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Haiti School Collapse; Jobless Rate Surging; Barack Obama Meets With Economic Advisers; GM, Ford Lose Billions, Cut Jobs

Aired November 07, 2008 - 11:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A massive human tribute to U.S. troops. Isn't this nice? Thousands gathered yesterday at Fort Knox, Kentucky to form a huge yellow ribbon. They donned yellow hats and shirts to make the symbol that signifies deployed U.S. troops. Organizers are hoping to break the world human yellow ribbon record, which stands as, did you know? 1,350. They say more than 2,100 took part yesterday.
OK, everyone. Let's get to work here.

Issue #1, the economy. Growing signs today the pain will deepen in 2009. Here's the big picture.

The jobless rate surging to a 14-year high today. America's top automakers weighing in with dismal losses and new job cuts. Dow stocks moving up today after a two-day slide of nearly 1,000 points.

The president-elect beginning his quest for a turnaround.

The jobless rate rocketed to 6.5 percent today; 240,000 Americans joined the unemployment lines in October. That brings the number of jobs lost in 2008, wait for it, to 1.2 million.

Here's what the White House has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY FRATTO, DEP. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Make no mistake, you know, we know this is a very challenging, difficult time for the economy. It's a challenging time for the global economy. It's a challenge time here in the United States. We know it's very difficult for families.

The only thing that we can be focused on is not what you call it, but what do you do about it? And we're focused on what we can do about it and how quickly we can implement those things to have an impact as quickly as possible so that businesses can go back to generating growth and hiring employees and keeping employees hired, and having good work for them to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, experts think job losses will continue near this pace through the first half of 2009. That could add up to another million people out of work by July.

Christine Romans now at the business desk in New York. By July, Christine. So, OK, what's the quickest, most cost- effective way, in your mind, to turn around this job situation?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the question at this point is not whether you can turn it around, but whether you mitigate the losses in the very near term. I mean, we're in the midst -- I mean, this is a freight train coming down the track. It's a question of either riding it out or slowing it down, but turning it around isn't something they're talking about in the very near term.

Now, what some of the economists have been telling me all week about the new president's agenda, some economists would like to see a big infrastructure spending program, a short-term stimulus, but it's got to be timed right if it's a stimulus. And if it's an infrastructure spending program, something separate from a stimulus that's maybe some kind of a depression-era works program, that takes a long time to plan. It can take a long time before you really are hiring a lot of people, but if you're going to have job losses for a long time, you know, maybe that's a good use of money.

You've got to build bridges and fix roads and you've got to put hundreds of thousands of manufacturing workers back to work. The trick with that, though, Tony, is that you've got to have some kind of retraining that really works in there.

A lot of government retraining programs have had questionable results, many economists tell me, so far, because you still have all of these people out of work. Right?

You've got to have retraining, because when the economy turns around again, you still have a soft manufacturing economy. Some structural issues. I mean, it is not simple.

You talked about the quickest, easiest way to create jobs? There is no quick, easy way.

HARRIS: It seems like we're losing them awfully quickly. And you would think that there would be a way to turn this around. But I guess I hear you suggesting that the road ahead is going to get worse before it gets better?

ROMANS: Yes. And that's not a controversial statement, to say that we've got more job losses ahead. And this president, this new president, and I'm sure his economic brain trust, his business brain trust is telling him the same thing, that he has inherited a very, very difficult situation.

These things tend to feed on themselves. You know, the job losses, that means people will pull back because they don't have the money to spend. And as they pull back, that will mean more job losses because there won't be people who will be hired at the mall or at the car dealers and the like, and it just continues to feed on itself until something turns it around. They're business cycles, and we're in the midst of a business cycle.

The other thing, Tony, that I think is very important for people to understand, we keep talking about the president creating jobs, Washington creating jobs. They create the policies and the atmosphere that, as one of my colleagues today said, that they kind of deal with the vagaries of the economic cycles. But they don't really create jobs.

Business creates jobs. Private industry creates jobs. And so it's a lot more complicated than the president, a new president coming in and waving a magic wand and suddenly creating a million jobs.

And every one of these efforts has consequences as well. You know, we have this incredible government intervention in the private sector right now. We don't even know how that is going to pan out.

HARRIS: But let me ask you something. The president-elect can help set a psychological tone, can he not, with some actions? Maybe they're small, but certainly in the language that he uses...

ROMANS: Yes.

