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Debt Deal's Impact on Jobs; Hosni Mubarak Caged at Trial; Identifying You With an Eye Scan; Budget Deal Includes Medicare, Medicaid Cuts; Worrisome For Hospitals Throughout America

Aired August 03, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Let's get you up to speed.

Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak will return to court in 12 days. He faces the death penalty if convicted of corruption and conspiring to kill protesters. The 83-year-old was right there, as you see him, wheeled into a courtroom on a gurney, then put in a cage with his sons for the first day of trial. Many Egyptians say he looked well and alert at the proceedings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONA ELTAHAWY, EGYPTIAN JOURNALIST: I have got to wonder what kind of strings of public sympathy he is trying to pull today, because, as you say, he's on a hospital bed with an oxygen tank, but his hair is black. He's 83 years old. He's obviously dying his hair, so how sick is this man?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And then this -- the crisis in Syria. It's worsening.

A resident who fled the besieged city of Hama says corpses remain on the ground after tanks rolled in to crush growing unrest. We're told people are running out of food and being cut off from communications. U.N. Security Council members plan to meet for a third day to discuss the crisis. A human rights group says almost 2,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March.

And bomb squad officers in Australia have secured the safety of an 18-year-old girl who was in a house with a reported suspicious device. The operation to free the teen lasted 10 hours. The girl is now back with her family. Police are examining the device which they described as a very elaborate and sophisticated one.

Stocks fell sharply today before regaining some ground, but they are still in negative territory. Investors are worried about disappointing economic reports and concerns that the country could slip into another recession. The Dow is down for the ninth day in a row, down 105 points there, at 11,759.

All right. In Washington, the Justice Department announces a major international porn ring bust. The online operation known as Dream Board involved pictures and videos of adults sexually assaulting children 12 and under. Right now, 72 people have been charged and 52 arrested.

And parts of the northern Caribbean are bracing for possible floods and mudslides from Tropical Storm Emily. Right now, Emily is heading toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It's expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain on both countries and Puerto Rico. By tomorrow, forecasters expect Emily to be hitting the Bahamas, and by the weekend it could be skirting Florida's east coast.

In Surrey, England, a very tough police officer was quite a story to tell. Check this out.

Officer Dan Pascoe sets up a roadblock to catch a car thief. Yes, right there. Just after he gets out of his vehicle, a stolen car slams into his, tossing him into the air. He gets up and then runs after the suspect, as you see right there, eventually bringing the suspect down with a taser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN PASCOE, SURREY, ENGLAND, POLICE OFFICER: I can't believe how lucky I am. Whenever I watch someone watching the video, yes, you can't understand how anyone can walk away from it, let alone run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. The last-minute compromise on a debt deal kept the country from defaulting on its debts, but there is still a lot of concern about what it means for the weak economy.

Today, we're taking an in-depth look at how the debt deal could affect the stock market, your personal finances, unemployment, small business, hospitals, you name it. Right now the focus is on unemployment and whether spending cuts will mean more job cuts.

CNN's Sandra Endo is at an unemployment center in Hollywood.

So, Sandra, what are you hearing from people there?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, people here are wondering, where are the jobs? At this job center, Fred, a lot of people here are spoofing up their resumes. They're searching databases to find those jobs. They've been out of work in some cases for months.

And let's talk to Dave here, who has been looking for a job.

How frustrating and how difficult has it been for you?

DAVE BARMORE, LOOKING FOR A JOB: I have been looking for work for a couple months now, and I have literally put in somewhere in the range of 75 resumes and haven't gotten a single call back.

ENDO: So this must be frustrating, the news out of Washington with the debt deal, cutting back on spending for programs. Do you think that will make it harder for you?

BARMORE: I am certain it will, yes.

ENDO: So not confident that there'll be a lot of jobs out there, unfortunately, Fred, and that's what we are hearing from a lot of people out here.

Let's talk to Steve, who runs this place.

And you have been following the news in Washington. What do you think the debt deal will do for the workplace and for people out there looking for a job?

