Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama to Meet with Governors; Arrest in the Chandra Levy Case?; Housing Bailout
Aired February 21, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As we have been talking about this morning, a very big week ahead for the president. Monday, he'll be meeting with democrat and republican governors from across the country. You can bet that the stimulus and the economy will be number one on their list.
Just yesterday Mr. Obama met with about 80 mayors from across the country. During that meeting Obama warned the group, be very careful with how you spend this money. Continuing with the economy this week, Mr. Obama will be hosting what they're calling a bipartisan fiscal responsibility summit, bringing together lawmakers, economists, people from the business and labor sectors trying to attack deficits and long-term budget issues.
Another big economic point that you keep an eye on this week will be Thursday when we'll get a view of the first Obama budget. The 2010 budget will be unveiled and it will be closely watched. I have to tell you, Betty, listen here to Congressman Dave Camp of Michigan in the republican response from this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DAVE CAMP, (R) MICHIGAN: The summit next week is an important step as is the budge outline the president will release at the end of the week. If he is serious about dealing with the tough issues, and getting spending under control, his budget will show it. If we do not act, we doom the next generation to fewer and worse government services, drastic tax increases and unprecedented debt. We must not leave that legacy to our children and our grandchildren.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Congressman Camp as well as other republicans continuing to criticize this administration and democrats in power for what they consider reckless spending so early in this administration. Congressman Camp saying in his republican response that this coming week is a big week, an opportunity Betty to hit the reset button in terms of trying to move forward in a bipartisan way which everyone can pretty much agree at this point that it did not fall along bipartisan lines as people were hoping when it comes to the stimulus package.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, well the question is will that reset button work. We'll be watching.
BOLDUAN: If it doesn't work any more we'll see.
NGUYEN: All right, Kate Bolduan, thank you so much for that.
And CNN has the president's address to congress covered right here Tuesday night, 9:00 eastern, followed by Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television. And at midnight a special edition of "Larry King Live." Remember you can also watch along with your Facebook friends at cnn.com/live.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's governors are descending on the nation's capital. Some doubt that the stimulus package will help them out a whole lot. Tomorrow night the president plans to have them over for dinner and maybe a little chitchat about the economy. A few high profile governors however will not be there. Alaska's Sarah Palin says she can't get away from her legislature in session and also New Mexico's Bill Richardson, who was of course the president's first choice to head the commerce department. He of course had to pull out because of a few dealings with a particular company that did business with his state. He's not going to be there either, don't have exactly the reason why he won't make it.
Another bank failure to tell you about right now, this is the Silver Falls Bank. It's the second one in Oregon to fail in a week, it's also the 14th to fail in this country this year. Customers however will not be shut out. Citizen's Bank and the FDIC will be taking over.
NGUYEN: An update on billionaire Robert Allen Stanford who's accused of investment fraud. Regulators have taken control of his financial institutions in the east Caribbean and they have appointed receivers to manage the banks. Stanford is accused of orchestrating a multi billion dollar investment fraud scheme. No criminal charges have been filed.
The Texas billionaire's 81-year-old father is calling for his son to come clean. But so far Robert Allen Stanford isn't talking publicly as he continues to live the high life. Here's our Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Billionaire Robert Allen Stanford seen on Sky News cavorting at a cricket match. But quaint Fredericksburg, Virginia is where the FBI found him and served papers alleging he engaged in a $92 billion fraud scheme. His girlfriend's mother lives here. At a Fredericksburg espresso shop, shop locals speculated about why Stanford chose to hide out in this community, mid way between Washington and Richmond.
LINDA WESTERMANN, FREDERICKSBURG, VA RESIDENT: You're nearer transportation, you can hop a flight from three different airports or four different airports actually. It's not a major artery.
MESERVE: Brothers Graham and Kenyan Cobble found the case a sad commentary.
KENYAN COBLE, FREDERICKSBURG, VA RESIDENT: It's another story about another crook who's from what I understand has walked off with a lot of people's money. That's disturbing. That's really sad.
