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Snow Falls From Southeast To New England; Obama Names Sebelius To HHS; Appoints White House Health Czar
Aired March 02, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILIPS: Well, the calendar may be edging toward spring but today's proof winter still on the march. The northeast hit hard by a mega snowstorm today. Biting winds blowing the snow around in Boston. When it's all said and done, they expect six to 10 inches. The New York area has gotten up to a foot of snow. The city closing schools for the first time in five years. Metro airports virtually closed down. More than 900 flights canceled today.
In Washington, a blanket of snow made for a tough morning commute. Authorities asked everybody who could take public transportation to please do so. This is the same system that just socked the Southeast, including right here in Atlanta, Georgia. Our Chad Myers following it from start to finish.
So, did Grant get to build the snowman?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: He slept through it. Believe it or not. The only snow of the season, he had to take a nap at 1:00, by 3:00, it was already raining and washed it away.
PHILLIPS: How about Jacqui's kids?
MYERS: Yeah, I don't know.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They did.
MYERS: There's more snow in Atlanta -- look out, Jacqui. Get out of the way.
PHILLIPS: Rogue camera.
JERAS: This camera and I, once in a while, has a little trouble.
MYERS: That looked like the 48 car trying to get in the pits yesterday, sliding right through it.
Ol' Saybrook, Connecticut, the new winner or the new loser, 14 inches for you. Mount Sinai, out in Suffolk County, New York, you are now up to 13. You have a baker's dozen. Not what you woke up and had in mind, though, I bet. New York City seeing the snow, it is snowing really in the Catskills and Adirondacks and the Bettingtons and the Manchesters of the world still seeing snow up and down the Capital District, really almost out to the Berkshires and even in Eastern Long Island seeing the snow again.
D.C., you're just about out. Look at that, Dulles, the snow just ending for you. By the time National gets it, the next 30 minutes, it will be over for you. So there is some good news there.
For Upton, New York at 12, Brooklyn at 9, these are the big cities, New York City, Central Park at 7 and LaGuardia at 6.2.
Jacqui, we were supposed to go to you, but the camera just about took you out. I'm going to go back --
JERAS: I'm OK.
MYERS: Nothing to see here. All is well. Nothing to see here.
PHILLIPS: Everybody needs to see Jacqui, back there behind the camera, folks. She was pulling it.
JERAS: I was operating it. I know, I started out small in this business, let me tell you, Kyra Philips. I can operate a camera if I need to.
PHILLIPS: I think we have all done that in Market 200.
JERAS: That's right, 180, I think it was.
PHILLIPS: I promise we'll get back to you, I promise. Thanks, guys.
Wow. Well, we have our eye on the White House as well. Looking at the briefing room, where the Q&A gets underway any minute now. There it is.
Just last hour, you may have seen President Obama introduce his second choice to head up Health and Human Services, barring any bombshell controversies, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius will move from the heartland to the heart of a vast and vastly troubled federal system.
There we go. That's what we brought to you in the past hour. Among her duties, pushing forward with the president's plans to shore up Medicare and to broaden insurance to the millions who can't afford it. On that front, she'll have a new ally, Mr. Obama tapped Nancy Ann Farley to head the White House Office of Health Reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I realize there are those who simply don't believe Washington can bring about this change, and the odds are long. It's failed too many times. There are too many special interests and entrenched lobbyists invested in the status quo. That's the conventional wisdom. And I understand those doubts.
But I also know this. I didn't come to Washington to take the easy route, or to work for the powerful and well-connected interests who have run this city for too long. I came here to work for the American people.
GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HHS SECRETARY NOMINEE: The president's request that I lead the department charged with protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential services to some of our most vulnerable citizens is a responsibility I could not refuse. I'm deeply honored by your faith in me, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: You may recall that plan a was to fill both the Cabinet post and that of White House health czar with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, but tax problems doomed his nomination.
We know you have questions. We have answers, maybe not all the answers. Elizabeth Cohen and Gerri Willis will join me this hour to share their knowledge and expertise, so go ahead and e-mail us questions on health insurance, Medicare, the president's reform plan, anything to do with coverage or policy. The address is CNNnewsroom @ CNN.com. We will read as many of them as we can. And get Gerri and Elizabeth to answer them for you.