STEVE MAGALLANES, MANAGED CAREER SOLUTIONS: Well, I think at present, it creates a lot of uncertainty for workers and employers, because employers don't know whether they're going to be able to hire people because they're uncertain of the buying power of people. And if there's less buying power, then they're not going to take on more individuals to do the work.

ENDO: And certainly the news of the cutbacks and spending on certain programs as well.

What tips do you have for people? Because we have seen so many people throughout this morning come here looking for a job. What do you say to them?

MAGALLANES: Well, I say while it is a difficult even environment, we certainly -- what they can do is access a center such as ours. There are 18 operated within the city of Los Angeles, and 13 within the county of Los Angeles, so definitely try to access the centers --

ENDO: So go to a local job center. What else would you say are good tips for people looking for a job?

MAGALLANES: Well, also, identify in-demand occupations and train for those occupations. And also, to get a leg up within the industry that they are interested in, they might consider unpaid internships or paid work experience as well. And we offer those types of programs here, too.

ENDO: What are some of the in-demand industries that people should be really focusing on right now?

MAGALLANES: Well, certainly two of the ones that I think of offhand are one in the health care industry, which is burgeoning right now. And there is a big demand for various types of occupations within those industries. And the other one is solar technology. And we do offer programs in those industries as well.

And the other one is information technology. There are programs if you have the appropriate training.

ENDO: All right. Thank you for those helpful tips. Fred, as you here, there are a lot of people out here looking for a job, and the jobs report is coming out on Friday. And so far, there is no predictions that that is going to look anything pretty or have some optimism in it. So, clearly, people here bracing for the worst.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's a very frustrating time for so many people.

All right. Thanks so much, Sandra Endo. Appreciate that.

And we'll have more of our in-depth look at the debt deal and its impact later this hour. We'll talk with a small business owner about what it means for him and his company.

And again, here is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question: Do we expect too much of our political leaders?

Carol Costello joins us from New York with more, because they gave you lots to talk about.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly did.

While the pundits argue over who won debtzilla, one thing is clear. If President Obama wants a second term, he has his work cut out for him.

His approval rating is at 45 percent in the latest CNN/ORC poll. And in the swing state of Pennsylvania, things have sure changed since 2008, when President Obama got 55 percent of the vote.

According to a Quinnipiac poll, 52 percent of Pennsylvanians say the president does not deserve to be re-elected. Independents, they're not happy with the president either.

Joan Walsh writes on Salon.com, "Obama's best hope for re- election is the fact that Generic Republican won't win the nomination. He'll be running against either a Tea Party extremist or Mitt Romney. And in most polls he beats both of them."

None of this is so unusual. Past presidents had great swings in the polls and they managed a second term. And in fairness, Mr. Obama knew the road would be rocky on election night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be step. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But are we willing to keep on climbing? With high unemployment and a stalled economy, Americans are impatient. And that sentiment seems bipartisan. Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the atmosphere is toxic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many people in my party, the Republican Party, are unrealistic. And what they want is something that no one can deliver, and that's a candidate that is going to solve every problem in an election cycle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, the "Talk Back" question today: Do we expect too much of our political leaders?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read some of your responses later this hour.

WHITFIELD: All right, Carol. We look forward to that. Thanks so much.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Three great stories, but only one can air. We're giving you a chance to "Choose the News." Here are the choices.

First, the anti-hackers, computer geeks at UC Santa Barbara are trying to find the holes in online security systems before the hackers do.

Second, the global economy isn't without irony. Meet the man who's making chopsticks in the United States and selling them to China.

Or third, 10 young survivors of the Haiti earthquake get a VIP tour of Yankee Stadium.

You can vote by texting 223360. Text 1 for the "Anti-Hackers"; 2 for the "Ironic Chopsticks Importer"; or 3 for "Quake Victims Touring Yankee Stadium." The winning story airs later this hour.

All right. It was quite the spectacle. Egypt's deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, was wheeled into court on a gurney and then put in a cage to be tried on charges of corruption and conspiring to kill protesters. His sons, now co-defendants, accompanied their father inside the metal cage. They were all wearing white prison uniforms.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen was inside the courtroom. He's joining us now from Cairo.