GRAHAM COBLE, FREDERICKSBURG, VA RESIDENT: Kind of a sign of the times though. There are more of those kinds of people all the time, we're just now finding them, that's all.
MESERVE: The Securities and Exchange Commission -- inoperable and unsubstantiated high interest rates. The news prompted a run on Stanford's banks in Antigua and Venezuela and regulators in both countries have now seized control. Stanford is surrendering his passport to the Department of Justice, but he wasn't arrested. There are no criminal charges against him. In Texas, his father, 81-year- old James Stanford described his son as ambitious and highly aggressive, but said he knew nothing about any wrongful business dealings.
JAMES STANFORD, SUSPECT'S FATHER: If I could tell him anything, Allen call me just do the right thing. Whatever it is.
MESERVE (on camera): Where is Stanford now? If his girlfriend's relatives know, they aren't saying. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We are told that an arrest is coming in the case of Chandra Levy. We are hearing that the arrest is actually imminent, the word being used. CNN affiliate KGO reporting police in Washington, D.C. are seeking an arrest warrant for Ingmar Guandicki. He is already in a federal prison system. D.C.'s police chief says there's no new information ready for release at this time. However you will remember this name and remember that face and remember this case. It got national attention back in 2001 when she disappeared. She was a Washington intern. The body found about a year later in Rock Creek Park there in Washington, D.C. Our affiliate KXTV talked with Levy's parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN LEVY, MOTHER: We want justice. And truly for a parent there is no justice. We have a life sentence not having our child, knowing what happened.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You might remember that face there as well. And you will remember the name because a lot of the publicity surrounding the case resulted from Levy's romantic relationship with then California Congressman Gary Condit. He was questioned several times, never officially named a suspect, however.
NGUYEN: Listen to this story, murder charges have been filed against an 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy. Here's what he's accused of, killing a woman who was eight months pregnant. She had two other children and police have offered no motive in this case. It's also not known right now if the boy is related to the woman. But he is jailed on charges of criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child. The woman's body was found by her 5-year-old daughter.
HOLMES: Well, just about everybody in the world is looking for Osama bin Laden. The full force of the American military is looking for this guy. So, the California professor, what can he add to it? How about a computer?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered, President Obama's stimulus package aims to help those homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. But how do you separate the truly deserving without rewarding those financially irresponsible. That's a big question. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the raw politics surrounding the housing bailout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The housing bailout is welcome news in some places, but not in others. Like this Orlando neighborhood where some taxpayers see raw politics more than sound policies.
BRUCE TIMBERLINE, HOMEOWNER: I think it's a plastic constituency ruse that the democrats are so good at where they basically put people on the dole, that is they start up with the public trough and they end up voting democrat.
FOREMAN: On the internet blog sites are burning, it's insane. Where is fair? Why on earth should anyone that lived within their means be forced to pay for someone who took on excessive risk? And on TV, a CNBC reporter's rant.
RICK SANTELLI, CNBC BUSINESS NEWS: This is America. How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills, raise their hand.
Boo!
SANTELLI: President Obama, are you listening?
FOREMAN: At the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was listening.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would encourage him to read the president's plan. And understand that it will help millions of people, many of whom he knows.
FOREMAN: Many who oppose the bill however seem to understand it fine, they just think it's wrong.
(On camera): Opponents argue this plan simply has no clear way to determine if a troubled homeowner added to his mortgage problems by spending too much money on other things, for example sending his kids to private school or buying expensive cars or taking lavish vacations.
(Voice-over): In announcing the plan, the president took pains to say that money will not go to people who made bad decisions or bought too much house.
OBAMA: But I want to be very clear about what this plan will not do. It will not rescue the unscrupulous or irresponsible by throwing good taxpayer money after bad loans.
FOREMAN: But today, his press secretary said --
GIBBS: There will be people that made bad decisions that in some ways will get help.
FOREMAN: Still supporters remain firm.
SHEILA BAIR, FDIC CHAIRWOMAN: We are all in this together. This is a housing-led recession, the relentless spiral of home price declines caused by unnecessary foreclosures is hurting everyone.