Don't forget, we will bring you the first few minutes of the White House briefing live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM as soon as Robert Gibbs steps up to the mic, we'll check in with him.
Well, it's mind boggling. $671 billion dollars down the drain. That's how much insurance giant AIG lost in the fourth quarter alone, making it the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history. In a bid to stop the insurance giant from going belly up the U.S. government is loaning the company another $30 billion in taxpayer money. It's the fourth time since last September that the government has stepped in to help AIG to the tune of more than $150 billion. Then under this revamped rescue plan, the Federal Reserve will take equity stakes in two AIG international companies.
Another international bank hit hard by the global recession is slashing jobs here in the U.S. London-based HSBC is closing its consumer loan business here, cutting 6100 jobs. This comes as the bank today reported a 70 percent drop in net profit last year and unlike some U.S. banks, it says its senior executives will not get any bonuses for 2008.
You're looking at a live picture now of the Big Board at the New York Stock Exchange. Right now, Dow industrials down 210 points. In just a few minutes, we will go live to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and CNN's Stephanie Elam for all the latest financial news.
Trying to make the system work, one of our own spends a month on food stamps and it wasn't easy. Wait until you see what Sean Callebs has to report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Apparently we just got these pictures in. This is actually the overturned fishing boat that one of the four missing fishermen was found clinging to. This is coming to us from our affiliate WFLA. We had just a few seconds of it there. We might be able to bring that back but just to give you a little background, this is what we brought to you about an hour and a half ago or so. Nick Schuyler, one of the missing young men that was out fishing since Saturday morning, rescued, clinging on to that boat that we saw there in the water.
Just to give you a little context in how this made news, four buddies, one the Oakland Raider linebacker, Marquis Cooper and NFL free agent Corey Smith, and their other two buddies, former players for the University of South Florida, William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler headed out about 6:30 Saturday morning on a guys' fishing trip. Saturday evening, got into a little trouble. There was rough weather, apparently, according to Nick. After he was rescued here, he told the Coast Guard rescuers that they were overturned by a wave. All four of them were clinging on to that boat, but as you can see, Nick Schuyler is the only one be brought back via the Coast Guard as of this point.
Right now, Coast Guard rescuers still looking for the other three. Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith and William Bleakley. We're told that Nick here suffered a little bit of hypothermia, not quite sure what else. He has been taken to the hospital to be checked. Right now, there are ships out still looking for the other three. Helicopters in the air, also C-130s via the Coast Guard and also the Air Force, they have tremendous capability with search cameras that work very well from the sky, and over water.
Once again, here's a shot of that overturned boat just coming in to us from our affiliate. We appreciate it.
Now to the White House. Robert Gibbs starting the White House briefing. We will listen for about 10 minutes.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECREATARY: My son is exceedingly excited that his school is closed.
So I'll start to take a few questions. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Robert, the stock market's way down, as you know, again today, levels not seen in more than a decade. Construction spending's off; $300 billion more is being sent toward AIG, which had -- $30 billion, I mean, which had very big losses. Wondering if all of this doesn't argue for perhaps a more rapid and even more radical intervention in the banking system and financial system.
GIBBS: Well, look, there's no doubt that the economy is, as the president has talked about extensively, in very bad shape. It's a crisis that spreads not just in this country, but throughout the world. I think a lot of the news today stems from bad news overseas economically. But the president believes, and the team is working hard every day to do all that we can to get the economy moving again.
That's why we demanded that Congress work expeditiously on a Recovery & Reinvestment Plan, that we're now in the process of beginning to implement. We're working on renewed financial stability. Meetings started last week on financial re-regulation and we'll see Prime Minister Brown tomorrow and continue those conversations as we lead into the London economic summit, in order to - not just do something - not just have one economy and one country do something, but everybody on the world stage act together to improve our economy.