HARRIS: ... that might help the psychology of the situation?

ROMANS: That's true. And he has already said he wanted to do some things like, people who are unemployed, they wouldn't have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits. Like letting...

HARRIS: How about the 401(k)?

ROMANS: Tap into their 401(k), if they need it. There already are some hardship withdrawal rules. But they're -- a moratorium, a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. That would at least stop the foreclosure crisis.

It still has to be dealt with. Don't get me wrong.

HARRIS: Yes.

ROMANS: He's already said a few things. Whether he can get those tax cuts, for example. A lot of people saying a big fiscal push right now is needed. But some real smart people in economics are saying you got to get in there, do something big and fast, timed properly, and then the government's got to get out of the way so that business can get healthy again without government intervention.

HARRIS: OK, Christine. Good to see you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Boy, let's continue now. The worsening economy, front and center for the president-elect today. Barack Obama meeting with his economic advisers. He holds his first post-election news conference in less than, let's see, 2.5 hours.

Live now to Chicago and CNN's Jessica Yellin.

And Jessica, if you would, boy, what is the president-elect -- what is likely to come out of that meeting today? Who is going to be in the room, if you can share that with us? That might be helpful. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. The room is going to be made up of his 17 top advisers, or 16, one on speaker phone -- that would be Warren Buffett. Excuse us. We're in a very windy city, Chicago right now. You hear that wind blowing.

He will be joined by people including Tim Geithner, the chair of the New York Fed who is considered a contender for treasury secretary. Larry Summers, former treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, also considered a contender in the Obama White House for that post as treasury secretary. And Paul Volcker, former Fed chair who is universally respected as well, stayed out of politics for many years, only to endorse Barack Obama this year in a surprise move.

All three men are considered among the most sophisticated minds in economic policy, and will help Obama shape an agenda, what should be tackled first. With this new jobs news, does he immediately start some sort of jobs program? Does he move into the energy field and promote green jobs? These are the kinds of decisions that have to be made now for Obama to hit the ground running.

Immediately after that meeting, I should add, we will have cameras at the top of the meeting, and then it's going to be private. So we won't necessarily learn everything that happens in there, but Obama will take questions about it in a press conference immediately following.

His staff has already told us we should not expect him to make any personnel announcements, but no doubt he will be pushed on them. Reporters have a lot of questions and want to know -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Jessica, his tone is going to be very important. I was just talking about it with Christine Romans out of New York.

He is not -- he is not in the White House right now. He is meeting with this team. It certainly makes him look busy, and he is in fact busy, but he cannot offer any pronouncements at this point. He can only talk about the team -- his team is working -- and what he hopes to do.

YELLIN: That's right. And it's a sense, though, of action that they hope will be helpful, because as you've heard already -- you know, Chris Dodd, one of the key senators, has said that he'd be willing to consider nominations hearings even before Obama goes into the White House so that things will get rolling very, very quickly. It's that sense of momentum they want to feed so that Americans in general feel like something's going to change, something will happen fast.

That's the best he can do right now.

HARRIS: OK. All right.

Jessica Yellin for us in Chicago.

Jessica, good to see you. Thank you. You know, election results are still coming in. And right now CNN is able to project -- can you believe this -- it's Friday, and the election ended Tuesday night, but we still had a couple of states, as you know, that were still too close to call.

CNN can now project that the state of North Carolina goes to Barack Obama. Still, too close to call, CNN cannot project where we stand, where the race stands in Missouri at this point. But CNN can project that North Carolina goes to Barack Obama.

My Wolf Blitzer moment there for a second.

GM and Ford, already fighting for survival, posting awful third quarter numbers today.

CNN's Brooke Baldwin at a GM plant in Warren, Michigan.

And Brooke, if you would, let's start by having you rifle through the losses for the auto industry. Ford and GM in particular.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. All right. Let's just get started right with GM since that's the latest number we have.

Two different numbers for you, Tony. $2.5 billion net loss for the third quarter, $4.2 billion for the year. That is what we're being told. That is much worse than was expected.

Also, GM said, and this perhaps some saying -- this is even more shocking -- they burned through $7 billion in cash in this last quarter. Also some new numbers for you. GM announcing that they will be reducing 30 percent of their salaried workforce, as opposed to 20 percent as they had previously announced in July.

And Tony, we were talking last hour, I was asking about the 401(k) matching. They have just announced they will no longer match their employees' 401(k). That's GM.