So, Fred, what do people make of what they saw today? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they were absolutely shocked by what they saw. I mean, not just people inside the courtroom, but people generally around Egypt.

And, you know, inside the courtroom you had all these lawyers, a lot of them, of course, prosecutor lawyers, who pretty much in their careers seeing everything. But they certainly had never seen anything like this.

A lot of them did not believe that Hosni Mubarak was actually going to show up until he actually did. And one of the things that you could really see is that these people have known this man in such a different way, for such an extended period of time. For 30 years he ruled this country with an iron fist. A lot of people, of course, very afraid of the security apparatus that he had in place here.

There certainly are a lot of people here in Egypt who are absolutely shocked by what they saw no matter which side of the equation they are on, because this is a very divisive trial here in Egypt where many people believe that Hosni Mubarak shouldn't be put on trial, but a lot of people also feel that he should be brought to justice, especially for what happened during the revolution here in January of this year, when, of course, a lot of protesters were shot by police officers -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Fred, just looking at him and looking at how frail he is, do people believe that his frailty will allow him to actually survive this trial?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's a very good question, and certainly one that a lot of people are asking within the courtroom. And it really isn't clear whether or not that's going to be the case. And a lot of it, of course, will depend on how long this trial goes on.

Now, what happened today is that the proceedings began, there was some petitions filed by both sides, the prosecution, as well as the defense. And then the court was adjourned, at least for the Hosni Mubarak trial itself. There are other people who are on trial as well. But for Hosni Mubarak and his sons, the court was adjourned until August 15th.

And at that stage it's going to continue. It will probably be adjourned after that again.

So this could actually drag on for months, and no one's really sure whether or not Hosni Mubarak is indeed going to survive that period of time. His health has always been something of a state secret here in Egypt, and so it's very unclear in what bad a state he actually is in. There's talk of cancer, there's talk of him going into comas. It really isn't clear how long this man is going to be able to stay alive -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much, from Cairo.

All right. Back to the U.S. now for stories CNN affiliates are covering "X Country." First stop, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trying to kill me! No! They're trying to kill me! No!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A man being sentenced for pointing a gun at a police officer was so disruptive, court officials tied him to a chair and then put a motorcycle helmet on his head to muffle his screaming. They say it was for his own safety.

In Pennsylvania, a massive fire destroyed a recycling plant in Plainfield Township. The blaze raged for hours. It took about 200 firefighters from five counties to put the fire out. No one was injured.

And in New York, it's a nice change from having a pigeon on your window sill. A peacock went AWOL Tuesday from a zoo in Central Park. Yes, that's a peacock right there. It camped out for a while on a Fifth Avenue -- of course Fifth Avenue building, then it flew back home this morning.

Twitter users set up two accounts for the bird.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISTAIR REID, TOURIST: I was on my way to the park, and I just stopped by and I saw it. I saw the crowd first, and so I was wondering what was going on. And everyone was looking up, and sure enough, there was a peacock up there. It's just one of those things you don't see very often.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Eye scanning is a tool cops of the future use in science fiction thrillers like "Minority Report."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MINORITY REPORT")

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Look at me. Positive for Howard Marks (ph). I'm placing you under arrest --

(END VIDEO CLIP, "MINORITY REPORT")

WHITFIELD: So this isn't going to be a movie though I'm about to tell you about. Hundreds of sheriff departments and correctional facilities are using eye scanners right now.

Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Plymouth County Correctional facility, the current home of reputed crime boss "Whitey" Bulger, you'd be surprised at the things some incoming inmates will do.

(on camera): How many prisoners have tried to shield their identity or hide their identity coming into the system?

LT. DOUGH RIDEOUT, RECORDS SUPERVISOR, PLYMOUTH COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: There's been quite a few.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Like the felon who gave a phony name, even lied about a prominent tattoo, says records supervisor Lieutenant Doug Rideout.

(on camera): And he still denied who he was?

RIDEOUT: Yes, still denied it, but we had him pretty much (INAUDIBLE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): The positive ID took just a few seconds because of this --

RIDEOUT: Look into the camera.