Look, as it relates to -- I think AIG is a little bit -- is separate and let me take that separately. The Treasury Department and others felt that systemic risk of doing nothing was simply unacceptable. Today's actions further continue allowing the process of the orderly restructuring of AIG, their management as you all know was replaced in November. We're focused on taking the steps necessary to restructure AIG so that in the long run, it no longer poses the type of systemic threat that it poses right now. And I think today's actions were critical in that restructuring.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Robert, following up on AIG, does the government feel or the administration feel that this is the last time this will have to happen? Or will there be another bailout coming? And secondly, more broadly, how do you determine which companies to rescue and which not to rescue? Warren Buffett, I don't know if you saw his comments this weekend, said that --
GIBBS: You'd be surprised to know that I'm not on the Berkshire- Hathaway mailing list. But yes?
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Not a lot.
He said that it's easier for a crippled bank with government backing to get credit than it is for a Triple A-rated company. Is the government picking winners and losers?
GIBBS: Let me take the second part of that. Let me first state, I'm not going to quarrel with Warren Buffett on the economy for any number of reasons. But I do think it's important to understand that, and you've heard me say this a number of times, the way things have been done, specifically about financial stability and restructuring, we're looking at doing differently.
I think that's why you'll see announcements this week, and you saw some preparation and statements on this in the president's speech to Congress about changing -- providing more capital for lending for small businesses and families. I think along the line of what Mr. Buffett talked about. And I would certainly point you to Treasury and others to go into the specifics of whatever cost benefit analysis takes place. But again, you know, I hesitate to build on the question that Steve asked, I wonder what we would be talking about today if we let something like an AIG default on the massive amount of debt that it has. And what that might do to the economy and to the markets. The president and his team would rather certainly not have to deal with these questions. But we're implementing a plan that we believe will allow, as I said, for the orderly restructure of how AIG does business. In a way that it does not pose the type of threat that it might pose today in the future.
QUESTION: Going back to the original question, do you think, is this the end? Or is there more --
GIBBS: Well, the president has said we'll take steps to ensure that there's not an economic catastrophe. We certainly hope that it is the end, but understand that Treasury is undergoing the process of evaluations to bank health. You know, I think one of the things that's important is to adequately diagnose and understand what risks are out there and the size and scope of those risks.
QUESTION: Are you saying you don't want to quarrel with Warren Buffett. What about Rush Limbaugh? Over the weekend he had some interesting comments.
(LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: I think he probably knows a lot less about the economy than maybe Warren does.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president has spoken a lot about bringing the country together.
After the stimulus fight, there was a lot of handwringing in both parties about bipartisanship. What's the White House reaction to Rush Limbaugh saying, again, he wants the president to fail specifically on his economic plans? And how does that bode for bipartisanship in the future, working with Republicans?
GIBBS: Well, I think the question is a good one. I think that -- I think maybe the best question, though, is for you to ask individual Republicans whether they agree with what Rush Limbaugh said this weekend. Do they want to see the president's economic agenda fail? You know, I bet there are a number of guests on television throughout the day, maybe into tomorrow, who could let America know whether they agree with what Rush Limbaugh said this weekend.
You know, I think -- I mean, I think it would be charitable to say he doubled down on what he said in January, in wishing and hoping for economic failure in this country. I can only imagine what might have been said a few years ago if somebody might have said that on the other side relating to what was going on in this country, or our endeavors overseas.
I would like to think, and I think most people would like to think, that we can put aside our differences and get things done for the American people. I will say in watching a few cable clips of Mr. Limbaugh's speech, his notion of presidential failure seemed to be quite popular in the room in which he spoke.
HENRY: Quick follow on the omnibus. Last week it was pointed out that a couple Cabinet secretaries, LaHood, and Mrs. Solis, have earmarks from last year, leftover funding. Now it's also been learned that Vice President Biden has, I think, $750,000 for the University of Delaware satellite station and Rahm Emanuel, $900,000 for the Chicago Planetarium.
Since the president talked so much about earmarks in the campaign, and as president, about keeping them out of the stimulus, I know this is leftover business from last year, but it's something he is either going to sign or veto. Why not have the earmarks that come from his administration, essentially at least taken out to send a signal, number one. And number two, is there any chance he will veto this bill and send it back and say get these earmarks out, there's over 9,000 of them?