FOREMAN: In other words everyone is in the same leaky boat, like it or not, they say this plan is the only bucket for bailing. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, just about everybody out there worried about their job these days. Will it be there next week? Maybe next month? Sadly you may already been be among the 5 million people collecting unemployment benefits. With that comes concern about paying your bills including the house note, housing and foreclosures, topic of a special hour of CNN NEWSROOM later today and we want you to play a part in it. E-mail us at weekends@cnn.com. Tell us your story, have you actually lost your home or are you about to? Is your mortgage company working with you? Also send us your questions that you need to have answered. A couple of financial experts will join us to answer those questions, provide you some advice. This will be at 4:00 Eastern Time right here. You can e-mail us at weekends@cnn.com.
NGUYEN: If you have some weather question today, you're about to head out, we're no experts but we can tell you it's going to be dry in the plains?
HOLMES: Dry in the plains?
NGUYEN: That's what it says. Rainy and snowy just about everywhere else, right that's the message we got.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Not as bad as many have led us to believe. That's the headline from a new Pentagon report detailing the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. According to a defense official with knowledge of this report, Guantanamo has followed treatment standards spelled out by the Geneva conventions. But, the report recommends changes in how dangerous prisoners are handled. The report was commissioned after President Obama ordered Gitmo's closing within a year.
HOLMES: Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden has eluded America's military for years and years. But now an associate geography professor armed with a computer thinks he knows how to find bin Laden. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From this tiny UCLA office, Tom Gillespie is on the trail of the FBI's most wanted man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think everyone would like to know where Osama bin Laden is.
GUTIERREZ: Osama bin Laden has eluded top government intelligence officials for years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we can see the building.
GUTIERREZ: So this associate professor of geography and his students have joined the search. It's taken them through the rugged terrain between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have even searched house to house in a town where bin Laden may be hiding. They have done it all from Los Angeles using high resolution satellite imagery. The results were published in the MIT International Review.
THOMAS GILLESPIE, UCLA ASSOCIATE PROF. OF GEOGRAPHY: The resolution of the imagery has gotten so high that for almost every point on earth, almost every day we have .4 meter resolution of data.
GUTIERREZ: That's about 16 inches. Then they apply something called distance decay theory which is used in geography to predict the distribution of wildlife like this crusted iguana. But this time bin Laden is the endangered species. They began their search by applying what they know about bin Laden like his last known location.
GILLESPIE: His last known location was Tora Bora in 2001.
GUTIERREZ: Gillespie's model shows that there is more than a 90 percent probability that bin Laden is not in a remote cave, but in this large town called Parachinar, in a tribal region of Pakistan.
GILLESPIE: We use his life history characteristics, which are things like his height which is 6'4". So we assumed all buildings had to be over 6'4". He has a kidney dialysis machine, so we assume all buildings had to have electricity. We assumed there is some protection so we assumed a wall over 3 meters.
GUTIERREZ: Then they looked for those buildings and found three that matched. What if your assumptions are incorrect? For example, the intelligence community doesn't necessarily believe that he is on dialysis.
GILLESPIE: That's a good question. If they believe that, then it would be great if they would tell us and let us know.
GUTIERREZ: Gillespie has no doubt the government is also using satellite in their hunt. Why not leave it up to the government?
GILLESPIE: Well, like I said, it's been eight years, right, so I mean at some point I think you can say let's just do our best to try to create a model for which we can try to find him.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Tom Gillespie said he did inform the FBI, he went to their website and submitted the study but he hasn't heard back from them. About the study, the FBI would only confirm they received it. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Americans feeling the stress from our troubled economy, but college students have their own unique worries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My parents wanted so much for me and at times it feels like I can't deliver it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: As students sound off to CNN's Tony Harris. Class is in session, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Your college years may be a distant memory but the loan that you are still paying off, all too familiar.
HOLMES: Yes, it's showing up on your statement every month ain't it? Today's college kids have more than loans to worry about in this tough economy. Our friend and colleague Tony Harris headed back to class and got an earful. Class is in session.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody, how are you? Class is in session Georgia Tech style. Here we go. How are you? Lord have mercy. Hi, what's your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christine?
