Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Severe Weather in the South; GOP 2012 Hopefuls; No Recession in Fargo

Aired February 28, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Homes severely damaged, trees snapped. But thankfully no deaths reported when severe weather barrels through the south.

And will the GOP candidate for president please step forward? Conservatives eyeing 2012 meet to find a strategy.

And what recession? There's nothing but good news coming out of one U.S. city.

Hello again everyone, I'm Fredericka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Unfolding this hour, much of the southeast is on alert for severe weather, including parts of Alabama. From the greater Birmingham area, authorities say a funnel cloud was spotted near Chelsea that's still unconfirmed, but the damage is obvious. A few motorists say that they were actually blown off the roads by high winds.

And this is video we brought in within the past hour from the Auburn, Alabama area where the National Weather Service is trying to validate two reported tornado touchdowns this morning. Several houses were damaged, as you can see, and one home reportedly destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard something like a freight train. We thought it was the tornado just shaking the foundation of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the barn went, several cows and horses were floating around in the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just started looking around outside the house and realized my daughter's room is completely gone and there's water coming in the house everywhere. So we're just trying to save what we can right now, pictures and things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very scary. But by the grace of God, we're still here.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Counting their blessings.

And watch out, peanut country. That's where the severe weather threat is heightened for southeastern Alabama around the circle city of Dothan and spanning to southwest and central Georgia. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is on top of all of this. Boy, a lot to keep in touch with.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. We're really just getting started here, Fredericka. We're starting with the rain. We had that yesterday. Today we're really seeing more of the severe weather. And tomorrow at this time --

WHITFIELD: What?

JERAS: Oh, yeah.

WHITFIELD: Reynolds is saying snow. You know I don't believe it.

JERAS: This is the first time all season long, at least for example the Atlanta metro area that I'm drinking the Kool-Aid. I believe it's going to happen this go-around. I have a lot of winter weather experience, I'll tell you forecasting up north as well. It looks very probable that we're going to be seeing some heavy snow across parts of the southeast tomorrow. Let's start with what's first at hand. That's the severe weather. We've had at least three reports now of tornadoes causing that damage. We saw some of the video. We show you Google Earth now and we'll show you the location of those tornadoes. Really kind of confined into a smaller area. There you can see it.

I'll zoom in for you and there you can see the three tornado icon markers kind of sandwiched right there in between Montgomery, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. Where is the severe weather threat at this hour? Well, it shifted a little farther on down to the south. Take a look at that map from the Florida panhandle stemming up through the Dothan area as you mentioned, south of Macon, over toward Savannah into the Hilton Head area. This watch is in effect until 7:00 local time. This is going to head through your evening. If you're thinking of going out for dinner tonight, make sure you have a severe weather plan of what you're going to do if and when those sirens do go off.

Dodge and Telfair counties in south central Georgia under a tornado warning at this time. This is a Doppler radar indicated tornado, but we've seen some of that ground truth already today, so take them very seriously. On the north end of this system, we're just looking at some moderate to light rain showers as we head through the Carolinas on up into the mid-Atlantic. Here's that cold air which is going to be meeting up with some of this moisture in the southeast. It's bringing plenty of snow today across parts of Missouri also in the western parts of Tennessee into Kentucky. Winter storm warnings in effect because tonight and into early tomorrow, we could see a couple of inches of snow into parts of Mississippi. That's going to make its way through Alabama and Georgia and then eventually we're going to watch this whole thing ride up to the coast.

This is quite the storm that we're going to be following for days and may ultimately be a big travel headache for a whole lot of folks across the northeastern quarter. We're talking a major winter storm. Close call if it's going to be heading to those big cities or the heaviest precipts is going to be offshore. This is one we're going to be watching real closely throughout the weekend and early next week. WHITFIELD: All right we're counting on you Jacqui. Thanks so much appreciate it.