Let's move to Ford.

Ford came out with some numbers earlier this morning. Here we go.

They announced nearly $3 billion, $2.7 billion pretax operating loss for the third quarter. Car sales for Ford plunging 25 percent. It will cut salaried employment costs by 10 percent, and they plan to cut 2,600 hourly jobs.

Now, Tony, all of these numbers coming just one day after a huge meeting in Washington yesterday, because GM in particular saying this may not be enough to shore up cash. They may need a cash infusion from the federal government.

So the executives from the big three, from Michigan here, went to Washington, met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with other House leaders and the UAW president, basically petitioning Congress as part of the next economic stimulus package to get them an auto industry bailout, to get them a second $25 billion loan. That's what was happening in Washington yesterday.

Many eyes will be on President-elect Barack Obama, Tony, as you will see later today. The topic is the economy.

HARRIS: Yes. Sure.

Hey, Brooke, I've got to ask you...

BALDWIN: Got a lot to talk about.

HARRIS: Absolutely. And $7 billion, that's the burn rate for the third quarter for GM. Any guidance from the officials there at GM? At that kind of a burn rate, how long can GM operate?

BALDWIN: That's a good question. Here is what they said in their statement. Of course, there are no officials out here walking around we can grab.

HARRIS: Sure.

BALDWIN: But in a statement, when they released these numbers, they're warning that it will approach the minimum amount necessary to run this business, this American icon that is General Motors, during the current quarter. That was their answer.

HARRIS: Whoa, fourth quarter. That means the end of the year.

Brooke Baldwin for us.

Brooke, thank you.

What do you do if you've just been told your job is going away? Some answers coming up next with Gerri Willis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Obviously, business is tough all around, but for one popcorn maker outside of Chicago, sales just aren't -- well, sorry -- popping. And holiday sales are looking pretty dismal so far.

Erik Claesson, the owner of Madly Pop'N, out of Oak Park, Illinois, joins me from Chicago to talk about it.

And Erik, you're one of our favorite guests, and you helped us so much in talking us through the credit crunch and how it was impacting your business. That was about a month ago.

As I recall, you hadn't paid yourself in months when we last talked to you. Are you paying yourself yet?

ERIK CLAESSON, OWNER, MADLY POP'N: Tony, the streak continues. No.

You know, for us, we're on the verge of our busy holiday season here now, and that's when the money finally starts coming in. And while we got a nice spike after our appearance on CNN, it still hasn't been enough to really kind of get us over the hump. But we're squeaking into the holidays here, we're getting our holiday deliveries, we're talking to our corporate customers. And their stories aren't very -- very good news how they're going to placing their orders this year.

HARRIS: Yes.

Well, Erik, talk about this hump. I mean, you're talking about getting over the hump. Describe the hump.

How difficult has it been? Let's go back the last six months, say the last two quarters, for you and your business. Describe that for us.

CLAESSON: Well, typically we have a line of credit that we have, that we use going into the fall season. Our busiest time is November and December, because we do so many holiday gifts and corporate gifts. And it sort of is the boot that gets us through the year.

And then during the summer, our sales certainly drop down a lot. And this year, after a soft Christmas last year and then soft retail business throughout 2008, we tapped into our line of credit in about the middle summer, where usually we do it into the late fall here.

So we sort of burned through our line of credit, and it was with Washington Mutual. They weren't given extra money.

HARRIS: Oh boy. Yes.

CLAESSON: So the first -- as the business owner, I'm the first one that doesn't get paid to keep the ship afloat. So it's been that way now for about four months.

HARRIS: Boy. I have two questions at the same time here. And this period of time without your income coming into the household, what has it been like for you and your family?

CLAESSON: Well, you know, it's a stress for us, just like it is, I think, for a lot of Americans out there.

HARRIS: There you go, Erik.

CLAESSON: You know, we have a retail store. So people come in who are bus drivers and lawyers and doctors, and construction workers, and there just aren't a lot of people singing a happy tune about their expenses and their financial situations.

HARRIS: So Erik, your projections for the fourth quarter, November, December? What was October like for you?

CLAESSON: You know, October was -- we a decent -- we had a decent October this year. Halloween is always a great gift-giving holiday for us. Popcorn is sort of that harvest season snack that people love.

