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Icy Weather Grips Kentucky; Obama Breaks One Promise to Pass Another Promise; Green Energy May Help Revitalize Economy; Congresswoman Takes the Side of Homeowners; Are Super Bowl Ads Worth It?

Aired February 01, 2009 - 17:00   ET

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

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This elderly couple has more than twice the lethal dose of carbon monoxide poisoning. If it hadn't been for this door-to-door check, the fire chief says, these people might have died. It was a very busy day for the guardsmen.

(INAUDIBLE)

CANDIOTTI: Sure. Don, as we get ready to show you a taped report, I'll tell you a little bit more. These people have been working very hard and, of course, it's not their normal job. These are people who are engineers. These are people who do all kinds of things for a living for the National Guard, all kinds of different jobs. One is an airline pilot.

And here inside the fire department, this is where they are spending some time -- some down time during their mission here. They've got cots set up over here. They'll be having the MREs, the meals ready to eat later on, or they can get some rest. The cots lined up.

And we also understand -- get this -- that Wal-mart sent over, once they heard they were here, a couple of larger screen television sets so they could sit here and watch the Super Bowl. So, not bad, not bad at all. Their assignment is one that they are very proud of. They know that these people need their help as they go to check on them to make sure that everything is all right.

And I don't know, perhaps we can talk to one of them here.

Just briefly, what do you think of, for example, these people reaching out to you in the community to have you watch the Super Bowl?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they've been nothing but wonderful to us. They've been very accommodating and done some great things here. And we've just been trying to help out as much as we can.

CANDIOTTI: You got it. Well, thank you very much.

Now, we'll give you a look of what it was like when we rode with one of the guardsmen troops that were going out to check out the local community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Kentucky's Air and Army National Guard going door-to-door, or should we say farmhouse-to-farmhouse.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: How are you doing, sir?

CANDIOTTI: Checking on residents like unsuspecting 83-year-old Paul Jenkins (ph) who saw uniforms trudging down his driveway.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: So, did you have some pretty significant damage here to your home?

CANDIOTTI: He and his wife are using water stored in buckets. They have medicine but no power, using kerosene for heat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lose power here; we're in trouble unless (ph) we got electricity.

CANDIOTTI: Across Breckenridge County's rolling hills, winding roads are seeing daylight again after locals endured nightmarish conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I drove about six miles in what seemed to be a glass tunnel because, normally, the road is open and the trees on either side had bowed together.

CANDIOTTI: The guardsmen have about 550 square miles to cover. Houses are far apart.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: And there are some total losses over there on some of the cabins and homes.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): But everyone was all right?

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: Everyone was all right.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Power could be out for another week or longer in some hard to reach areas. As snow and ice melts, things are getting messy. For the Kentucky guard, it's the biggest call-up in the state's history.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: We're just kind of checking in here. And do you know anybody in the area that might specifically we needed to go and look at or something? You know, check on them?

CANDIOTTI: The Grigsbys (ph) haven't waited for help to clear their four acres. Despite the blackout, they are getting by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we're survivors. You know, time like this you have to do what you got to do.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): People here have done a very good job of keeping track of each other. Still, what the guardsmen are doing is not a waste of time.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: You never know when there's going to be one person that's out there that's overlooked. And I'm praying we don't find that person. But if we do, then we're here for that.

CANDIOTTI: So, it's on to the next house and the next, until everyone is accounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate your coming and checking.

UNIDENTIFIED GUARDSMAN: Sure thing. You're welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Really helped -- and one thing that has really helped here has been the weather. Today, it was up to the 50s. And, of course, that means a lot of melting snow and ice. It's helping utility crews get their work done and it's helping the guardsmen as they continue to go door-to-door. Not clear exactly how long they'll be here, but they are prepared to stay for a few days until they get their next marching orders. Back to you, Richard.

RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much for the very latest there. And hopefully, things will get better.

Let's now swing over to Jacqui Jeras who's been, of course, for us the national weather scene.

And it's the big melt, right? The snow cone, melt up and now -- whoa!

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's all dripping away.

LUI: Yes.

JERAS: Unfortunately, you get some of those big chunks that can fall too. So, that's kind of a danger.

LUI: Yes.