On now to the storm of politics, if you will. Will Mr. or Ms. Right please step forward? Conservatives are meeting in Washington today looking for new leadership for the post Bush era. The conservative political action conference or CPAC as its known, plans a straw poll actually this afternoon trying to pick out the top names of the potential presidential candidates for 2012. And guess who just might be on that list? It includes Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY, (R) MINNESOTA: President Obama outlined a budget a few days ago that has our national deficit for one year going to nearly $1.8 trillion. $1.8 trillion. A day or two later, the democrats convened a fiscal responsibility summit. What's next? Are they going to have Rod Blagojevich convene an ethics summit? When we saw secretary of state Hillary Clinton in China just days ago, I'm sure you cringed -- and I was sad as well -- pleading with the Chinese to continue to buy our debt less the financial house of cards that the federal government has built up come crumbling down. What a sad moment for the United States of America to have a senior official pleading with the Chinese government to sustain our debt because we can't do it ourselves.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So that's what's happening in Washington. But what exactly is CPAC? Let's try to explain for you. CPAC stands for conservative political action conference. Its website boasts that it is the largest annual gathering of conservative students, activists and policymakers. CPAC is largely organized by the American Conservative Union. The first event was back in 1973. And past speakers have included former President Ronald Reagan and former vice president Dick Cheney.

CNN will have live coverage of the CPAC straw poll next hour in the 3:00 eastern hour. Again, the straw poll, the idea is to try to whittle down a vast number of people who they think just might be strong republican GOP contenders for the 2012 race. Later on in the afternoon -- you're looking at a picture right now of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. He's addressing CPAC. His keynote speech live at 5:00 p.m. eastern, 2:00 pacific. CNN will be carrying that live as well.

A big part of the conservative group's beef is with President Obama's new budget proposal, which he delivered to congress on Thursday. In it, the president lays out an ambitious plan for $3.6 trillion in spending next year. It's only a broad stroke preview of the president's formal budget request expected in April. So one of the highlights, a $634 billion health care reserve fund. Its aim is to increase Americans' health coverage and reduce premium costs. The plan would be paid for in part by letting tax cuts expire for couples making $250,000 a year and up. President Obama says he realizes that passing his budget won't be easy. He took aim at lobbyists and special interests during this morning's online presidential address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The system we have now might work for the powerful and well connected interests that have run Washington for far too long. But I don't. I work for the American people. I didn't come here to do the same thing we've been doing or take small steps forward. I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November.

SEN. RICHARD BURR, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: It seems that every morning, you pick up the newspaper, you're reading about another multibillion dollar government spending plan being proposed or, even worse, passed. The numbers are so large and the deficit so staggering, it's difficult for the average person to imagine how much money we're really talking about.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So you've heard the president, you've heard from at least one opponent representing the Republican Party. What do you think? What do you think the president should do to make our country as a whole smarter, healthier, greener? Join us today at 4:00 p.m. eastern to talk about all of this in depth, all part of the president's agenda. Among our guests will be former surgeon general Jocelyn Elders talking specifically about health care and what the president is planning and what this nation really might be needing.

We'll break down the president's plans on health care as well as on education and on energy. So we welcome your comments, your questions. Send them to us at weekends@cnn.com and be sure to watch 4:00 p.m. eastern. We'll be getting your questions on the air and you'll be hearing them responded to live.

It's only been 40 days since the pre was actually inaugurated. By many measures, he's gotten quite a bit done some say. Here's what's on the agenda for next week. Monday the president attends meetings at the White House. Tuesday he'll visit the Department of Transportation, he'll also meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday in the oval office. On Thursday, the president hosts the White House forum on health reform. The forum will hear from everyday Americans about their experiences with the health care system.

Then on Friday, the president travels to Columbus, Ohio, to attend the graduation of police recruits hired through the stimulus package.

Also top priority for the Obama administration, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki says his troops are tested and ready to take over. That comment follows President Obama's announcement that he'll pull U.S. combat troops out of Iraq in just 18 months. Here now is CNN's Tom Foreman. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pulling most troops out of Iraq by August 2010 and all the rest in the next year would fulfill the plans of two presidents. Barack Obama made a promise during his campaign.

OBAMA: The first thing we have to do is end this war.

FOREMAN: But keeping them honest, George Bush struck a deal with the Iraqis before leaving office for the same thing, a phased withdrawal. The timetable is a little slower than Mr. Obama promised, a little faster than Mr. Bush wanted. Still, military analysts say it will give new clarity to the U.S. mission as tons of equipment and thousands of troops prepare to move out.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: We can focus on the stability of Iraq during the crucial period of transition in Iraq and then focus on the logistics of redeployment after that. What it really boils down to, of course, at some level is a reverse invasion.