GIBBS: I think you saw remarks this weekend about the chief of staff and the budget director about the legislation. Obviously the president is concerned, despite the progress that has been made in this town, about the size and the scope of earmarks that we've seen over the past few years. I think even the most cynical among us would have to at least acknowledge that the number of overall earmarks has been cut.
I think it's important to recognize that a piece of legislation probably twice the size of the piece of legislation that you're asking me about was passed through Congress at the president's direction without earmarks. This is the finishing up of last year's appropriations legislation. And I think what's most important, and what the president would tell you is important here, is that though he doesn't control everything that happened before he became president of the United States, that dozens and dozens and dozens of appropriations bills will go through Congress and come to his desk over the course of the next four years.
HENRY: Before you were talking --
GIBBS: Hold on.
The president, you will see and hear, outline a process of dealing with this problem in a different way and that the rules of the road going forward for those many appropriations bills that will go through Congress and come to his desk will be done differently.
HENRY: So he'll have a new standard he will lay out for the appropriations bills that will come to his desk that are actually written while he's president?
GIBBS: Yes, sir.
HENRY: When is this?
GIBBS: Soon. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Two questions, one on AIG and one on -
(END LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
PHILLIPS: We have been monitoring the White House briefing there with Robert Gibbs. You can always go to CNN.com/live. It is taking it, in its entirety.
We will take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZENNIE ABRAHAM, CNN IREPORTER (SINGING): Good-bye, gold card, my old friend, we've seen good eats on the high end. People tell me AMEX has crashed. People say their credit has smashed. But I'll tell you that's not going to happen to me. I'll set you free. And use my cash.
Well, OK, and my PayPal card, too, and my gift cards. A credit card application? Forget it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: You have to admit that's pretty funny. Elizabeth Cohen and I are sitting here giggling, along with the control room. That's what it's like, you know, creativity, both beating and singing away the blues of the recession. Gotta love it.
Well, on Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average dropped below 7,000 within the first minute of trading today after insurance giant AIG posted the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. history. Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange with all the numbers.
Hopefully she won't be singing but maybe she tore up those credit cards as well. Hey, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I can promise you the kid will not be singing for anybody today. May be staying in the house singing keeps you from spending. So, he's saving money and entertaining everyone along the way.
Anyway, Kyra, here no one is singing at all, because the Dow is trading below the 7,000 mark for the first time since 1997. From where it stands now, the blue chip average would have to more than double in value to get back to where it was just 17 months ago, at our record high above 14,000.
Let's go ahead and take a look at those numbers. Look at that. The Dow up 232 points, 6830 there, that is a loss of 3.33 percent. Nasdaq off 3.33 percent as well. The S&P 500 off 3.75 percent at this time. The Dow at 6822.
The sell-off comes as the government says it will pump another $30 billion into AIG, marking AIG's fourth installment of taxpayer money. The government's stamp on AIG has been, and continues to be, that AIG is just too big to fail.
In a statement the Treasury and Federal Reserve point out that AIG operates in 130 countries and is a major source of retirement insurance for teachers as well as nonprofits. Given all of that, the government says the potential cost to the economy and the taxpayer of government inaction would be extremely high, but for many of us, that's still a big, heavy pill to swallow there, Kyra.
And on that less-than-musical note, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Stephanie. Well, perhaps the second time will be the charm. President Obama naming his new pick to run Health and Human Services today. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. We know you have a lot of questions about health care reform, Medicare and insurance. Go ahead and send them to us at CNNnewsroom@cnn.com. Meanwhile, our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis are joining me to try to answer some of the e-mails we have already received. Our first question is for Gerri Willis.
Gerri, Dennis wants to know, "When is something going to be done about the cost of COBRA insurance, the cost for my wife and me went from $870 a month in 2008 to $1566, no kidding, a month for 2009.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Wow. That is just how expensive COBRA is. Let's define COBRA first. COBRA is a federal law that allows you to continue your employer's health insurance coverage, but the trick is you pay for it, as you just saw Dennis' numbers. It's very expensive to do that.
The good news, Dennis, here the federal government is to go to subsidize COBRA premiums to the tune of 65 percent for up to nine months. That is part of the stimulus plan. You have to be laid off between September 1st 2008 and December 31st of '09, so there's a window you have to fit into. But there is some good news.