FEYERICK: -- an iris scan. Like a fingerprint, but with 235 specific identifying marks in each eye. Apparently quicker and more accurate.

RIDEOUT: Well, it's a national database. If his eyes match up to anybody, it will pop up.

FEYERICK: Sean Mullin, showing us how it works, is president of B12 Technologies, the biometric intelligence company behind the iris scan.

SEAN MULLIN, PRESIDENT, B12 TECHNOLOGIES: Hold it from about four or five inches from your eye.

FEYERICK (on camera): There's no danger to the eye?

MULLIN: No danger to the eye. It's just simply a digital photograph.

FEYERICK (voice-over): What makes the system unique is this handheld device which can be used anywhere. Attached to a smartphone, it can instantly run I.D. checks only after an officer determines probable cause.

MULLIN: The biggest advantage, they can quickly identify who they have in front of them and what potential danger or risk they may pose.

FEYERICK: Mullin says the eye scan is uploaded and checked in the database against half a million people previously arrested.

My results?

MULLIN: And what does it say?

FEYERICK (on camera): No matches.

MULLIN: No match found. That's the idea.

FEYERICK: All right.

(voice-over): He says my iris scan is then erased. My record, clean.

According to Mullin, more than 300 sheriff's departments and correctional facilities around the country are using the new system. Anyone charged with a crime there gets their eyes scanned.

Civil rights advocates worry the iris scan could be used without probable cause as a surveillance tool. Or in places like Arizona as a way to enforce disputed immigration policies. Mullin says that's unlikely, given how close you have to be to snap a photo.

Plymouth County sheriff Joseph McDonald sees it as an extra safeguard to ensure prisoners being released aren't wanted elsewhere. And to verify the person getting out?

JOSEPH MCDONALD, PLYMOUTH COUNTY SHERIFF: That photo was taken on the way in and then matched up on the way out.

FEYERICK: -- has served their time.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a day after the president inks a debt deal, we continue to watch the markets. And you can see right there, the Dow is down 129 points, now 131 points or so. This is the ninth session with such dismal numbers.

We're going to keep a close watch on the markets for you.

Much more in the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. A Miami Dolphin football player is going public with his mental illness. Brandon Marshall says he has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, or BPD. The illness is characterized by quick, dramatic mood swings, but it's not to be confused with bipolar disorder.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain what these means.

People will confuse these two though, won't they?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, it's very easy to confuse them.

OK. Bipolar means that you are way up and you're way down. You're elated and then you're depressed. This is different.

Borderline personality disorder, you're always down, but you're different forms of down. So you're depressed, you're anxious, you're angry, and you have these little spurts of these emotion. And bipolar, you can up for months and then down for months. But this disease, it can just be a matter of hours or a matter of a day. And these people are very volatile and very impulsive, at a high risk for hurting other people, at a high risk for hurting themselves.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so lots of layers to this depression.

So how does one get help? What's the best way to address these needs?

COHEN: Right. The treatment for this is, first of all, figuring out that you have it, which apparently Mr. Marshall says he was -- it took a while to the get to this diagnosis. And then it's a lot of therapy.

It's very intensive therapy. It's not like seeing a psychiatrist and then being told, oh, come back next month. I mean, it's very intensive. And sometimes folks also take drugs, an anti-depressant, perhaps, or an anti-anxiety drug. But really, therapy is sort of the main line treatment for this disorder.

WHITFIELD: Is this common?

COHEN: It's relatively common. It affects about two percent --

WHITFIELD: And just people don't know or can't recognize what it is?

COHEN: People don't know it, right. It's about two percent of adults, which sounds like a small number. But when you do the math, that actually comes out to be quite a few people. And you don't hear about it as much as you hear about manic depression. But it is a serious disorder that affects a lot of people.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Well, very courageous of him to come out and be public about it. And that probably helps, because that helps to remove the sigma from a lot of mental illnesses, for people to here that I can now put a face on or I can hear more about the symptoms or the various types of treatment.