FOREMAN: The president says any remaining troops will advise and support the Iraqis, they won't be there for combat. But CNN pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr says that's more political talk than practical truth.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Call them what you will. These young men and women are in combat. Troops will die. They will die in combat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator from Arizona --

FOREMAN: Nevertheless, on Capitol Hill, some republicans who once criticized Mr. Obama's war plan are pleased.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I believe the president's withdrawal is a reasonable one.

FOREMAN: And some democrats are grousing over how many will remain in harm's way.

(On camera): In Iraq right now, there are about 146,000 troops. And even after the initial pullout, 50,000 could remain. And at the same time the president is moving the troops down there, he wants to build up the forces in Afghanistan. Right now we have about 38,000 troops there. He would like to raise that number up to 55,000.

(Voice-over): He has promised to continue pursuing terrorists on the Afghan/Pakistani border. How long? His budget may give a hint.

STARR: It included a 10-year plan for so-called contingency operations overseas being conducted by the U.S. military. Right now, that's Afghanistan and Iraq.

FOREMAN: And that could start a whole new battle with anti-war campaigners back home. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington. (END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fixing broken schools from crumbling buildings to falling ceilings. The president is promising big dollars and big support for education.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IREPORT FROM ROBIN SAVAGE: The American dream is really at stake here, and for people to be losing their homes, their jobs and see communities being torn apart and you just feel that people have no hope in their eyes. You just see it everywhere you go now.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And all of that coupled with the state of education in America as well. The nation's schools are indeed broken. And the president is promising to fix them. But it could cost billions. And CNN's Randi Kaye reports now on the state of public education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It used to be kids just brought their lunch to school. But school districts around the country are in such dire straits that in Detroit one school citing budgetary constraints asked students to bring light bulbs, trash bags, paper towels, even toilet paper. This in the same city where automakers got billions in bailout money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seems like the school should have it. And we try to do the best to comply with what they ask for.

KAYE: The slumping economy has robbed states of precious tax dollars that help fund education. Help is on the way. It's not clear yet when, but the stimulus package should pump about $100 billion into public education. That is more than double the annual funding under the Bush administration. Before the stimulus passed, President Obama made one last pitch.

OBAMA: I visited a school down in South Carolina that was built in the 1850s. It's right next to a railroad and when the train runs by, the whole building shakes and the teacher has to stop teaching for a while. The auditorium is completely broken down. They can't use it.

KAYE: In Miami, the school budget was cut $300 million. Some students learn in trailers, on the playground.

ALBERTO CARVAHLO, MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS DEPT. SUPT.: The condition of American public education is entering a desperate state.

KAYE: Outside Cleveland, Ohio, one superintendent wrote then treasury secretary Henry Paulson to ask for $100 million. Todd Hoadley never heard from Paulson but was told his district doesn't qualify because it is not a financial sector business. Hoadley's already cut $2.3 million from his budget. 1200 students are crammed into a building made for 800. So tight, maintenance closets are used as classrooms.

TODD HOADLEY, OLMSTEAD FALLS OHIO SCHOOL SUPT.: We use the stage in the gymnasium for an art class with phys ed on the other side of the curtain both going on simultaneously.

KAYE: At this school in Yonkers, New York, concrete is falling off the 87-year-old building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This building needs to be replaced definitely.

KAYE (on camera): Windows don't even close. When this Yonkers school couldn't get the money to repair its roof, officials put up scaffolding and plastic to protect students. It was all they could afford to make sure the roof didn't collapse. The superintendent doesn't have the money for a new one.

(Voice-over): That may change once stimulus funds arrive. It's allocated based on how many school-aged children states have, but it comes with restrictions. Funds cannot be used to build new athletic fields or on anything that isn't directly related to academics. Restrictions, or not, California will take it. Maybe then this San Diego calculus teacher won't have to sell ad space on his exams to cover the cost of printing them, like he did last fall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would never have done this five years ago or 10 years ago. I wouldn't have even thought of it because there was never a necessity.

KAYE: These are desperate times. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: From schools to now banks in trouble, reporting now two more banks have closed. That brings the number of failed financial institutions to 16 this year, a total of 25 banks failed all of last year. And Security Savings Bank of Henderson, Nevada, it is the one that closed on Friday. Customers will be moved to the Bank of Nevada. And also closing is Heritage Community Bank of Glenwood, Illinois. It will be taken over by NB Financial Bank of Chicago. The latest failures will cost the federal deposit insurance fund about $100 million.