HARRIS: Let's have at it, all right? Class is in session. Are you angry about the circumstances that we're in now? And do you attach blame to anyone? Raw emotions here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't just make me angry, it kind of makes me irate. Because after seeing so many people --
HARRIS: So you're beyond angry?
VERNELL WOODS: I am beyond angry simply because after seeing so many people in my family, friends, parents of friends, simply struggling that have been working for countless numbers of years, simply struggling because of our economy is going down. And so often we want to play the blame game, we want to blame it on this person --
HARRIS: And I'm asking you to do that.
WOODS: And somewhat the way you're asking but me I'm not at that point yet, but not just looking at me, but looking at the generations that are coming after me. I'm looking at my little cousins and the younger people, I don't care about who caused it.
HARRIS: You want to move forward?
WOODS: I want a fix.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
SHELBY BERNARD: I'm so angry, I'm a first-generation American and so we moved here because we felt like this was the land of opportunity and if we could make it any where we could make it here. And now I'm looking like, maybe I'll have a job if I move back to where my parents are originally from, you know. That should never be. We immigrated and we feel like we failed or I might not have the possibility to succeed, that's heart breaking.
CHRISTINE LIU: I have the same story as she does. My parents came here and they had I think together I heard the story like 50 times, about $49 in their pocket together and now they're both making, my parents are making around six figures, that's the American dream. To come here with less than $50 and to suddenly be making six figures.
HARRIS: You may not do as well as your parents?
LIU: No. And that's the unfortunate thing about it. My parents are honestly considering, like, thinking about, you know, maybe China as a good option. Because I'm from -- my parents --
HARRIS: Is that really a discussion point in your family?
LIU: Well, my dad wants -- currently the job market with my dad because he's an engineer. It's really hard to actually stay up because we have all these Georgia Tech students who are out with the new information and stuff like that, they're coming in and taking the older people's jobs so my dad doesn't actually have the opportunity to get the job. But he's a really smart guy and so he's considering going back to China and maybe starting up a job there. Which should never be an option? He moved here in the first place to get the opportunity to raise his daughters in a good environment in a good place so that they could have whatever they wanted. Whatever they dreamt for they could have it.
HARRIS: This American dream.
LIU: Yes. I mean to see it right now, it's almost heart breaking.
HARRIS: That was my next question, how does it make you feel? LIU: It makes me angry and it makes me a little sad to think about it because I have -- like my parents wanted so much for me and at times it feels like I can't deliver it because -- I'm here for an education, my tuition here is actually with the hope is more expensive than my sister's was. And my sister is only four years older than I am.
HARRIS: Is that pressure on you?
LIU: That's a lot of pressure on me actually, to keep up that level of perfection that you need to have in order to make it in this country.
NICK WELKAMP: Now I'm angry because we're talking about billions, maybe trillions of dollars in bailout funds. But where is that money coming from? The current generation is mortgaging our generation's future. We're going to be the ones who are going to have to pay for it. Now I'm not mad that we're trying to revitalize our economy I'm mad that we have to be doing this to revitalize our economy.
BERNARD: There's no bailout for me if I can't pay my student loans back because I don't have a job. I'll only need 100 grand.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Some real dilemmas that college students are faced with today. And you can hear more from these bright future leaders. Tony Harris is back next Friday with another class in session. The students get very honest about race in America. Again, that's next Friday beginning at noon eastern.
HOLMES: All right, you know the song, Betty.
NGUYEN: Sing it for me.
HOLMES: I'm only a bill. I don't know the rest of it. You know the whole, the bill on Capitol Hill, schoolhouse rock thing, that's what we're getting into. Josh Levs is going to put it in terms that I can understand. About who's paying for the economic stimulus.