COHEN: That's right. Whenever someone who is well known, an athlete or a celebrity, talks about their disease -- Catherine Zeta- Jones and manic depression, and now him and personality disorder -- that really does make people feel like, hey, I can talk about it.

And he actually had a press conference where he talked about it, and he expressed in a really interesting way how it affected him. So let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON MARSHALL, MIAMI DOLPHINS' WIDE RECEIVER: I have a dream home. My house is beautiful. My wife did a great job putting our house together and finding the right house for us.

We have two nice cars. We have three beautiful dogs. But with all that said, I haven't enjoyed not one part of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So just through that anger, through that depression, he couldn't even feel the life that he was living. And so he got treatment at a hospital outside Boston, and he actually took part in a documentary that was made about borderline personality disorder. So he is really trying to get out there.

WHITFIELD: That is really extraordinary.

COHEN: It is. It's very brave.

WHITFIELD: And that's going to help a lot of people, too.

COHEN: I hope so.

WHITFIELD: People will be able to identify some of the things that they are feeling, or maybe someone will identify those things and see that in someone they know.

COHEN: Because, imagine, you have these outbursts, and people might just look at you and think --

WHITFIELD: Or people think you're a hot head.

COHEN: Yes, exactly, you're a hot head. And you may be a hot head, but you're a hot head because you have this disorder. And there really is treatment out there, but you have to, one, identify it, someone has to identify you. And you have to also make sure that you find someone who knows how to treat this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

COHEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Just what the economy does not need right now, more job losses. We'll go live to New York with details on some major cuts last month.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on right now.

Next, the effect of the debt deal will have on small business owners. I talked to a man that runs a solar energy company.

Then a bizarre discovery in a dried-up Texas lake. A piece of space shuttle Columbia.

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Only in New York. Only in New York, a star is born at a construction site. We will play more from this Frank Sinatra sound-a-like.

And some bad news on the employment front. 66,000 job cuts were announced last month. That's according to a top outplacement consulting firm. If you are keeping count, that's a 60 percent increase from the month before.

I want to bring in our Poppy Harlow right now. She's in New York. So, Poppy, why all these layoffs?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's a very good question, right? This is such a surge. Sixty percent higher than the previous month, Fredricka.

And it also comes at a time when the market is down steeply, over 100 points right now. It's been down for eight straight days. A lot of economic uncertainty.

Two main reasons for this. One is a lack of demand. People just are not comfortable spending a lot of money right now, The second is the uncertain environment. You've heard it for about a year now. Health care reform, Wall Street reform, all that regulation. Companies are holding back to see the impact.

We had a chance to talk to John Challenger. He issued this report every month about what he thinks is driving the situation and just how severe it is when you look at that huge increase and announce job cuts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CHALLENGER, CEO, CHALLNGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS: One picture is, we're in this rocky recovery, in one of those entrenchments. But there's increasing concern that the economy may be heading towards recession. Major companies are now making layoffs rather than just holding on to their people. All of the government's stimulus, both fiscal and monetary now, is at risk. And maybe there's not going to be enough consumer and business spending to keep this economy afloat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Fredricka, what you can hear -- go ahead.

WHITFIELD: You go ahead.

HARLOW: I was just going to say, what you can hear in that is how much risk there is out there right now. And I just want to show you some of the companies so you can see actually what is happening. We have them on the site, job killing companies, major layoffs.

Let's look at the first one. Borders, over 10,000 layoffs coming there because they are closing their 399 remaining stores. Goldman Sachs, they just announced they're going to cut about 1,000 positions to try to save $1.2 billion. And Cisco, a huge technology company, just announcing they will lay off about 6,500.

The real concern here, Fredricka, this is across the board. This is not just one sector or one area. This is across the board.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very frightening scenario for a whole lot of folks. Appreciate that, Poppy Harlow.

All right. The debt deal is done, so now what? Today, we are taking an in-depth look at what the deal could mean for the stock market, your personal finances, unemployment, small businesses and hospitals. Our focus right now is on small businesses.