So guess the Oracle of Omaha didn't see this one coming. "Fortune" magazine reports that super investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway lost $11.5 billion in value just last year alone. It's only the second time the holding company has actually declined in Buffet's 44 years at the helm. 2001's drop was attributed to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Buffet expects 2009 to be another bad year but he remains optimistic about the long term saying America's best days are ahead.

College campuses look ahead to spring break and winter-weary students dream of southern beaches. There are new warnings now that could affect some of those plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Bangladesh, the military says the number of dead from a mutiny by border guards has risen to 76 as more bodies have been discovered in mass graves. 72 officers are still missing. Guards killed dozens of their officers in a two-day uprising over pay. Before surrendering they dumped the bodies in shallow graves near their compound in the capital of Dhaka. Bangladeshi leaders vow those who took part in the killings will be punished.

Murder and violence in Mexico both growing so fast it's hard to keep up with the numbers. Here's what we're looking at these days. Last year more than 6,000 people were killed in drug-related violence across Mexico. Many of those deaths, more than 1600 occurred in Juarez, right across the border from El Paso, Texas. And we're just two months into this year and already 400 people -- 400 -- 400 people have lost their lives in drug violence in the city of Juarez alone.

So college kids around the country are counting the days until spring break. And Mexico is often a favorite destination. But the escalating drug war has led to new travel warnings for both young and old. CNN's Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Running gun battles in broad daylight even at shopping centers. Bodies left in the open with threatening notes. Hallmarks of horrific turf battles in Mexico between rival drug cartels and between drug gangs and Mexican authorities, violence that left more than 5,000 people dead last year. There's no letup this year. And from the state department to private travel security experts, there are new warnings for Americans.

MAYER NUDELL, TRAVEL SECURITY EXPERT: I would say that anybody that's going for recreational purposes to Mexico would be advised to just stay away from the border towns for now.

TODD: An updated state department alert warns travelers of a major spike in violence in border cities like Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoras. A University of Arizona official tells us for the first time the school is warning students not to go to Mexico for spring break. Arizona State is considering a similar warning. Officials say it's not just the level of violence that's alarming but the sophistication of those perpetrating it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are flat-out organized crime groups like we think of any other organized crime. They're not a small gang on the corner. These are large organizations.

TODD: Drug cartels that officials say often dress in police uniforms on both sides of the border to carry out hits and kidnappings. Americans can be targets but often find themselves simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. More than 200 Americans have been reported killed in Mexico since 2004, and dozens remain missing. The advice if you do go?

NUDELL: Avoid the ATMs. Get their money before they go and avoid that one potential pitfall. Basically, not be too conspicuous. Don't wear jewelry. Going in groups. Not being caught anywhere by yourself.

TODD: Staying in tourist areas is also recommended. But officials point out violence has reached those places as well.

(On camera): Mexican officials stress their country is a safe vacation spot. They also say that most violence associated with drug trafficking is isolated to cities that are far away from tourist destinations. They also point out about 18 million Americans visited Mexico last year, a significant rise from 2007. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also, a closer look at that Mexican war on drugs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a long war with most of the advantages in the cartel's favor. Their gunmen outnumber these police and they're better armed.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's in the next hour, CNN's Michael Ware goes where few go and actually lived to tell about it. He takes us to inside Mexico's bloodiest city.

A lavish bash for Zimbabwe's president. Robert Mugabe threw himself a big party for his 85th birthday. Supporters reportedly picked up the tab, allegedly $250,000. The expensive celebration comes as suffering grips Zimbabwe. The country is dealing with hunger, poverty, a cholera epidemic, political turmoil and the world's highest rate of inflation. Yet the people there financing his birthday party.

So what recession, they ask, in this country? A city that booms while others bust.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, 2:30 on the East Coast, 11:30 Pacific time. Here's what's happening right now. President Obama says he knows special interests are going to fight him on his new budget proposal, but he'll push back, he says. The president delivering that message this morning during his presidential address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I realize that passing this budget won't be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won't like the idea that they'll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that's how we'll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families.

I know that banks and big student lenders won't like the idea that we're ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that's how we'll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won't like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that's how we'll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries.

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA: This week, the president submitted to congress the single largest increase in federal spending in the history of the United States while driving the deficit to levels that were once thought impossible. If we just look at what our debt spending will cost us in interest payments alone, we're talking about $4 trillion over the next 10 years, more than a billion dollars of interest payments every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Some details now on President Obama's budget. It is huge, $3.6 trillion. It limits some deductions high income tax payers may take, effectively raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans. That will help apparently pay for programs including a $634 billion health care reserve fund. The long term goal is universal health coverage.