JERAS: But it's got -- you still use a lot of caution. And you don't know if some of those power lines might still be live or not. And, of course, we got a change in the wind as well. So, some big changes are coming on the way once again.

Let's go ahead and show you the weather map, and it's going to show you just a little thin streak of moisture. And there you can see it, moving across parts of Missouri on into Illinois and Indiana. As temperatures are starting to cool down a little bit right now, we might see some of this transition over the snow just a touch.

But the big thing that we need to know about this approaching front is that it's going to change our wind direction. Right now, winds are coming in from the southwest. It's bringing in those 50-degree temperatures that Susan was talking about. So, it's all good. But when the front rolls on through, say bye-bye to the 50s and hello to below freezing temperatures once again. So, this nice warm snap that we've been having over the weekend is not going to last all that long.

And another thing to keep in mind as the wind changes direction is, as you know, everything has been leaning one way with the wind. Well, now, when the wind comes back the other way, anything that might be unstable like tree branches that are just hanging by a thread could go. So, be aware of that. The wind should be changing direction to the north we think later on tonight.

All right. Our next weather-maker down here. Low pressure developing in the Gulf of Mexico is bringing in some isolated strong thunderstorms. Severe thunderstorm warning in effect for Orange County. This is just northeast of Beaumont. This is producing golf ball-sized hail.

As this low develops, it's going to start to ride up towards the coast. But we don't think the timing with the cold air is going to be quite right to bring snow across the Deep South, which some of the models were originally saying. And we also think it will be far enough to the east that the ice-covered areas or the ones that are starting to thaw out now, Richard, should be OK with this one as well.

LUI: All right, great. Jacqui Jeras, thank you so much.

Call it round two for President Obama's economic stimulus plan. It goes before the Senate this week. Senators on both sides of the aisle say the president's proposed measure could spend too much and accomplish too little when it comes to jumpstarting the ailing economy.

Now, our Elaine Quijano has been listening to both sides of this at the White House.

Hey, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Richard.

Well, that's right. The president is really hoping to pull some skeptical Republicans onboard this time. But with that $800-plus billion price tag, GOP lawmakers are saying, "Look, we want to make sure that every taxpayer dollar is going toward jumpstarting the economy."

Here is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Well, it will need to change if it's going to do any good. I mean, things like $150 million for honey bee insurance and $600 million to buy government employees' cars, is not exactly what the American public had in mind.

(END video CLIP)

QUIJANO: But with the economy expected to go from bad to worse and Americans looking for some relief, Democrats believe that after negotiations, some Senate Republicans will ultimately back the plan to avoid being labeled obstructionists.

Here is Senator Chuck Schumer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: The Republican Party in the Senate doesn't have the luxury, so to speak, that the House had. The House could say no and it would still pass. But they can't hold this up. The fragility of the economy is too great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So, what happens now? Well, the Senate takes this up tomorrow. The full Senate is expected to vote on this bill on Wednesday. That legislation will likely have to be reconciled with the House version. And, Richard, President Obama is hoping to sign a stimulus bill into law by mid-February -- Richard?

LUI: Elaine Quijano, got a couple of weeks ahead of us then. Thank you so much.

In case you missed it, a bombshell dropped by Steve Forbes this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Forbes is offering one of his solutions to the U.S. financial crisis to CNN's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE FORBES, FORBES MAGAZINE: In terms of people who should be replaced, I think the head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, who helped contribute to this by weakening the dollar printing too much money.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, come on. You -- what ...

FORBES: Come on. When you trash a currency, you pay a price for it.

QUEST: What -- you mean now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Well, Steve Forbes is the editor-in-chief of "Forbes" magazine. You might remember, he ran for president back in 1996.

A picture that's turned up on the Internet leaves U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps apologizing. A British newspaper published this photo of Phelps smoking marijuana at a party last year. That was after his gold medal run in Beijing.

Now, the U.S. Olympic Committee released this statement saying, "We are disappointed in the behavior recently exhibited by Michael Phelps. Michael is a role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability. In this instance, regrettably, he failed to fulfill those responsibilities. Michael has acknowledged that he made a mistake and apologized for his actions. We are confident that going forward, Michael will consistently set the type of example we all expect from a great Olympic champion."