Bill Snapp is CEO of Solar Flex Technology. His company designs and maintains solar systems for businesses, the government and the military. So, when you were here last week, you described how the debt ceiling deal might impact your business. Now there is a debt deal that has been signed and about to be delivered. What are you looking at in terms of your business plan? How will it impact you?

BILL SNAPP, CEO, SOLARFLEX TECHNOLOGIES: Well, as we mentioned last week, the work that we have -- that we currently have under contract, that has already been budgeted and allocated. But really the factor for us is about six months out, especially in our government contracts. We don't know exactly what is going to happen. But clearly, if there is across-the-board cuts and defense gets an unduly large share, that will impact us.

WHITFIELD: So, how much of your business relies on the U.S. military?

SNAPP: Well, it's shifted. In the last two years, it has become a great deal of business for us because the United States military is the number one consumer of solar power right now. They're the number one purchaser. And the mandate that we discussed last week was that by 2025, the U.S. military wants to have 25 percent renewable energy in all of their bases across the world. And that's quite a high order, you know, a tall order.

WHITFIELD; Do you feel you are at a standstill? It's difficult to really think long term in terms of your business plan, whether it pertain to hiring people or pay raises, all of that?

SNAPP: Absolutely. Certainty for business is huge, because it helps us strategically plan. And when there is uncertainty in the marketplace, it makes it twice as hard. Let me give you an example. For hiring people, we have seen all this news today about all of these terrible layoffs for personnel. Well, for us, we want to hire people. And small businesses, they want to hire personnel to grow their companies.

WHITFIELD: What is keeping you from doing that?

SNAPP: The challenge is several things. Number one, banks don't loan money to small businesses right now. It's just not happening. Same thing with private investment. Venture capital and angel investing, nobody -- they are keeping their money on the sidelines. And that's a challenge. You need credit in order to build your business.

WHITFIELD: So, when we heard about the discussions about income revenue, tax revenue, and whether it means taxing of the wealthy, and the argument was, if you do that, then that's going to impact small businesses. They will not be able to hire. Is that true for you?

SNAPP: That would be true for us. The thing in Washington it sounds like is that there has not been a clear dichotomy between tax loopholes for certain, select, more privileged industries and tax rates for the rank-and-file, especially in a small business. You know, philosophically, we agree. You can end the tax loopholes, that's great. But for small business, whatever you do, don't increase the tax rate because that would continually strangle small business right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bill Snapp, all the best.

SNAPP: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Very tough looking far ahead, isn't it? You just kind of go day-to-day?

SNAPP: Well, you know, first and foremost, we are very enthused about the future. And it's difficult because we are in a sector where our country has a huge energy need. By 2040, the United States is going to consume 50 percent more energy than it is now, and renewable energy is going to be a huge piece of that.

WHITFIELD: So you know there is a need for your business?

SNAPP: There's a long-term need, that's correct.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bill Snapp, CEO of SolarFlex Technoogies, thank you so much.

SNAPP: Thank you so much for having me back.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. All the best.

And we will have more of our in-depth look at the debt deal and its impact. Still to come this hour, a look at how spending cuts could affect hospitals and health care.

And an unexpected find at a drought-parched lake in Texas. Debris from a tragic space shuttle mission. We'll check in with Chad Myers for a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Texas could use a day of rain to help ease its months-long of drought. It is so hot and dry, the town of Robert Lee is running out of water. Right now, it's down to less than one percent of its normal supply. The town gets its water from a lake that is almost dry after months of drought. That is incredible.

A fascinating discovery in one of the dried up Texas lakes. Part of the space shuttle Columbia that broke up over the area back in 2003. Chad Myers is here to tell us all about that discovery. How eerie?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEROLOGIST: Have you seen it? The picture?

WHITFIELD: No, I have not.

MYERS: The picture, it does it no justice at all. It looks like a bowling ball. This thing is four feet across!

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness!

MYERS: A diameter of four feet. It was the cryo ball, which means it was the frozen hydrogen or oxygen, we don't know which one it is -- I think it's hydrogen -- that was part of the solar unit, the fuel cell that was in the shuttle.

So, this was making power for the shuttle with oxygen and hydrogen going through platinum plate and making a fuel cell. Fuel cell (INAUDIBLE) technology.