And after criticizing what he called dishonest accounting in the past, the president is putting the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the main budget, $75 billion for the remainder of this year. And $130 billion for the next two wars -- or the next year, rather, for those two wars. That's on top of the $533 billion for the Defense Department in fiscal 2010.

So President Obama's proposed budget is a break from the traditional ideas of the past 30 years. And as you would imagine, it's creating a political storm. CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley looks at the winners and the losers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not a book of numbers. It's a sea change.

ROBERT REICH, FORMER LABOR SECRETARY: This is a transformational budget. This is the first budget I have seen since the Reagan era, since Reagan's first budget that really made a fundamental statement, we are going in a different direction, folks.

CROWLEY: A leading Republican voice actually agrees with the analysis with considerably less enthusiasm.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think it is the boldest effort to create a European socialist model we have seen. I think it's quite clear what his values and his attitude is. CROWLEY: Losers include upper income seniors who will pay more for prescription drugs; farmers with sales over $500,000 who will lose their subsidies, households making over $250,000 will get a tax increase. One person with taxable income of $200,000 will pay on average $6,000 more. A family of four with a $500,000 income will see their taxes go up, on average $11,300.

Also hitting the upper bracket, a tax increase on capital gains and limits on deductions, including mortgage interest and charitable contributions.

KEN BERGER, PRES. CEO, CHARITY NAVIGATOR: I think it's a horrible idea, really horrible idea.

CROWLEY: The Obama administration says people will give any way, but charitable organizations squeezed by higher demand and fewer contributions worry they can't take another hit.

BERGER: Discouraging the wealthiest from giving in this way could be devastating for some charities. We've already gotten estimates that a couple hundred thousand charities may close their doors as it is because of the economy. Then you add stuff like this and it becomes all the more frightening.

CROWLEY: Winners, middle and lower class taxpayers and the poor. According to the Office of Management and Budget, on average a family of four making $76,000 would see their taxes lowered by $800. The same family making $35,000 would see taxes reduced by $1,200. They would also benefit from huge spending increases in education, energy, and, most of all, new health care plans, as yet unspecified.

REICH: This country is no longer taking this road. Call it, for want of a better term, the right road. We're taking more of a left of center road, but it's a road that we have to take because the big problems in front of us.

CROWLEY: It is the end of Reaganomics and the beginning of Obamanomics.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, well a lot to talk about. What do you want President Obama to do to make our country as a whole and you individually and maybe you and your family smarter, healthier and greener? Join us today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern to talk about all of these things in depth. Among our guest is former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elder. She's going to be tackling the issue of health care. It is her area of expertise and we'll be accepting a lot of your comments. And she, among other guests, are going to be answering some of your e-mail questions and taking in your comments. Everything from energy to education to health care. What are your thoughts? Our address, weekends@CNN.com. Be sure to watch at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. We may be using your question on the air to elicit the response and engage a great discussion in that hour. So we told you earlier about two suspected tornadoes that touched down in eastern Alabama. But there was a third apparently further west toward Montgomery this morning, specifically Tallapoosa County, where this new video was actually shot. We have no reports of injuries. That's good news. But damages are considerable, we understand. Jacqui Jeras is in the Severe Weather Center. Boy, it all seems to be one giant, nasty system, doesn't it?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, stories making news across America now. Non-weatherwise, this Saturday, February 28th. Seattle prosecutors releasing this video of a 15-year-old girl under attack by a King County sheriff's deputy. The girl is slammed into the cell floor as you see there, and takes two blows to the head area. The deputy was -- or, rather, has pleaded not guilty to an assault charge there.

And in Georgia, four members of a group known as the Final Exit Network are facing assisted suicide charges. Police say a cancer patient put a hood over his head and inhaled helium until he suffocated. Experts say this case will be difficult to prosecute. Georgia law requires active participation in an assisted suicide.

And the mayor of Los Alamitos, California, says he will resign Monday because of a photograph that shows a watermelon patch on the White House lawn. He e-mailed it to a businesswoman who is African- American. Mayor Dean Grose says he's sorry and he didn't know the racial overtones associated with that photo.