So October's usually a pretty good month for us, but going into the holidays we've been talking to a number of our corporate customers. Some of them aren't in business anymore. Some of them have canceled all their gift-giving for the holidays. Some of them are cutting back. But what we're trying to do help people continue to give gifts to their customers, just at a lower price.

HARRIS: Are you optimistic about '09? Pessimistic? Somewhere in the middle?

CLAESSON: You know, Tony, I'm a small business owner. So I have that sort of don't ever give up attitude thing on it.

HARRIS: I love that.

CLAESSON: And quit isn't really in my vocabulary here. I think it's going to be a hard holiday for everybody. I think that we're certainly going to get impacted. You know, my guess is that our corporate sales and our Internet sales will be off maybe 25 percent or something like that.

HARRIS: Yes.

CLAESSON: You know, it's sort of one of those things that people don't buy popcorn 60 days before they want to give it to Aunt Milly for Christmas.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Well, I'm hoping we can get another spike for you.

CLAESSON: Oh, that would be fantastic.

HARRIS: I'm hoping we can get a spike for you, your family, the business, and your employees.

Erik, great to see you. Thanks for your time. We'll check back in with you maybe in another month or so to see where things are. All right?

CLAESSON: Sounds good, Tony.

HARRIS: You're our touchstone on this, Erik. And the best to you this holiday season.

CLAESSON: Thank you so much.

HARRIS: All right. The pink slip lands on your desk. What now? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here.

Gerri, good to see you again.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi, Tony.

HARRIS: What should you do if you find yourself in this situation, you've got a pink slip now? What do you do?

WILLIS: Well, OK. Maybe this isn't obvious, but you have grab your Rolodex. This is your lifetime contacts. It may not be the first thing you think about, but before you start packing up your desk, take the stuff that will help you find the next job.

Grab all those contacts, the networks you've been establishing. All your company property though, that's off limits, including customer lists, financial data, strategic plans, contract information. If you get caught taking that, you could lose your severance or get sued.

You'll usually have time to return the PCs, the laptops, so you'll be able to retain any personal data from those. But in case you're required to hand these in right away, you want to be prepared.

It there are rumors of layoffs, and if you have a laptop you have to return, make sure you download the personal stuff. If you kept contacts on your BlackBerry, back that up at home, because you're going to need that. You'll need that stuff as you look for a new job.

HARRIS: Gerri, what about health benefits?

WILLIS: This is really important stuff. There are some things to which an employee has a right even after they leave their job. Health care coverage is one of them.

COBRA is a federal law that allows you to continue your health care coverage up to a year and a half after you leave your job. Now, you generally have 60 days to decide if you want the coverage.

And look, if you have a pre-existing condition or you're going to be traveling overseas, you should probably take it. But it's not cheap. You'll be required to play full premiums and administrative costs of 2 percent. OK.

Most companies will pay your medical coverage through the end of the month after you're laid off. So if you're laid out of January 30th, you need to argue to have coverage through February 30th, OK?

If you think you'll have another job lined up in those two months, maybe you can join your spouse's health care plan. You may want to rethink getting COBRA coverage. But you need to know it's out there if you need it.

HARRIS: Gerri, one more quick one here. What should you be sure, absolutely sure to take with you?

WILLIS: Don't leave money on the table. You also have a right to whatever money you've collected in your 401(k) and your pension benefit plan.

Roll over that 401(k) into a traditional IRA using what they call a trustee-to-trustee rollover. You'll have more investment options, you won't have to pay penalties and fees for taking the money yourself.

Trustee-to-trustee rollover is what you want. Keep in mind, the tax laws prevent you from directly rolling over into a Roth. So you can't do that. You've got to use a regular IRA instead.

And if you have a flexible spending account, you've got to spend that money before you leave.

And don't forget stock options, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

WILLIS: Some folks have those. Check the price. Decide if you should exercise those stock options. You'll typically have 90 days to do this. Otherwise you lose them. Don't leave money on the table.

HARRIS: Don't leave money.

Gerri, you're back in just a couple of minutes, and we're going to advise folks on how to get that next job. And that's about, oh, in another 10 minutes or so away.

WILLIS: Solutions, solutions, solutions.

HARRIS: Love it. Got to the stay positive.

Gerri, good to see you. See you in a couple of minutes.

WILLIS: All right.

HARRIS: Everything from blizzard conditions to a hurricane keeping our weather watchers busy this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: So, the economy, as you know, and we've been reporting all morning here, just bleeding jobs right now. But President-elect Obama has said a new green economy could provide some relief.