But this has been gone since 2003 under the water. Let me just walk you over here real quick. This is what we know about what the shuttle -- what was left of the shuttle. That's it. That's all they found.

WHITFIELD: That's probably the biggest piece right there.

MYERS: There should be a shuttle in here. Right all the way back there, all the way back there. Kind of - they have it taped out. That's what the pieces should look like for the shuttle. All those pieces - and so we have small pieces here.

There's a piece right here -- that's the landing gear. The forward gear. That's a big piece. But this was found because literally there was just no water in Texas. We will talk about that in a little bit here.

The entire state under some type of drought. More than 50 percent in exceptional drought. Much of the state drier than it ever was even close to the Dust Bowl. And then you see temperatures like this across parts of Oklahoma, Texas, and Dallas was 110 degrees yesterday with not a bit of rain. That's not helping the drought.

WHITFIELD: No, that is brutal. Drink lots of water when in that kind of heat.

MYERS: If you have water.

WHITFIELD: Well, OK, bottled water -

MYERS: -- because they are down to 1 percent.

WHITFIELD: Yes, yes, yes, I know. No tap. That's incredible. All right, thank you so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: We appreciate it.

All right. The debt deal could mean major cuts for some hospitals. More of our in-depth look at the deal and its impact in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We have been taking an in-depth look of the impact of the debt deal that kept the country from defaulting on its bills. And we have examined how it could affect the stock market, your personal finances, unemployment and small businesses. Now we want to focus on what it means for hospitals and health care. Senior correspondent Allen Chernoff joins us now from a hospital in New York that could be hit hard by these spending cuts.

Allen, what kind of an impact are we talking about?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about potentially a very, very severe impact. I am at the Montefiore Medical Center here in the Bronx New York, and this facility depends upon Medicare very deeply; 40 percent of its revenue comes from treating Medicare patients.

As we know, Medicare is potentially on the chopping block. We are here with the president and the CEO, Steve Safyer.

Steve, you have expressed deep concern to me just a few moments ago. Tell us what you are thinking now that the bill has gone through Congress and the president passed it?

DR. STEVEN M. SAFYER, PRES. & CEO, MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER: Allan, we have tremendous concern here in the Bronx and across New York and at all academic medical centers across the country. We here in the Bronx, at Montefiore, since the recession absorbed $100 million worth of cuts for Medicaid.

CHERNOFF: That's in the past. Now looking forward what could it mean for patient care here?

SAFYER: If you allow me, looking forward, we're facing because of the Affordable Care Act, another $70 million. What we're hearing in the discussions in Washington, at the very least we could be facing of $10s of millions of further cuts for Medicare; 80 percent of the revenue is from Medicare and Medicaid. We take care of the most poor of the poor here in the Bronx, and unemployment rates are high. People have huge health needs.

CHERNOFF: Certainly not a wealthy neighborhood at all. A lot of people use your emergency room as their primary care doctor. They don't have insurance. They rely on the hospital. So if Medicare is cut, and if Medicaid is cut along with New York state cutting, because that's a state federal program. What happens to the hospital and what happens to patient care?

SAFYER: The impact is always on the patients. Because all of our revenues are what we use to provide the care we provide. We see over 300,000 patients.

CHERNOFF: Bottom line, are we talking about the reduction in the quality of care for Americans?

SAFYER: We will do everything that we can to make that quality sustain itself. But these kinds of cuts, for me, when I look at it for this borough are going to be very, very challenging.

CHERNOFF: Fredricka, a lot of concern in the entire medical community, what this could mean down the road as Congress gets to figuring out exactly which programs are on the chopping block, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, that's a big concern for everybody. Thank you so much. Allen Chernoff in New York. Appreciate that.

That brings us to today's "Talk Back" question. Do we expect too much of our political leaders. Your responses, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You have been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question. Do we expect too much of the political leaders? Carol Costello has all of your responses, last shot this hour.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been interesting today, Fredricka. This from Joe: "We do expect too much from our political leaders, especially the president. America assumes President Obama, or any president for that matter, can just snap his fingers and fix the debt, unfairness in the law, and the wars, and any other problems that come up. Unfortunately he, or she in the coming years, can't do that."