Recession? Well, seems like an evil word these days, but not everyone is actually dealing with it. We'll take you to a place where there is no depressing economic news there and it's right here in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the way life is right now. It's a struggle, but keep the hope, keep the faith and pray hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 62-years-old, and it's very, very hard. A lot of it, I think, is my age. But I have good qualifications.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, resume in hand, Nathan Davenport (ph) and Ramona Campos (ph) joining about 450 other people at a job fair in Des Moines, Iowa. That was Wednesday. They came searching for work in a state with an unemployment rate nearing 5 percent.

So for one job seeker it was the first time that she's actually been out of work in 25 years. Parts of state sponsored job fair, that one, was shown live on CNN affiliate KCCI. Some tough times for a lot of people.

So the line was even longer in New York and that was just Tuesday. More than 5,000 people showed up for a job fair that had about 1,000 job openings. It was sponsored by Women for Hire. But men were actually allowed to apply for the positions as well. So they joined women of all ages and background to stand in the freezing cold in a line that curled around the block. So one organizer says the turnout was three times what they had actually seen just last November.

For the over-50 crowd, searching for a job can be quite difficult. Meet Bernice Kari. At 68-years-old, this one retired -- this retired widow is actually working again. She got a job at a retirement center where she can make a little bit of money and take some computer training classes as well. But like many others, she lost her previous job in a wave of layoffs. And that was in January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNICE KARI, WORKING AT AGE 68: I got terminated. A lot of people got terminated, so I'm not alone. Would you want to hire somebody that was 68 if you with were an employer?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Kari may be representative of many retirees in Washington state. According to AARP, one in five retirees is actually considering returning to the workforce. Others are actually delaying retirement.

All right, some good economic news out there in all of this. You may only know Fargo, North Dakota, as a spot on a map or the title of the Oscar-winning movie by the Cohen Brothers. But as our Gary Tuchman discovered, it's also a place where jobs are plentiful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What ever happened to those bullish economic days when the housing market was vibrant, when there were plenty of jobs, when government budgets had surpluses?

(on camera): Those days still exist, but probably not where you are. You have to come where I am, to Fargo, North Dakota, where the typical morning temperature this time of year is around zero, and the unemployment rate isn't much higher.

(voice-over): Dennis Walaker is the mayor of Fargo.

(on camera): Is the city of Fargo, North Dakota, in recession?

MAYOR DENNIS WALAKER, FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA: No. We're not.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, so low that most economists consider it full employment. At Appareo Systems, an aerospace firm, the 44 employees here are not enough.

DAVID BATCHELLER, APPAREO SYSTEMS: So we're going to grow it more than 50 percent this year in personnel, more than 100 percent in revenue.

TUCHMAN: This iron worker is so busy, he has no time to talk to me on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And away we go.

(on camera): OK, let's go.

So how is business out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really good.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The wind-chill temperature in the negative digits doesn't seem to cool the workers' outlook here as they build an office building.

(on camera): So there's a lot of projects now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely.

TUCHMAN: You can always find work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. You can quit your job today and go find another job. Easy.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Business downtown is booming. The housing market is still decent.

(on camera): So the homes aren't losing value here in Fargo?

WALAKER: No, they're not.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): And North Dakota has the largest budget surplus in the nation, one of only four states with a surplus this year.

So what the heck is going on here? Hear a consistent answer at Fargo's curling rink.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People in the upper Midwest are very conservative. They don't tend to overextend themselves and stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just a work ethic up here that you don't see everywhere.

TUCHMAN: Yes, North Dakota has oil production and agriculture, but so do a lot of places. What seems unique in this region...

WALAKER: We didn't get caught up in the subprime mortgages. And I think our bankers need to be significantly applauded for that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $150, $170, $190.

TUCHMAN: The Gate City Bank is one of the largest in North Dakota.

(on camera): You think you make less money because you don't give riskier loans?

STEVE SWIONTEK, CEO, GATE CITY BANK: Yes, I believe we do, but that's OK.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): North Dakotans seem to believe conservative bankers and savers have helped keep their economy steady over the years. Not too many highs, not too many lows.

SWIONTEK: We have well over 12,000-plus mortgage loans that we service. And we had three foreclosures last year. And this year, I don't see it to be much greater. It could be three to five.

TUCHMAN: There is concern here. Business isn't as robust as it was a few months ago. And the unemployment office is a bit busier. But...