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix." She's in New York City.

OK, Poppy, explain this to us.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. You know, Tony, I think today's jobs report just paints the picture. It is such a grim, grim picture, 6.5 percent, that's our unemployment rate. 1.2 million jobs lost already this year.

It is a rough road ahead for President-elect Barack Obama. He has a lot ahead of him. Here is how he plans to turn the tide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Creating a new electricity grid so that we can bring renewable sources of energy to population centers that need them. Invests $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy, building wind turbines and solar panels, creating the next generation of biofuels, investing in clean coal technology, making sure that we're building the new generation of fuel-efficient cars not in Japan, not in South Korea, but right here in the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Now, of course, that was before he was elected president. That was on the campaign trail, but you heard the laundry list of ideas.

Obama says he can create five million new jobs. He says he'll spend $150 billion to do that over the next 10 years.

One proposal he didn't mention there is job training. He wants to retrain laid-off workers. He also wants to help military personnel that are returning from deployment. That's a plan called the Green Vet Initiative that would train veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to compete for jobs in the green economy -- Tony.

HARRIS: Wow. It sounds good, but come on. How will the president-elect pay for this, Poppy?

HARLOW: It's interesting. We're already paying for a lot of things that we don't necessarily have the money for.

HARRIS: Yes.

HARLOW: Think the $700 billion bailout plan. But he is calling for the use of revenue from a cap and trade program. That's basically where the government will auction off permits that allow companies, mainly energy companies who emit carbon.

Now, each year the government will cut back on the number of permits that it issues, therefore reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that those companies emit. The money raised from auctioning those permits will be used to fund these job creation programs.

Of course, there are critics of the idea. They worry that asking companies that may already be suffering to buy these permits may further cut into their bottom line, further leading to more job cuts. That's a big concern, Tony, but it's a plan, and he's going to have to put it into action pretty soon.

HARRIS: You're right. Yes, you're not in business if you're not making money.

HARLOW: No.

HARRIS: Poppy Harlow for us.

Poppy, good to see you. Have a great weekend. Thank you.

HARLOW: You too.

HARRIS: President-elect Barack Obama has picked his right-hand man for his new administration. Just who is Rahm Emanuel anyway? And what impact will he have? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: My goodness. When it rains, it just really does pour. More grief and heartache for Haiti. We're just getting this in. A school building with students inside has collapsed just outside of Haiti's capital, the city of Petionville. Hundreds of bystanders, right now, we understand, digging through the rubble of the building.

Again, this is just outside of the capital of Haiti, Port-au- Prince. An Associated Press reporter saw people carrying bloody students from the site. And, Joe, what is that? Two people now -- boy, we're getting reports of two people dead. At least 20 injured. This coming from the Associated Press. As I just mentioned, a reporter there on the scene.

Apparently the second story of this building has absolutely pancaked on to the first floor of this school building. United Nations peacekeepers and members of the Haitian Red Cross have arrived on the scene and are working feverishly to get people out of the rubble. And, again, reports from the Associated Press, two confirmed dead and 20 injured. As soon as we can get first pictures of this scene, we will, of course, bring you the pictures and the additional information right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's go to the New York Stock Exchange right now and take a look at the big board. Stocks rallying today, as you can see, after a tough couple of days for Dow component stocks. The Dow up 134 points. Just past the three-hour mark in the trading day. We will get a market check with Stephanie Elam a little later this hour right here in the NEWSROOM and, of course, throughout the day.

One escalating hot spot for the new administration to focus on, Pakistan. Another suspected U.S. missile strike inside the country today. This time the attack taking place in north Waziristan. That is a stronghold, us a know, of al Qaeda and Taliban forces near the Afghan border. Pakistani military sources say at least nine people were killed. Their identities not known yet. It is the latest in a series of suspected U.S. strikes in Pakistan that have outraged the new government.

In another of our memos to the president series, CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre says President-elect Obama had better keep an eye on Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Mr. President, there's a reason Pakistan was the first stop for General David Petraeus after taking over the U.S. Central Command. Its health is crucial to turning the tide in Afghanistan. Pakistan's newly elected government is fuming about CIA air strikes in it's ungoverned tribal areas. Recently General Petraeus admitted to CNN he got an earful in that first meeting with Pakistan's leaders.

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: We got certain messages with each of those, with whom we talked today. And some of those were very clear and we have to take those onboard.