Best case scenario, if you do lose your job, COBRA's expensive, hop on to a spouse's plan, if you can. Even if it's not open enrollment time, federal law allows you to get on that spouse's plan. That's the absolute cheapest way to do it, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. This next one is for Elizabeth. It comes from Jan in South Carolina. Will changes in policy make it easier for consumers to compare prices on health care? I just spent two full days trying to figure out how much a simple medical procedure will actually cost me.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Isn't it crazy, Kyra, if you want to know where is the least expensive place to get a quart of milk, you can compare, right? I mean, you can figure it out. But for medical costs, it is extremely difficult to compare. And if you don't have insurance -- that money is coming out of your pocket -- you want to know the cheapest place.
From what we have heard thus far of the president's health care reform initiative, it is not going to address this specifically from what we know. They're not going to create a Web site where you can compare. But I do have some good news for Jan. There is a Web site already in existence that can help you compare It's called changehealthcare.com.
I, for example, put in "colonoscopy." They knew I was from Atlanta because of the IP address of my computer, and I got 12 different places within 100 miles that compared prices. It's not perfect, all the information in there, but it is certainly a place to start. And here is something else you need to know if you don't have insurance. You should barter with doctors and the hospitals. If you need, let's say, a colonoscopy, and it costs $800, go to the hospital or wherever you're going to get it and say, I only have $400 to pay for this. Will you take it? People will be surprised. Hospitals and doctors...
PHILLIPS: You can bargain with your...
COHEN: Can you believe it? You can.
PHILLIPS: No. I actually did not know that.
COHEN: You can. Yes, that is -- it is true. You can. A lot of people I've talked to have had a great deal of success with this.
PHILLIPS: Wow, that's a good tip, really good tip.
OK. Gerri, this one is coming from Sarah. Sarah wants to know, if you have an older college-enrolled child covered in the parent's employer's health plan, and that child has to leave college, will the parent's insurance still cover the child?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, Sarah, I have some bad news for you. You may well not have coverage because unlike doctors, insurance companies don't typically negotiate this kind of thing.
Here's the way it typically works. Health insurance will be covered for full-time students between the ages of 18 and 23. Now, if they leave school, there's typically a window, maybe six months, about that amount of time, in which you have to get new coverage.
But unless the child goes back to school, in which case there's usually coverage at the university level, you may have difficulty getting coverage. Your son or daughter needs to go to work, get a job and get some health-insurance coverage because your health plan probably will not cover them.
PHILLIPS: All right. You have time for one more, Elizabeth?
COHEN: I do. It will be short.
PHILLIPS: Thank you. All right, well, this one comes from Jane. She said, I'm a heart patient. I must take nine medications in California. Well, no, nine medications. In California, the health plan that she's on allows for only six medications per month. Will any part of the president's health plan fix this?
COHEN: Short answer is no. It appears not. It doesn't appear that Obama is going to say health insurers, you have to cover nine medications and not just six. However, want to give some tips here, some good news. There are lots of places on the Internet that you can go to find charities that will help you with the cost of prescription drugs. Go right now to CNN.com/empowered patient. It is the first one on there. You can see that guy's picture. He didn't have health insurance for a period of time. We have links to several places that can help with the cost of prescription drugs.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep taking your e-mails, keep answering those questions. Gerri Willis, thank you so much. Thanks, Elizabeth.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, millions of Americans are doing it, so we wanted to see how tough it is. Our Sean Callebs took the challenge of living on food stamps. We've got an update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a huge snowstorm causing a flurry of travel trouble up and down the East Coast. You're looking at New York's LaGuardia Airport, pretty quiet after more than 450 flights were canceled. In all, more than 900 flights grounded in the New York metro area.
The system made its way north, and then after smacking the Southeast, slick roads there had drivers skidding or stalled. This accident in North Carolina saw a Doritos truck and bus careen off the highway. Yes. Another wreck caused a 15-mile backup at the South Carolina line. Jacqui Jeras has been following all the iReports for us and canceled flights and obviously, we're celebrating St. Paddy's Day today.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm a little bit early. Remember the 17th. I'll bring it back out for you.
