmarva and through parts of North Carolina.
And if you are traveling, already we have some weather delays at the airports. Over an hour at LaGuardia; Philadelphia seeing an hour and 25; Chicago midway seeing 30 minutes; and Montreal in Quebec seeing 30 minutes as well.
65 in Dallas, a calmer day today; 43 degrees today, kind of cool rain and rain heavy at times -- so keep the umbrella handy.
T.J., Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob thanks so much.
HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Well, small businesses turning huge profits in the middle of a struggling economy. A lot of people say how is that possible? Well, one company is using the latest trends in spending to its advantage.
Tom Foreman's "Building up America". We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour.
Well, "Building up America" this morning. Today we're taking a look at a small business that found a real niche in the markets.
HOLMES: Yes, consumers spending less on gifts, but that's (INAUDIBLE) there is a need for some less expensive products.
Tom Foreman is going shopping for us this morning in Oklahoma City where one business had hit the bull's-eye twice. Good morning to you, sir.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. How are you all doing today? You know, that's interesting that you say I hit the bull's-eye twice. So that's a tough trick to pull off in these economic times.
But I'll tell you this; we're always talking about consumer spending. And the reason we talk about that is because even in difficult times, people not only have to keep buying things but they want to keep buying things. And sometimes the secret to building up is finding a product that people really feel they still can afford even though times are tough. That's what we found up in Broken Arrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): On the shipping line, the slap watches are running fast out the door all day every day. Another trendy hit for business partners, Jim Howard and Lori Montag.
JIM HOWARD, BIG TIME BONDS: It's mind boggling --
(CROSS TALK)
LORI MONTAG, BIG TIME BONDS: Oh yes. It is.
HOWARD: -- it's hard to get your arms around it.
MONTAG: And we've had up to 200 people --
HOWARD: Yes.
MONTAG: -- you know, at a time working here in -- in our distribution center.
FOREMAN: Their small company is making huge waves in the competitive world of gift items. For example, those oddly shaped rubber bands that kids can't seem to get enough of? When Jim and Lori put their Zanybandz on the market --
MONTAG: The phones did not stop ringing night and day.
HOWARD: At one point we were missing 700 to 800 phone calls a day, missing.
FOREMAN: And they're from retailers?
MONTAG: Going in to our -- yes.
HOWARD: Yes.
FOREMAN: Since then, they have sold 40 million worth of Zanybandz.
HOWARD: We just sold 50,000 packages today for the Middle East.
FOREMAN: And they believe a key to their success is the economic crisis itself because while people have cut back on buying more expensive items, they are convinced it has spurred the market for lower cost, fun products. Like their watches which go for about $20.
HOWARD: It's what has been making the economy "tick" lately. MONTAG: And we have stores that have even said to us, your product kept our store alive.
FOREMAN: Their company has, simply put, found a sweet spot in the sour economy; sweet enough to support 270 jobs across the country and to keep their sales building up every hour of every day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: And when we were looking at those kinds of profits, the real secret is counting every penny. They watch every second of production, every product going out the door because they know if you sell enough of anything, all those pennies really add up and they have for that small company in a big way. T.J., Kiran?
CHETRY: Great example of how they are making it work.
HOLMES: Tom, good to see you as always. It's been a pleasure. Where are you tomorrow, by the way?
FOREMAN: We're here tomorrow in Oklahoma City. Big revitalization program downtown that is anchored by the Thunder basketball team of all things.
HOLMES: All right. Looking forward to that one, too.
Tom, thanks so much, buddy.
Quick break. We're right back.
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CHETRY: That's going to wrap it up for us. So glad you were with us today. Well, see you back here tomorrow for a nice Friday.
HOLMES: Nice Friday, yes. And it's time for us to hand it off to our Kate Bolduan.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": There you are.
HOLMES: There for us in Atlanta in the "CNN NEWSROOM". Good morning there Kate.
CHETRY: Hi Kate.