NGUYEN: But he's not going to sing it, thank goodness.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Now we'll update you on a story, a couple of stories we're keeping an eye on this morning. One of them is about Chandra Levy, police may be close to making an arrest in one of Washington's most infamous cold cases. Again, you'll recognize the name and the face from many years ago. Our affiliate KGO reporting that police are pursuing an arrest warrant against a prison inmate. Police not confirming that just yet however. You may remember the 24- year-old was a D.C. intern from California who disappeared from a Washington park almost eight years ago, her remains were found about a year later. Also memorial services being held this morning for two of the victims in the Buffalo plane crash. One of them is Beverly Eckert, whose husband was killed in the September 11 attacks. The other is Vietnam veteran Don Wollensky who was killed when the plane crashed into his home.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama has been in office 33 days, his popularity is down a little bit since all the hoopla over the inauguration. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider says that's to be expected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Obama is a month into his honeymoon, is the love still there? Yes, it is. Mr. Obama's approval rating is still very high, 67 percent. When is the last time President Bush had an approval rating that high? You'd have to go all the back to March 2003, when the initial fighting ended in Iraq. Still, 67 percent approval is nine points lower than two weeks ago. Two thirds of that decline came among republicans. For them, it's over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country is screwed.
SCHNEIDER: It's the stimulus plan isn't it? Overall public support for the plan is strong, 60 percent of Americans favor it. But the stimulus plan has become a real cause of contention. Nearly a quarter of republicans support it but more than three-quarters of them don't. It won't work they say.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield in jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Will too say democrats nearly 90 percent of who support it.
REP. MAXINE WATERS, (D) CALIFORNIA: It is going to stimulate the economy. It's going to create jobs. In the state of California we're going to get almost 400,000 jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Is there anything people think President Obama can't do? Yes. The public is not sure he can end the partisan gridlock in Washington. Do they really want him to? Yes, most Americans say they would rather see Mr. Obama try to reach a bipartisan compromise rather than pass laws that he thinks are right for the country that are not supported by republicans. In other words they want to see more love.
(On camera): Has the Republican Party taken a hit because they oppose the stimulus plan? The Republican Party is still nearly 20 points behind the Democratic Party in popularity. That was true in December. It doesn't look like the republicans have paid a price for opposing the stimulus plan, but they haven't made any gains either. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: All right so big hopes are riding on the $787 billion stimulus package to put the brakes on the recession and just turn this economy around.
HOLMES: That's a lot of money. I thought we were broke. Where is the money coming from? Where exactly is all that coming from? How exactly is some of it expected to end up in your pocket? Here now Josh Levs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS: All right, so do you want to know how the stimulus money works its way to you? It's just like this, see this is it, Uncle Sam raining dollars on America. That will be nice, not exactly. All right, let's go to reality here. We're going to go to the next screen, I'll show you where all the money starts and how it works its way through to you. In order to have the $787 billion plan going on. The U.S. has to raise that money. The treasury raises the money through bonds at auction. Now you've heard about bonds before, you may own some bonds.
But you know (INAUDIBLE) bonds. Generally sold to two groups of people, the U.S. public and foreign governments. That's why when you hear that the United States is so indebted to other nations it's because so many other nations are buying these bonds from the treasury. And this applies, whether we're talking about tax cuts or spending, the government has to raise that $787 billion to fund the bill. Let's go to the next screen now because we're going to show you what happens next. The treasury gets on that money, right? It sends its money out to the states to fund projects all over the state. Now to use a specific example, on the next screen, we decided to go for Texas. Why not? Everyone loves Texas.
So this is the Texas Department of Transportation. They get some of that money from the U.S. Treasury, they then use that money to fund a project. These are some workers working on a road or a bridge. Now you might be thinking, wait a second, I'm not one of them, how does this get to me? That's when we get to this last screen right here which is one way it's getting to you. Because of a tax credit that's included in the stimulus bill, on average, people will be getting about $15 -- most people will be getting $15 more per paycheck, if you assume about 26 paychecks per year, she seems pretty excited to have an extra $15 more on each paycheck.
That again comes from those bonds at the beginning. The treasury is saying you can keep a little bit more of your money, but to make up for it, they're having to raise all the other money through the bonds. That's how it all works out. And of course you can always get more details on exactly what's happening with all that stimulus money at cnnmoney.com. Back to you.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Did you get all that Betty?