In a separate statement made this afternoon by his agent, Phelps says, quote, "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old. Despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

Taking a look now at news across America -- two 16-year-old boys are under arrest in St. Petersburg, Florida, after a string of fires early this morning. Fourteen cars and one house were damaged. Police say the boys were -- have admitted setting these fires basically because they were bored. Two more arrests are possible here.

First, the smell of gas, then a huge explosion. This is what it looked like after a huge -- a house blew up in Milwaukee early today. Four people were inside at the time, but somehow they escaped with only minor burns and cuts. The blast may have been caused by -- having caused by a leak in an underground gas main.

Authorities are trying to get the upper hand in a prison disturbance that broke out last night in Pecos. It's the second inmate uprising since early December at the privately operated facility. In the last incident, prisoners demanded better health care.

The old chant, "Made in the USA," could be a key refrain for repairing the ailing economy. We'll look at what steps the president is taking to give economic patriotism a boost.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Israel is warning of harsh and disproportionate retaliation after Gaza militants fired at least four rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel today. Israeli officials say two soldiers and a civilian were wounded since a truce ended Israel's 22-day military operation in Gaza two weeks ago. Both militant rocket fire and Israeli retaliation have been increasing.

In Colombia, a three-step plan to release hostages held by rebels is set to begin today. The rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or the FARC, has agreed to release six hostages in all. Three were expected to be free today, the others later in the week. Now, hostages include three police officers, a soldier and two politicians. Analysts see the rebels unilateral move as the first step toward eventual peace with the government.

OK. And we're just hearing, confirming to CNN that four hostages have just been released per the Red Cross -- CNN confirming that. Again, four hostages just released. We're just getting that in. We will update you when we get more of what's coming out of Colombia and this issue.

A call for action in the streets of India. Thousands of Indian Tamils are demanding their government ensure the safety of a quarter of a million Tamil civilians caught in the civil war in Sri Lanka. Relief workers say, more than 200 people, including 30 children, have been injured in heavy fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels. Now, today, artillery shells hit a hospital, killing at least seven people.

More than half of Iraq's voters turn out in provincial election. About 7.5 million Iraqis voted yesterday. This is in a stark contrast to what happened in 2005 when intimidation and violence kept most voters away. Preliminary election results are expected later this week with a final count due at the end of this month.

Keeping dollars within our borders. The stimulus plan includes a proposed provision to buy American. CNN's Carol Costello takes a look at whether it all makes sense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Love your country? Well then stand up, America. It's time to become an economic patriot.

NARRATOR: We must bring our jobs home.

COSTELLO: The Travel Channel's "Made in America" celebrates what's becoming a hot button issue. If you want to make America great again, buy products made in the USA. If that sounds familiar, it is.

When times are tough like they were back in the '80s, Americans liked to practice economic patriotism. And today, even powerhouse investor Warren Buffett is buying in, urging in an op-ed, those who are buying stocks, "Buy American. I am."

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: An American Recovery and ...

COSTELLO: Economic patriotism is part of President Obama's stimulus package, too. It includes a provision requiring that only steel made in America be used in any infrastructure project.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN, (D) OHIO: We're going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this stimulus package then we're going to buy products from another country using taxpayer dollars? I don't think so.

COSTELLO: Senator Brown is so fascinate about it, he's insisting there be enforcement provisions included in the stimulus plan to make sure Uncle Sam follows the rules. But many economists aren't so passionate. They say taxpayers ought to get the best bang for the buck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buying from China is cheaper. That means we'll have more money to spend on other things. True the money goes to China. But it also comes back.

COSTELLO: Other economists say this "Buy America" policy may tempt other countries to retaliate by refusing to buy American-made goods. Companies like Caterpillar and General Electric say it will hurt their business. But for steelworkers like Jack Sabolich (ph), who was laid off in December, those arguments don't fly.

JACK SABOLICH (ph), STEELWORKER: Anybody that turns around and says that we should export more jobs out of this country, maybe they ought to go over to China.

COSTELLO: "Economic patriotism," he says, "is what the country needs right now." (on camera): This is a tough issue for the president who often talks about policy in global terms. But he's also beholden to those who helped put him in office -- union members. And with the wave of economic patriotism sweeping the country, my guess is that "Buy America" provision will remain in the stimulus plan.

Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Here's something you don't see every day. Look at this one. This is a U.S. Airways jet that flash-landed in the Hudson River last month. One of our iReporters got this picture as a flat bed truck hauled the jet through Jersey City in the streets as you can see there, on the way to a storage facility.

You can be a CNN iReporter like this person was -- Eugene Ababio, thank you. To find out more on how to do that, CNN.com and click on iReport.

All right. Barack Obama made a lot of promises as a candidate. Is he keeping them as president? Well, one watchdog is already pointing out a broken promise. And this promise is coming through for us.

It is Super Bowl XLIII. And we take you to some live pictures of the stadium there. And, boy, Raymond James Stadium, opened 10 years ago -- it is ready to take on an onslaught of revelers as Super Bowl XLIII gets ready to start.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: We're about an hour away from kickoff of Super Bowl XLIII. We're looking at those pictures, live ones, taking a look at the stadium earlier.

Larry Smith is live in Tampa.

Larry, you know, it's Pittsburgh's sixth Super Bowl championship in the cards here? A lot of folks eyeing that one, huh?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS: Well, I think, right now, they are the favorite. And having won it all three years ago, you certainly would expect that they think they had that shot at it. And this is a very unusual scene here, getting raucous getting closer to game time. The pre-game festivities are ongoing inside Raymond James Stadium.

But the security issue -- for the first time, TSA agents have been stationed outside the stadium perimeter watching for any kind of suspicious behavior. We haven't heard of any incidents so far. This was something that they wanted to do because of an incident that happened last year in Arizona where there was actually one person that managed to get somewhat close to the stadium with a truckload of guns.

Now, there was no incident in the end. But because the stadium is so close to Tampa International Airport, they -- local officials asked the TSA to help out and they have done that. So, that's the security issue.

More than 72,000 are getting inside the stadium now. And the halftime show will be "The Boss," Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band making their first ever Super Bowl halftime show appearance. And so, they are going to be coming through.

And when he was asked about, you know, just exactly who picks the songs he said, "Hey. The Boss picks the songs. Of course, of course, I pick the songs. You can cajole, you can beg, you can suggest, but I pick the songs." And he is not telling anybody what songs he's going to perform in these 15 minutes here at halftime today.

By the way, the national anthem performed by Oscar Award winner Jennifer Hudson in her first public appearance since she -- her mother, brother and nephew were murdered back in October in Chicago. So that's the story from here. It looks like it's going to be a wonderful evening here in Tampa. Richard, let's go back to you.

LUI: You know, Larry, using my informal decibel meter. You and I talked an hour ago, pretty quiet, now, it certainly got a lot more people in the streets.

SMITH: Well, lot more people in the streets, and also, the people who are tailgating all day -- wink, wink -- are now working their way to the stadium.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: So, a lot of things coming together to raise the noise factor.

LUI: All right. Larry Smith, thank you so much. There's going to be a great party, a great holiday for a lot of folks over there. Thank you.

SMITH: Yes.

LUI: President Obama talking about the Super Bowl. He makes his pick for Super Bowl XLIII.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I wish the best to the Cardinals. They've been longsuffering. It's a great Cinderella story, but other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that's closest to my heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: He lays it down. The president counts Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney among his supporters. Pennsylvania went for Mr. Obama in November, too. Arizona, of course, went for John McCain.

President Obama has invited 15 members, by the way, of Congress, to join him at the White House for tonight's game. In keeping with the president's pledge to be bipartisan and inclusive, his guest list includes both Democrats and Republicans, including five lawmakers from Pennsylvania and two from Arizona. One name not on the guest list -- Joe Biden, his right-hand man.

The vice president, instead, is having his own Super Bowl get- together, but his party will not be quite as diverse. The lawmakers on his list are all Democrats. One of them is from Pennsylvania, but no one is from Arizona.

It's not easy being green. But a new report says, we all have to try a little bit harder. The conversation with the so-called "guru of green business" is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: We want to update you now on that story coming out of Cartagena, Colombia, that the release of four hostages by the FARC. We just got that in 15 minutes ago. Originally, it was thought to be there were three released today. However, we're hearing now there were four.

Let's go straight to Toby Muse, he is a Colombian journalist in Cartagena with the latest there.

And, Toby, there was the projection now, as I was just mentioning, of three, but we got four. What do you know?