MCINTYRE: Pakistan says its desire to remain a U.S. ally was severely undercut by the Bush administration's support for former dictator Pervez Musharraf. He handed al Qaeda and the Taliban a winning argument.

HASSAN HAQQANI, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: The Jihadists groups in Pakistan were able to make the argument that fighting the Jihadists is essentially an American war and Pakistan is just being America's lackey.

MCINTYRE: In the range of problems facing the new president, where does Pakistan rank?

HARLAN ULLMAN, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: In terms of foreign policy, it's number one.

MCINTYRE: Harlan Ullman is a military thinker who famous coined the phrase, shock and awe, though he claims the strategy was bungled in Iraq. Now Ullman is focused on Pakistan, where he sees potential disaster.

ULLMAN: You can see partitions, you can see civil war, you can see a failed state. My view is, we have about six months to get our collective acts together.

MCINTYRE: Ullman advises stopping and then better coordinating American cross border attacks. But the more immediate problem, he suggests, is Pakistan's precarious economy.

ULLMAN: They cut its food subsidies and its energy subsidies to reduce its budget deficit. As a result, you've got people starving. We've got riots in Karachi.

MCINTYRE: Ullman says an immediate investment of about $10 billion, a tiny fraction of the trillion dollar U.S. financial bailout, could go a long way to shore up a key ally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: OK. Our CN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joining us now live from the Pentagon.

And, Jamie, if Pakistan is so upset about these CIA air strikes, is there any indication that President-elect Obama will put an end to them?

MCINTYRE: Well, you know, he's going to have to weigh what is the military utility of these strikes, which the U.S. believes has been effective it taking out some Taliban and al Qaeda leaders in that ungoverned area of Pakistan with the political damage that it's been doing. And, of course, he'll want to consult with General David Petraeus, who, as we saw there, just has met with the Pakistani leaders.

This is a real sore point with Pakistan and they feel like it really makes it difficult for them to align themselves with the United States while these strikes continue. And again, as you said today, we just had another one. So this may well be a case where Obama wants to chart another course. But right now, we haven't really gotten a signal one way or the other.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, good to see you. Thank you.

Just want to give you a quick update on the breaking news story we brought you just a moment ago. Put the map up here.

More hardship for Haiti. The Red Cross on the scene now of a school building collapse in a city just outside of Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. We understand from a Red Cross spokesman, we've been able to reach out to, whom we hope to talk to in just a couple of moments, that this is a scene of total devastation.

We have reports that we have to attribute to the Associated Press right now of two people dead, at least 20 injured. Hundreds of bystanders working right now, digging through the rubble of this school building.

This is a situation where the second story of the concrete school building has pancaked on to the first floor. You can imagine what kind of a scene we're talking about here. As soon as we can get that representative from the Red Cross on the beeper (ph) line, with us right now, we will get a complete update on this situation.

But first, a quick break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. More than a million jobs simply disappeared this year. Now you get a pink slip. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here.

Gerri, what do you do? You're a sidelined worker in this brutal economy. What do you do to get that next job?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. It's going to take some work. But, first off, look for hot industries and jobs. First thing about the industry you're in, is it really what you want to do, especially if that industry is suffering. And we can think of a lot of those today. You might be better off seeing if your skill set could be useful somewhere else.

Remember, a lot of job skills are transferable. If you're an auditor, those skills would be transferable from say the manufacturing industry, which is contracting, to the health care industry, which is growing. Consider a job in one of these hot industry growing right now.

I mentioned health care. It is at the top of the list here. Some 3 million new jobs will be created between 2006 and 2016. That's according to the federal government. Oil and gas. There are loads of boomers retiring. They need engineers. Utilities, another industry that is growing and will be hiring in coming years. Education. Lots of folks will be hired in that industry. And that's according to Mercer.

There are also some hot jobs. Individual titles here you might want to consider. For many of these jobs you'll need special training, but you may be able to get started with just with a few community college courses and you can work your way up from there.

Here are those hot jobs. I know you want to see these. Engineers. Sales people. Especially now because managers are all trying to grow their top line, their revenue. Teachers. There will be some 479,000 teaching jobs created between now and 2016. Nurses. More than 500,000, half a million, new jobs, nursing jobs, will be added between now and 2016. Computer software specialists, auditors, accountants. Consider all these jobs will be created.

Yes, we're losing jobs. We've got some very bad news on that front today. But that doesn't mean that some jobs will actually be created.