NGUYEN: I'm writing it down. HOLMES: I saw you taking notes. As Josh just said you can find more about the stimulus package and how it's broken down, you can go to cnnmoney.com. And you can also check out ways to boost your home value and see how your state is doing when it comes to foreclosures. All things financial, cnnmoney.com.
NGUYEN: It's been a fast-paced 33 days in office for President Obama, but is there anything that he could have learned from his predecessor that would serve him today? Well our D.L. Hughley spoke with a former White House press secretary to get his thoughts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D.L. HUGHLEY: You see Obama coming in. He's very popular.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HUGHLEY: Do you think that there's anything he can learn from the Bush administration?
ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: The most important thing in public life is to stand by your principles and act on them. This is what attracts people to you. You might be right and you might be wrong, nobody's smart enough to really know. But if people think you're sincere and it comes from your heart, people will back you up. That's why George Bush won in 2004. A lot of people said he beat John Kerry in an election and one of the reasons was people said, I may not agree with everything you stand for, but at least I know you take strong positions and you mean it. That carries a lot of weight in politics. It's called sincerity.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And this reminder, D.L. Hughley breaks the news tonight at 10:00 eastern, and again tomorrow night at 11:00 eastern.
You might think twice about getting in your car if this idea actually goes through.
HOLMES: Is this big brother or big savings? You'll decide next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Chinese officials in Beijing this morning in her first official visit as part of the Obama administration. They reportedly talked trade, security, the environment and even human rights. Beijing is the last but possibly most important stop on Clinton's week long Asian tour and she says quote, "It is essential that the United States and China have a positive cooperative relationship."
HOLMES: We have all heard of miles per gallon, but what about taxes per mile? The idea was test driven this week but quickly hit a political dead end. But down the road who knows? Here now CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small box on the dashboard, a tiny antenna on the trunk. Not GPS or mobile communications, but a system to tax you for the miles you drive. It's been tested in Oregon and other states are considering it. Why?
ROBERT PUENTES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It's like federal gas tax is not building off enough revenues even to maintain the systems that we have today. No less expanding it for 21st century economy.
TODD: Last fall, congress had to approve $8 billion for roads and bridges because gas taxes couldn't pay for all of it. Experts say people are now driving less and buying more fuel efficient cars so there's less gas tax money. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood talked about a federal mileage tax, telling the associated press, "We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they travel." But after CNN and others inquired about it, the White House said this.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That it is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration.
TODD: Even though the mileage taxes might eventually take the place of gas taxes, there is driver backlash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm one of those people that actually travel a little far to go to work. I travel like two hours. So I don't know about something like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a bad idea, I don't want them to know where I'm at.
TODD: If it happens, computer chips would be placed in cars and the government would track drivers with GPS like systems, logging how much each car is driven and where. One consumer watch dog group is monitoring the privacy issues surrounding this idea.
HARLEY GEIGER, CTR. FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: Law enforcement might have an interest in that information. Civil litigants might also and depending on the safeguards built around the device itself, the domestic abuser might have interest in that information.
TODD: When Oregon state officials tested this idea, their report said privacy was protected because no specific vehicle point location or trip data could be stored or transmitted just mileage totals in certain zones were tallied and the amount of fuel purchased was recorded. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Do you go for that idea?
NGUYEN: I don't know, I don't know if I'm really comfortable with the government knowing exactly where I am, tracking me where I'm going.
HOLMES: None of us are comfortable knowing where you're going.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Are you tired of shutting your cell phone off every time you have to get on a flight? I am.
HOLMES: Aren't you? I cannot imagine. You do not want to sit next to somebody.
NGUYEN: Well you know this, I have about three phones, you've got four or five. And to shut all of them off and remember to turn them back on when you land it's a bit of an issue.
HOLMES: Not really Betty. There are bigger problems. You don't want to sit on a plane though and listen to somebody talk on their phone the whole time though, do you?