VOICE OF TOBY MUSE, JOURNALIST: The Red Cross has confirmed that three policemen and one soldier have been released by the FARC rebels. This is a leftist group in Colombia. This has been a day of ups and downs. Around -- the humanitarian commission left early this morning to pick up these hostages, but then around midday, we started hearing reports there had been clashes between the guerrillas and the Colombian military.

Now, the Colombian government has denied this, but that was supposed to be some obstacle. But now, the good news is, according to the Red Cross, that these four hostages are on their way to the eastern town of Villavicencio, where they will then be flown on again to meet their families in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

We're also expecting two more releases. A politician is set to be released tomorrow by the same rebels and another politician is set to be released on Tuesday -- Richard?

LUI: Toby, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, they have hundreds of hostages reportedly. Ingrid Betancourt who was released in recent time that we can probably remember. This is the goal for what? They would like, no doubt, to get their own representatives back in these swaps. Is that correct?

MUSE: Yes, indeed. There are two sets of hostages for the FARC rebels. You have the hundreds of, allegedly hundreds of hostages on one side, but no real clear figures. That's for ransom. That's one of the ways this group raises money to fight its civil war against the Colombian central government.

Then the second group of hostages, this is 22 Colombian police and Colombian soldiers. Now, the rebels will not release these soldiers and police for anything less than the freeing of hundreds of imprisoned rebels.

LUI: OK. And we think about this. Many of them have been there for years. Again, going back to the example of Ingrid Betancourt and the others that were able to escape. Is this a change at all in the way the FARC is dealing with the Colombian government or is just part and parcel?

MUSE: No, this is a major change. The FARC -- 2008 was, by any definition, the worst year in the history of the FARC in their more than four decades. They suffered the losses of their founder, various senior commanders, and there were also that military operation that rescued Ingrid Betancourt and the three American defense contractors around the middle of last year.

There was also a mass mobilization of Colombians. They took to the street to say no more kidnapping. Millions and millions of Colombians across the world and especially here in Colombia said no more kidnapping.

So we think these releases, by the FARC, are not only a gesture of good faith to try and stop talks about a possible prisoner swap with the government but it's also trying to improve its image through their fellow Colombians and around the world.

RICHARD LUI, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Toby Muse, the very latest in Fiorencia, Colombia. Thanks for filling us in.

Just got this in 15 minutes ago, four hostages released, two possibly in the coming days. We'll have the very latest on that story for you right here on CNN.

Now to a quick look at what's happening right now across the country.

Thousands of National Guard troops have found out -- fanned out, rather, across Kentucky, looking for ways to reach residents stranded by last week's ice storm. The governor says it's the worst natural disaster in Kentucky's modern history. Many homes are still without power.

A broken gas main may have caused this house explosion overnight in Milwaukee. Neighbors reported a strong odor before the blast occurred. Four people were inside the House but they escaped with only minor cuts and burns.

We take you to police in St. Petersburg, Florida, where they say two 16-year-old boys set a series of fires early this morning. Basically, because they were bored. 14 cars and one house were set on fire. Police say two more arrests are possible.

The president kept a long-standing promise on fair pay last week. But in doing so, apparently broke another one, at least according to the web site politifact.com. The web site's author, Bill Adair, explains the broken promise to our Josh Levs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL ADAIR, POLITIFACT.COM: And the first one that he broke was one where he had said he would post bills on the White House web site and give a five-day comment period before signing them. But he didn't do that with his first bill. His first bill, as I'm sure many viewers know, was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We have some video of him signing that the other day. So what this boils down to is when he signed this, right, he did not post it for five days in advance to allow public comments. You guys are pointing out he said any nonemergency legislation he would post on the web site for five days in advance?

ADAIR: Exactly. Clearly, this one didn't meet the promise that he had made so we rated it as our first promise broken on the Obameter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: The Fair Pay Act overturns a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited workers' ability to sue for pay discrimination.

President Obama supports alternative energy sources and environmentally friendly technologies. Both could help create a wave of new jobs. Case in point, Lancaster, California.

Here's Kara Finnstrom with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight years ago, the Cabreras chased their American dream to Lancaster. They bought an affordable home and started a family. But when the economy tanked, the Cabreras watched houses all around them foreclose.

Lancaster's' foreclosure rate skyrocketed to one of L.A. County's highest. And already scarce jobs disappeared.