HARRIS: Yes.

Hey, Gerri, and you can't -- you've got to be positive about this thing. You certainly can't wallow in the disappoint of losing the job. That's a tough break and everybody understand that. Because the reality here is that finding the next job can actually become a full- time job.

WILLIS: That's right. You know, take action. It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Look, the more resumes and letters you send out, the more phone calls you make, the more meetings and interviews you have, the better off you're going to be. Make sure you're making quality contacts here. Get your name out there. Make looking for a new job, this has to be your new full-time job.

And here's a great idea, especially, you know, if you're in the older group of folks who are looking for jobs right now. Take advantage of those social networking sites -- Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin -- is a great way to reconnect with old friends, colleagues, who might know about a job you'd be perfect for.

And don't spin your wheels on those job search website. It's hard to make a personal connection through a website like that and really get a job. Go there, find out who's hiring and then find a way to make a personal connection at that company.

Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, and you mentioned the resume. That resume, boy, the impetus on that resume. It really needs to sparkle right now, doesn't it?

WILLIS: That's right. You know, your resume gives potential employers their very first impression of you. Here's how they decide whether they like you, they don't like you. Don't make that mistake that so many job applicants do. They simply write a laundry list of the jobs they've held in the past.

You want specifics about what you did in previous jobs, the results you got. Don't just say, I sold widgets to customers throughout the state. Say, I increased widget sales by 93 percent in my first year, if that's true. And tell about specific projects you worked on, innovations you created for your company. Using specifics tells potential employers more about you and it will make you stand out.

And don't be afraid to say, I was laid off. If you're specifically asked the question, I've got to tell you, hiring managers are used to hearing that. They probably already know, if that's the case.

HARRIS: So don't get euphuistic about it.

WILLIS: Right.

HARRIS: You just tell the truth.

WILLIS: That's right.

HARRIS: OK. All right. Gerri, good to see you. Thank you.

WILLIS: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Thanks for your help today.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: We want to get back to this developing story we've been telling you about this hour. This is in Petionville. That is in Haiti. And we're talking about a school building with students inside that has collapsed. This is just outside of Haiti's capital of Port- au-Prince. We understand that at least two people have been killed so far. That according to the Associated Press. On the ground now is the Red Cross, obviously. United Nations peacekeepers are working on the scene as well. With the Red Cross is Michaele Gedeon and Michaele is on line with us.

Michaele, good to talk to you.

If you would, please describe the scene there of this collapse.

MICHAELE GEDEON, PRESIDENT, HAITIAN RED CROSS: Like you said, you know, it's a school building that collapsed on the children while they were in their classrooms. And it has being reported that on the average (ph) 700 kids attend this school on a day. So for now we do not have the number of attendance (ph), but we presume that there must be a lot of kids because, you know, the degree, they are still, you know, on the site, of people, our rescuers, from other component of the Red Cross here in Haiti, altogether with the national police and the peacekeeping force. We're trying to get the kids underneath of the debris. HARRIS: Michaele, if you would, I don't know if you have visited the site or if you have been in direction contact with someone who is at the site right now, but what I would love for to you do for me is describe the scene as it's being described to you.

GEDEON: You know, on the scene, at the moment, of the collapse, you know, I had two young rescuers. They were there when the event occurs. Personally, I'm not, because I have to, you know, have some . . .

HARRIS: I understand that you're part of coordinating the effort. But if you would, tell me what the rescue workers who are on the scene at the time of the collapse, what they shared with you about the scene.

GEDEON: The whole school collapsed on the kids. And, you know, on the phone, you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying and saying, this one is dead. That one is dead. You know, and we're trying, my rescuers, and there are many now, many, many, they're trying to, you know, to calm down the kids. There's several already kids (ph) have already been transported to hospitals nearby, to health centers nearby. And I can tell you that the highest authority of the health sector (ph), the minister himself is on the site right now at the moment I'm talking to you because I had to coordinate with everybody. So I cannot tell you what . . .

HARRIS: Michaele, no, that's -- no, that's pretty vivid. That's a pretty vivid description. It sounds like it's a horrible situation.

GEDEON: Yes, and (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: OK, Michaele, thank you.

GEDEON: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Thank you.