NGUYEN: That's true.
HOLMES: But on some trips, you don't have that problem shutting off all your phones Betty. Stay tuned, we'll explain.
NGUYEN: We have answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Would you put your phone down for a second?
HOLMES: I was, well you're telling me to shut it off, because you have to shut things down.
NGUYEN: Because if you fly anywhere in the U.S., you're used to being told you have to turn that phone off, right?
HOLMES: And you have to go through, some people carry more than one, two or three phones.
NGUYEN: The problem is once you turn it off and you land, I often forget to turn it back on.
HOLMES: I never forget. As soon as the wheels touch down.
NGUYEN: All of them come back on.
HOLMES: They do. But there's an overseas carrier that's bringing back the buzz and allowing passengers to use their cell phones and blackberries in flight. Our Jim Boulden checking out the reception for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This may seem like a typical flight aboard Ryanair from London to Dublin. After takeoff, time to close my eyes for a bit. Then this happens. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, also aboard this afternoon this flight you're also able to use your cell phones.
BOULDEN: Anyone on this plane can now make or perhaps more annoyingly receive a call on their own phone.
(On camera): On this flight, only phones that can connect to the 02 service will work. This one does. So let's give it a try. Ryanair says it's the first low-cost carrier installing the service across its entire fleet. How does it sound to you?
A slight delay, perhaps, but that didn't deter other journalists invited on board to test the service.
Do you think passengers are really going to want this? Is this going to be successful?
CAHAL MILMO, THE INDEPENDENT: I'm not entirely sure. I think it will work with a degree of novelty value in the initial period. Obviously, it's going to have benefits for business travelers, and I imagine by the end of the day that's going to be the core market.
BOULDEN: It wasn't long before phones started to ring and interrupt my interview with an executive from the company providing the technology.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't have picked a better moment because I'm standing in front of a camera with CNN. Exciting. All right. Bye.
BOULDEN: It was a bit of an unexpected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was my office calling, actually.
BOULDEN: That was your first call ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first inbound call, yes.
BOULDEN: A number of other airlines are rolling out GSM service onboard including British Airways and Royal Jordanian. Emirates started providing it last year. Though in the United States the use of cell phones on airplanes is still banned.
Very good.
BOULDEN: Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary says it's an obvious way to make extra revenue. Passengers are charged by the minute for voice calls. There is also a fee for e-mail and sending texts.
MICHAEL O'LEARY, CEO, RYANAIR: Once we have fitted the entire fleet of 170 aircraft and we're carrying 100 million passengers a year, a very small portion of revenue per passenger will result in very large revenue flows to our partners On Air and Ryanair.
BOULDEN: On Air says in the next five years the majority of airlines will be kitted out along with many private jets.
(On camera): Still if you just can't stand the thought of the person sitting next to you receiving or making mobile phone calls, remember, the airline can turn the service off, for instance, overnight or they can limit the voice part of the service so you can still receive and send texts or connect to the internet. Jim Boulden, CNN, Dublin.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: But it does eliminate, you know, that little bit of relief sometimes when you know you have to take a flight and you're thinking the office can't reach me. I have a little bit of a reprieve.
HOLMES: Yes.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Not anymore soon.
NGUYEN: Not on that flight.
HOLMES: Oh, Fredericka, can you imagine being on a plane and having somebody talk on their cell phone the whole flight.
WHITFIELD: That would be miserable.
NGUYEN: Especially if they're having relationship problems and you have to listen to all of that.
HOLMES: How did we get there?
NGUYEN: You know it happens on planes. People talk about everything.
WHITFIELD: I know, it's true. Usually when I get on a plane I look forward to a nice nap. I'm asleep before we depart the jet way.
NGUYEN: You may not anymore.
HOLMES: We'll be napping shortly as soon as we can hand this off to you.
WHITFIELD: You'll be napping, not me.
NGUYEN: We've been up since 2:00 this morning.