Marcos Cabrera couldn't find construction work and feared he might lose his home.

MARCOS CABRERA, SOLAR WORKER: No matter where I looked, no matter where I tried, it just didn't matter. There was nothing anywhere.

REX PARRIS, MAYOR OF LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA: We're at a challenging time right now. And we're probably at a tipping point as to whether or not we're going to thrive economically or fail.

FINNSTROM: Lancaster, near Edwards Air Force Base, was once a booming aerospace town. And Mayor Rex Parris believes what it needs now is more innovative technologies. His hope, a glistening solar power plant now going up and nearly complete.

PARRIS: I think solar is not only going to save the world, it's going to save Lancaster first.

ROBERT ROGAN, ESOLAR: We're going to be building thousands of megawatts in the Lancaster area. That's enough to power hundreds of thousand of homes with clean, renewable energy. Additionally, we'll be creating up to thousands of construction jobs.

FINNSTROM: Robert Rogan is with eSolar, a two-year old company that's already contracted to sell power to Southern California Edison. And it's giving Marcos a full-time job.

CABRERA: Eight years of searching. Finally found the perfect job for me.

FINNSTROM: Marcos is helping construct the company's first solar plant which will capture Lancaster's sunshine.

ROGAN: These mirrors all trap the sun and focus the sunlight at the top of the tower unit.

FINNSTROM: That heat will boil water, produce steam and generate power. The company says its energy will be cleaner and cheaper than burning fossil fuels.

(on camera): eSolar hopes these 24,000 mirrors are just a start. Right now, they are working on plans for four other plants within the southwest and their timing couldn't be better with a new administration pushing for green power.

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years.

ROGAN: What we're building here is a five-megawatt power plant. When we build a 245-megawatt power plant for southern California Edison, there's a large amount of capital required. We'll confident that we'll be able to obtain that capital with the right support and government incentives.

FINNSTROM: Lancaster hopes eSolar's presence will attract other green industries. It's a big dream for a struggling city and for a young company.

For Marcos Cabrera...

CABRERA: They started training us on these heliostats and frames and everything we're doing.

FINNSTROM: It's a paycheck with promise.

CABRERA: It is the future. Our resource is the sun. Until the sun goes out, we're going to be here.

FINNSTRONG: Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Lancaster, California.

LUI: The importance of being green -- President Barack Obama says it is a priority. But is being green realistic in a recession? Tomorrow, we find out how we've been doing with the release of a report called "State of Green Business 2009."

Well, Joel Makower is one of the authors of the report. He joins us live from San Francisco with an advance look at the findings.

I got the report right here. You sent it over to us, Joel. Thank you so much.

I want to start with page 60. And this has to do with water and how we are doing better at saving water. Talk to us about that.

JOEL MAKOWER, AUTHOR, "STATE OF GREEN BUSINESS 2009": Well, water is one of the success stories. We're finding that in the American economy, we're -- this business is doing a lot better than they used to in terms of running the economy on less water and toxic materials and energy. The question is, is it enough? Is it enough to stave off the problems?

There's a lot of good news in water, as you were saying. We're starting to see companies that use a lot of water like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch figure out how to grow their companies without using more water. Coca-Cola came up with a goal of being water neutral over the next few years. They'll leave the aquifers where they pull their water as good of shape as where they found them.

The question is, is this enough to really stem the problems we're going to vase climate change kicks in and we see more droughts, the economy starts to grow again, and we need more and more water to do more and more things.

LUI: Another item you brought up in this report as we were previewing it before is officially released tomorrow. And that is recycling. Let's just talk about paper. We are using -- if it took us four sheets of paper to send a letter before, we're only using three today. We're also recycling more, too. That's another plus when you take a look at the environment, right?

MAKOWER: Sure. Paper is one of the success stories. We're using 27 percent less paper than we did a decade ago to create a dollar of economic growth in this country. We're also recycling 27 percent more paper than we used to. So we're using less and recycling more. That's very much a win-win.

LUI: OK. You are right. I was looking through the report. Of all the chapter headings, they look fairly positive. You and I talked about two of them. But let's go to the other side now, some areas that we're not doing so well at, that we may need to look at, progress, buildings and the way that they use energy. You say in your report, 40 percent of the energy that we use comes from buildings and we're not doing so well in that category.