Seven hundred children, Michaele just telling us, attend that school on any given day in Haiti, just outside of the capital, Port- au-Prince. Of the scene and site and location of this collapse. The Associated Press describing this as a two-story building where the top story completely pancaked on to the first floor. We are working really hard to get first pictures out of this location. As soon as we do, we will get those to you and bring you additional information as we get it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A quick break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Searching for a job online. Where do you begin? Our Veronica De La Cruz keeps an eye on the web for us. She joins us now from New York to break it all down.

And, Veronica, I'm just wondering, you know, I'm not a big fan of these social networking sites. I don't have time for that. I'm a busy man. I don't have time for that. VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Come on. FaceBook. What about our FaceBook group.

HARRIS: Anyhow. But here's what I'm thinking now. Maybe there's a way for me to become a convert here. Is there a way in these difficult times for you to use these social networking sites to maybe find the next job? The next opportunity?

DE LA CRUZ: Well, here's the thing. And one of the reasons you haven't been a fan, people might think it's not a good idea. Take down that profile. But here's the thing, Tony. Careerbuilder.com says to leave it up. Use the web for your advantage.

You were just listening to Gerri say the exact same thing. We're looking at an article online in the living section of cnn.com and it says that 22 percent of all employers, Tony, check the profiles of potential candidates because they want to get a look beyond that resume. These are 22 percent of the people that have been surveyed. So you want to make sure that you are putting your best foot forward because, here's the thing, even when you're not looking for a job, Tony, you might be able to land that dream job.

A couple other tips in this article I wanted to tell you about. You want to watch what you say online. Don't ever bad mouth your past or current employer because, Tony, would you do it in a job interview? Would you? You wouldn't. I'm going to go with no. I think I know you well enough. Is that a yes? Here's the thing. Don't do it online. You don't ever do that.

Other tips, get involved. Join different groups. Do it selectively. Think twice before joining a group called, I drink more beer than water. That's going to come back to haunt you for sure.

And don't mention your job search if you are still employed. Don't do that online.

Also, go on the offensive, Tony. Take down all that digit dirt before your potential employer gets to it. And, don't forget -- you know what they say, Tony, birds of a feather flock together. People can see all those friends in your group, then you probably want to think twice about adding anyone who could potentially be a liability.

So it you are on the hunt, there are a host of job hunting sites out there. Some of the big ones are Yahoo! Hot Jobs, Careerbuilder.com. There's also Monster.

Tony, one that I really like is called Simplyhire.com and it's really because it's easy to use. It taps into a variety of different sites. All of those sites. So it's almost like an aggregator of sorts.

HARRIS: Yes.

DE LA CRUZ: You know, we're asking you out there, do you have any more tips if you are hunting for a job online? Join in on the discussion. Use our FaceBook group because Tony uses it all day long. HARRIS: My goodness. You know, I'm going to take your word for it. I just don't know. I just think, if you're going to try to find a job online, that's a reach (ph). You better get in someone's face. I mean, in these economic times, you better get in somebody's face.

DE LA CRUZ: You're right. You're right. But you use these social networking sites by . . .

HARRIS: Yes, use every tool available to you, I suppose.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. Exactly.

HARRIS: All right, Veronica, appreciate it. Have a good weekend.

DE LA CRUZ: You too.

HARRIS: We'll take a break. Come back on the other side and we'll give you an update on what's shaping up to be just a horrible story in Haiti, just outside of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A school building with students inside has collapsed. But first a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So this is a story that, Kyra, I know you'll be following throughout the day here. We've got this horrible situation in Haiti, just outside of Port-au-Prince, Petionville. And thanks to Chad helping me with that pronouncer on that.

And this is a horrible situation. We're talking about a two- story school building. On any given day, 700 students attend this school. It collapsed. And in talking to Chad, don't know if it's because -- you know, there's been so much rain and so much flooding and so many storms to roll through Haiti, if perhaps the foundation has been weakened. But we've got a collapse.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they're digging through the rubble, I'm being told right now, looking for survivors, right?

HARRIS: So it's obviously a story that you'll be following. Have a good show, Kyra. Have a great weekend, all right?

PHILLIPS: Thank you. On a positive note...

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... Billy Graham, America's pastor, 90 years old.

HARRIS: Happy birthday. You talked to him?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

HARRIS: You're running big chunks of your time with Billy Graham, or no?

PHILLIPS: Yes. We're going to talk about his amazing -- amazing life. Ninety years and still sharp as a tack. HARRIS: Can't wait. Have a great show, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Tony. Great weekend.

HARRIS: You, too.