WHITFIELD: Meantime, Joe, our producers is like can you get to the tease. We digress. Any way, always good to see you guys. All right, Alvin Ailey, the dance theater, everyone knows about this group. They've been around for 50 years, pretty remarkable. The artistic director Judith Jamison is going to be stopping by right here in Atlanta to talk about the legacy of the Alvin Ailey and to talk about how they endure when so many performing artist groups are suffering in these tough economic times.
Let's also talk about trouble for entertainer Chris Brown especially now that new images have been released involving his alleged victim, girlfriend, Rihanna. We're going to be delving into this legal matter with our Avery Friedman. And then later on today, we want you to stick around all day and think about some of your questions that you might have for experts on the foreclosure crisis.
The housing, the mortgage mess. Perhaps you've got some thoughts or concerns especially after hearing about the Obama administration's plan to help resuscitate the housing industry. All of that straight ahead and that's going to be in the 4:00 eastern hour when we focus on the entire hour on the housing crisis, but we're taking in e-mail questions all day.
NGUYEN: We did it this morning and got a ton of them. People just want to know how do I get in on it.
WHITFIELD: It has become, sharing the number one concern along with jobs.
NGUYEN: Right.
WHITFIELD: As people have concerns about the entire economy.
HOLMES: You have a lot going on Fredericka. We'll see you in just a minute.
WHITFIELD: Ok, thank you so much. Enjoy your nap today.
HOLMES: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: But tune in when you can.
HOLMES: We will be tuned in. We have another economic story to tell you about and more bad news, but not having to do with numbers necessarily. It has to do with your sex life.
NGUYEN: Yep. CNN found out that the economy is really affecting your love life. We'll show you how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. You have worries about your job, your mortgage, your dwindling 401(k). That stuff can affect more than just your outlook.
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely. Any one of those things can just zap the romance right out of your life and then you put them all together and then they are a triple whammy. So what can you do? Well, Erica Hill talks to the experts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In today's New York, the sequel might be sexless and the city. Imagine Carrie out of a job, Mr. Big out of cash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we afford this? HILL: And their sex life just plain on the out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too much stress, too much worry, too much anxiety equals zero sex.
HILL: In recession, romance can disappear faster than your 401(k).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're struggling with stress that's always anything to take its toll on your relationship and your sex life. Now you're not only dealing with stress, but you're also dealing with financial worries which are a huge libido killer in particular for men, but for women as well.
HILL: Translation, stress is bad for your sex life. A recent poll from the news and opinion website "The Daily Beast" found 30 percent of those surveyed are less interested in having sex during the financial downturn. Dating is also slipping and families may not be growing. 42 percent said they are less likely to have a child because of the economic collapse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thinking of having a second infant in uncertain times is a little terrifying.
HILL: The uncertainty can also lead to more stress and fights.
LAURA BERMAN, SEX THERAPIST: What happens when you're struggling with money is that you begin to feel very unsafe emotionally and literally. It leads to lots of issues of conflict and so it's very easy for couples to be kind of torn apart during this time.
HILL: But wait. There's also the other extreme. Interestingly, as couples are shying away from sex, the business of sex might actually be thriving in this economy. One therapist recently told CNN some of his Wall Street clients are paying for sex more often even as their incomes plummet.
JONATHAN ALPET, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Some people may drink to cope with stress. Others may use drugs. These people are using sex as a way to distract themselves or numb up some of the feelings of anxiety.
HILL: If you're a little anxious about the downturn's effect on your relationship, there is one simple solution.
BERMAN: Really just hang out together and listen to some music, play a game, have a glass of wine, but really spend that quality time together where you can escape even if it's just for 15 minutes a couple of days a week from the reality that's bearing down on most of us.
HILL: Most of us, but not all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since I have no money to spend, sex has been like increasing. Because what else could you do?
HILL: Erica Hill, CNN, New York. NGUYEN: I don't even know what to say to that.
HOLMES: Let's just say hello to Fredricka Whitfield. She's a professional.
NGUYEN: We covered all of the Bases?
HOLMES: We got it.
WHITFIELD: We don't shy away from any topic around here.
All right, you guys, have a great day. How's that?
NGUYEN: Take care.