MAKOWER: Well, in a lot of them, energy is wasted. We can be using it so more smartly in terms of isolating the buildings and running them more efficiently. There's now all kinds of optimizations, software and technologies that can even turn off parts of buildings when nobody is in them or turn down the thermostat automatically. So there's tremendous amounts of energy saved. But that's not as bad as some of the problems we found in the report like the climate change gases and e-waste. There are other big problems we have.

LUI: This was really surprising to me. You talk about the problems surprising. That is commuting. Compared to the '80 to today, more folks are driving alone in their car just despite all of the high gas prices.

MAKOWER: Yeah. Whether gas prices are high or low, Americans love to drive alone. Part of that is the infrastructure, that we don't have good systems that allow, not just for carpooling but mass transit. We've pushed further and further out into the suburbs. So much of commuting is now from one suburb the next when most of the transportation systems are sort of the hub and spoke with the city being in the center and the spokes being in the suburbs. So people can't simply take the bus or rapid transit. They have to drive. And by the way, we all like to be in our cars alone for some reason, even though it's costly and antisocial.

LUI: Right. 76 percent of us, according to your statistics, show that we like to do that. Let me just break it out now. We talked about the good and the bad. Who is doing better, individuals or businesses?

MAKOWER: I think businesses are. I mean people have a hard time changing. And I have been watching this for 20 years. 20 years ago I wrote a book called "The Green Consumer." I've watched consumers say they want to make a change, but not really actually make -- be willing to do anything differently. Part of that is that some of the products have cost more and haven't been as good.

But over the last 20 years, businesses have been slowly, but surely, making these kinds of improvements and using less energy and less water and materials and toxic materials. And they aren't doing this necessarily because they want to save the earth. Although, they all care about that because it's all of our future. This is simply good business. Reducing costs, improving quality, reducing risks and liability and being a better citizen.

LUI: That's a message you've given to the Obama camp. You have spoken with them over the past year about their policies.

Thank you so much, Joel Makower, "State of Green Business 2009." That comes out tomorrow morning. Thank you for the preview. Have a great time in San Francisco.

MAKOWER: My pleasure. Thank you, Richard.

LUI: Squatters in the homes they used to own. A congresswoman tells them not to hand the keys over, a story of outrage and defiance.

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LUI: Traumatic brain injury is a signature wound suffered by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But with some new technology, quick assessments in the field may soon be possible.

Deborah Feyerick reports.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LUI: The list of layoffs just keeps getting longer. The latest company to announce cut backs, Sears, it confirmed this weekend 300 corporate employees are getting pink slips. The cuts, happening at headquarters in Illinois and facilities in Michigan and New York.

Here's a look at other major companies that announced layoffs this week, Allstate, Kodak, Pfizer, just to name a few. More than 145,000 jobs, gone this week alone.

Millions of Americans are losing their homes. One congresswoman has some advice for them now -- refuse to leave.

Drew Griffin of our "Special Investigations Unit" has this story.

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DREW GRIFFIN, HOST, "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT" (voice-over): The notices came to her home in April. Andrea Guice's bank foreclosed on her. Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go. She decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere. Guice is part of a new movement in the housing crisis -- squatters.

(on camera): For lack of a better term, you are kind of squatting in this house, aren't you?

ANDREA GUICE, FORECLOSED HOMEOWNER: Basically, yes.

GRIFFIN: Last resort?

GUICE: Last resort, yes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): More than 4,000 properties were foreclosed on in Toledo's Lucas County last year. This year, it could be worse.

There's a county clerk whose full-time job is typing up and sending out foreclosure notices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomorrow morning, these will be mailed out.

GRIFFIN: Elected officials are saying Toledo is not in a recession. It is a depression. It is this bleak backdrop that inspired Toledo Congresswoman Marcie Kaptur to take the floor of the House earlier this month to tell her constituents to stay put.

REP. MARCIE KAPTUR, (D), OHIO: So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave.

GRIFFIN: Captor says she's had it with government bailouts for Wall Street banks but nothing for homeowners. She is advocating for a legal revolution, a demand that not one of her constituents leaves their home without an attorney and a fight.

(on camera): Even if they've been foreclosed on, don't leave?