BATCHELLER: Somebody I was talking to said, "Well, we're not signing up for the recession."

TUCHMAN: Even in the frigid cold, the iron is still hot.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Fargo, North Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And then in the nation's capital, the focus is not on the new administration but perhaps potential for the next one? Will one of these Republicans right here become mister or Ms. Right? Believe it or not, it is already time for the Republican Party to start thinking about 2012. And they're doing it in a very big way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Republicans are looking for leadership after losing the White House and Congress last election. 2012 is a long way off, but a new poll shows that most Republicans actually might turn to some familiar faces in the next presidential race. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider sizes up the current top choices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Republicans are ready to cast their next movie, 2012, the sequel. They've got a script.

GINGRICH: Listen carefully to the president's speech that night. I think it is the boldest effort to create a European socialist model we have seen.

SCHNEIDER: But who's the lead? George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain? Their last pictures bombed. John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, they are minority leaders, bit players.

The CNN poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation asked Republicans who they liked best for their party's 2012 nomination. There's no clear front-runner among the three best known contenders. Sarah Palin's whose debut was a little bumpy.

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: You travel this road in life and as you turn a corner there may be something there, circumstancing change and you call an audible and decide to shift gears, take another direction, I'm always open for that.

SCHNEIDER: Mike Huckabee who's got some good lines.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 1,100-page bill that nobody read actually did have a title, its name of a movie, "Confessions of a Shopaholic."

SCHNEIDER: And Mitt Romney who looks like a leading man.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to do my very best to help the Republicans across the nation re-establish a balance of power in Washington.

SCHNEIDER: How about casting a minority? Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Whoops, his screen test didn't go so well.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Our party is determined to we regain your trust.

SCHNEIDER: Some Democrats already know who they want to cast as the Republican's leading man. He's featured in a new ad being run by "Americans United for Change."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So who are Republican leaders leaning to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want him to fail.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): Can a picture do well even if it doesn't have a well-known star in the lead? Maybe. "Slumdog Millionaire" just won the Academy Award.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. A newspaper that has been around since the Civil War reporting now on its own obituary. How the Internet and the economy are bringing more grim news to your doorstep.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One newspaper man calls it playing the music at your own funeral. The "Rocky Mountain News" reported its own obituary this week after almost 150 years. Many of the nation's newspapers have been hit by a perfect storm of falling ad revenue and circulation and rising debt. CNN's Richard Roth explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sounds like newspaper reporter Pia Catton is on a deadline. Instead she is at home. Pia got her news five months ago. She lost her job as arts editor after "The New York Sun" shut down. PIA CATTON, FORMER NEWSPAPER REPORTER: The feeling on that day was pure fear. What is going to happen? What is going to happen to me, to this newspaper, to this industry? Will I have a career? Will I ever work again?

ROTH: She is far from alone. Newspapers used to report other people's problems. Now they are in a fight for their life.

ERIC ALTERMAN, MEDIA CRITIC: It's in a free-fall and nobody knows where the bottom is. It's kind of like the water in the toilet, it's swirling around.

ROTH: The bad news arrives every day across America. Readers, especially younger readers, are shifting to the Internet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My children do not read the newspaper. My children get all of their news online.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even subscribe anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, what else?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's a story about...

ROTH: The morning meeting at the New York "Daily News," seventh highest circulation in America. Mort Zuckerman is the publisher.

MORT ZUCKERMAN, PUBLISHER, NEW YORK "DAILY NEWS": All newspapers are under great difficulty. They'll survive. They'll survive in different forms. Their cost base will have to be dramatically lowered.

ROTH (on camera): Newspapers have been part of my life since my grandfather dropped off the New York "Daily News" at the front door with some bread. Now it's a hoarding problem. The way things are going, though, in the industry, I think these piles will be valuable one day to a museum or collectors.

(voice-over) A dramatic decline in advertising in a brutal economy has forced newspapers to cut costs by firing cartoonists, columnists and more and sharing resources with former competitors.

ZUCKERMAN: So it is a hugely challenging time. We think that some newspapers will survive. And not all of them will.

CATTON: Check out my e-mail about this story on savings.

ROTH: Pia, the reporter, took a short-term gig editing a book, but she's decided she may need a different career.

CATTON: I mean, there always will be work to produce. You will always need to know immediately what is happening. Will there be a market for newspapers? That's another question.

ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)