This from Bill, "I expect them to care more about us and our country than party or re-election. Is that too much? Maybe."

This from Ryan: "Absolutely. Obama made it more than transparent that it would be a long difficult struggle to revive the United States out of the funk that it has gotten itself into. He has only been in office for one term. And he should have two terms to clean the mess up. Give Congress and all of them a break. They always seem to narrowly avert anything drastic from happening."

That is an optimist. I like that.

And then this from Lynn: "You're kidding, right? Our political leaders are not doing nearly enough. They are simply caught up in the big Washington party paid for by the taxpayers sweat. And we are not involved. Backdoor deals, selling out the American people to big business and the bank cartel."

Please continue the conversation. Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And as always, thank you for your comments.

WHITFIELD: Hey, Carol, you always need a light moment. Who doesn't, right? Especially in New York.

COSTELLO: Yes, definitely.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, maybe you need to make it part of your day's plan to go and check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALE SINGING: They have come and gone, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A little Frankiness, right. His name is Gary Rousseau (ph). He is a construction worker. Carol, you have heard about him, right?

COSTELLO: No, I haven't.

WHITFIELD: What! Get with the program, girlie.

He is on 2nd Avenue. He spends his lunch hour singing at the 2nd Avenue construction site where the new subway line is being built, so now make it part of your day today. Look at the guys groovin' in the background.

COSTELLO: Wow.

WHITFIELD: You need to get to 2nd Avenue today, Carol. Take a listen at lunch time.

COSTELLO: Is that his only job on the construction site?

WHITFIELD: No, no, that's the comic relief. And, you know, the moment of respite that he and the other hard working construction workers need when they are working the construction line there.

COSTELLO: I'm jamming. I will go down to 2nd Avenue. I'll check it out.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that nice? That is going to put me in a good mood all day.

Carol, thank you so much and see you tomorrow.

COSTELLO: All right.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I am Fredricka Whitfield, and I will see you again tomorrow. Randi Kaye is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We didn't want to forget this. You voted and we listened. Here is your "Choose The News" winner: Computer geeks are trying to beat hackers to the punch. Casey Wian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They may be computer science professors but they speak the language of soldiers, both modern and medieval.

People always had this sort of as the Holy Grail of the unhackable computer. I think the only thing that you can really do is to make it more difficult to get exploited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bad guys are winning. If I am trying to protect my castle, I have to protect every weakness, I have to cover every vulnerability. If you are the bad guy you have to find the one vulnerability that I have not covered, and come in through there.

GIOVANNI VIGNA, COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSOR: It is a continuous arms race that makes us always work on the latest possible threat, which is very, very exciting.

WIAN: And challenging. UC Santa Barbara students trying to expose weaknesses in computers networks before criminals do.

VIGNA: Adam is working on a system to find vulnerabilities on web sites, automatically.

WIAN (on camera): What you are teaching these folks to do, is sort of behave like the bad guys?

VIGNA: In a certain sense, yes. Would you hire a locksmith that doesn't know how locks are picked? You wouldn't.

WIAN (voice over): This screen shows locations where the computer security lab found servers used by criminals to spread viruses, malware and botnets designed to steal your credit card, or takeover a computer network.

CHRISTOPHER KRUEGEL, COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSOR: The motivation of the attack is a significantly shifted when you look at the hackers 10 years ago. It was hacking for fun. Now the attackers are in for profit. So they make money off it, that means they are much better organized.

WIAN: The center has won some key battles. In 2007, it discovered voting machines in California and Ohio were vulnerable to hackers. It took control of the malicious Russia botnet targeting businesses long enough to help authorities make arrests.

But computer security pros face rapidly expanding exposures, from smart phones to social networks.

VIGNA: Giovanni is sharing with me this link of babies laughing, let's click on it, and suddenly you are compromised. So for the attackers social networks are a tremendous opportunity. People are sharing personal information to a level that was unthinkable just 10 years ago.