KAPTUR: If they've had no legal representation of a high quality? I tell them stay in their homes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Kaptur is behind a strategy called Produce the Note. Mortgages have been so divvied up on Wall Street that banks are having a hard time finding the original paperwork, adding a delay to foreclosures.

She is also pushing banks to rework loans, especially those banks getting bailouts and holding mortgages of folks getting tossed out.

KAPTUR: They are vultures. They prey on our property assets, and I guess the reason I'm so adamant on this is because I know property law and its power to protect the individual homeowner. And I believe that 99.9 percent of our people have not had good legal representation in this.

GRIFFIN: Without a lawyer, Andrea Guice bought a $147,000 home with nearly $40,000 down.

GUICE: I should have had an attorney. I really should have had the attorney. I did not know.

GRIFFIN: She admits she didn't read the paperwork, didn't learn, until it was too late, she had a subprime loan. Her payments of $883 a month jumped in a year to more than $1,500. When it did she, stopped paying.

(on camera): So they foreclosed on you?

GUICE: They foreclosed on me, yep.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The law firm representing the bank in Guice's foreclosure declined comment to CNN. Another one to the banks, Guice believes holds her note, Wells Fargo, said it wouldn't comment on individual cases but tries to work with homeowners.

Backed by her congresswoman, Guice simply is not budgeting.

Drew Griffin, Toledo, Ohio.

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LUI: For some people, they are more anticipated than the game itself. We are talking about Super Bowl ads. This year's commercials may be a little different than this year's past.

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LUI: Do you need to get away but worried about the cost? Use those Frequent Flier miles. Richelle Carey reports on rule changes that could have you on the go now.

(CNN ON THE GO)

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LUI: Do you watch the game or commercials? Advertisers are plugging down big money for just 30 seconds during the Super Bowl. Is it worth the gamble?

CNN's Larry Smith takes a look at it for us.

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LARRY SMITH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The annual battle for commercial supremacy during Sunday's Super Bowl will come with the record price tag of $3 million for 30 second of ad time. In today's desperate economy, the real question may be is it really worth it?

TY MONTAGUE, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, JWT: It buys you access to an audience of 100 million people, or almost 100 million people. The Super Bowl still is one of the great shared experiences in our culture today.

JOEL EWANICK, V.P. OF MARKETING, HYUNDAI: It actually gives us an opportunity to talk to almost all of America at the time when they are actually paying attention to commercials. It's not that they are just watching the game. they are also watching the commercials.

SMITH: Hyundai is in for the second year in a row. But as stock prices tumble and unemployment rises daily, some companies decided they simply cannot justify the expense this year.

General Motors bailed out under pressure from Congressional hearings. While FedEx also decided to stay on the sidelines, saying in a statement, "There is a time to justify such an ad spend and a time to step back. Being in the game simply sends the wrong message to both employees and other FedEx constituents."

NBC, which will broadcast the game, sold 85 percent of the ads by mid September, but has been struggling since the economy tanked shortly thereafter, and is still a few spots from being sold out.

DICK EBERSOL, CHAIRMAN, NBC SPORTS: It began to be a little bit slower in making decisions. But now in this last month, getting back to the fact that, if you are in a Super Bowl, it's an unrivalled way to get attention, and so people have come through.

SMITH: Many signed on feel it's worth it to be in the lineup if only to show competitors and consumers alike that they can still afford to be.

EWANICK: We have seen the companies that have actually pushed harder during recession that have actually come out better.

MONTAGUE: Certainly, clients can use that environment and the price tag to make a statement about their stability. If you have the money to pay, to be in the Super Bowl, it does say something about your bullishness and your financial stability.

SMITH: And although the price tag is for 30 seconds, in this Internet age, a Super Bowl advertiser gets a lot more than half a minute of attention.

MONTAGUE: People search the ads the next day. They comment on other people's opinions about the ads. They look at the polls to see who did better and who did worse and they debate all of that. And all of that is value.

SMITH: While only one team can be crowned Super Bowl champion on Sunday, the advertisers are confident they will all be winners too.

Larry Smith, CNN, Tampa.

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LUI: I'm Richard Lui, in for Fredericka Whitfield on this Sunday. I hope you have a great day. "NEWSROOM" continues in one hour with Don Lemon.

Up next, we have for you Fareed Zakaria on "GPS."

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