PHILLIPS: There you go. All right, I'll let you take it from here.
JERAS: All right, we'll start out with the airport delays because, as Kyra mentioned, we have had more than 900 cancellations. And if you're trying to travel today still with your flights, you are probably wishing you were one of those canceled ones because the delays are just really extensive.
We've a ground stop now in effect again at LaGuardia, trying to keep up with some of the snow removal. That's in effect until 3:00, so until the top of the hour. That means you can't take off to get to LaGuardia. Same story going on in Philadelphia right now. About two- hour delays to get into JFK. Newark looking at just over an hour.
Forty-five minutes now in Chicago. You'd think they'd have a little lake-effect snow going on here as well. And San Francisco, you have some delays, too.
Now, if you're trying to travel on the highways, the I-95 corridor has been one of the worst all day with lots of snow and ice covering it. We're taking you into the Boston area, where we've been seeing some, just some occasional lighter snowshowers in the last couple hours. But check out the Massachusetts Turnpike here. Some of the red dots indicating, yes, westbound traffic only 17 miles per hour. We were seeing it down to nine miles per hour just about ten minutes ago.
We'll take you into the downtown area now, too, here on Google Earth, with our 3-D buildings. Doesn't that look good? Along the expressway, we're looking at really slow-moving traffic both ways, northbound and southbound. We'll query one of those and show you some of those areas. There we can see one, if we can we click on a dot? Can we click on a dot? There we go. All right. There's the expressway, 16 miles per hour. So, it's really just at a crawl right now.
Our iReporters, as we were talking about, have been taking some incredible pictures of the snow. This is kind of a fun one. Take a look at this video. This is from Matt Sudol. He caught these pictures of the firefighters sledding in the Brooklyn area. This is around Prospect Park.
He assures us that these guys weren't slacking. They were just taking a little break and having some fun in the snow. Take a look at that. Looks like a fun snow day.
PHILLIPS: OK, but hLet's clarify. They were on the clock.
JERAS: Well, they're wearing their outfits but they deserve a break. If there's no fire, no harm.
PHILLIPS: All right, they're ready to go, I guess. That's true. You know, they got the trucks there. They're ready to go.
JERAS: Stress relief, right? It's necessary to keep on the job.
PHILLIPS: If we could only do that in between our breaks. That would be lovely.
JERAS: Doesn't that look like fun? I did a little bit yesterday, out in the snow. Made some snowballs, had a good time.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, we're all stretching our budgets, that's for sure. But could you feed yourself on $176 for a whole month? Well, believe it or not, our Sean Callebs did. In a first-hand account of what it's like to live on food stamps, he shares his experience with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crowded aisles at the grocery store never looked more intimidating. One hundred and seventy-six dollars, the maximum amount in food stamps one person in Louisiana can receive.
(on camera): OK, I'm going to run out of money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CALLEBS (voice-over): I wanted to be as careful and as frugal as possible. Even state leaders in charge of the food stamp program had their doubts.
(on camera): How difficult do you think it would be for me to live on $176 for one month?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very difficult if you had no other sources of income or food.
CALLEBS (on camera): I started this project on Sunday, February 1st, $6.28 a day to eat. The first shopping trip alone cost more than $70, so I knew I'd have to live pretty cheaply. By the second week, I hit my stride. Food got better: baked chicken, potatoes, healthy vegetables. And by the final week, I knew I'd make it even though the cupboard got a lot more bare.
The food was heavy on calories and light on taste. Still, I consider myself among the lucky. I made it through the entire month. Across the country, there are millions of families like the Allens, who live near Houma, Louisiana. Their monthly allotment of $580 for food stamps always runs out before the end of the month.
JIMMY ALLEN, FOOD STAMP RECIPIENT: If you can't make it or you can't get it on your own, you don't need it. But that's not always the case whenever -- I've got a wife and six kids.
CALLEBS (voice-over): For the Allens and 31 million other Americans on food stamps, pride takes a back seat to feeding hungry mouths. Food banks and churches try to fill in the gaps, but the simple answer is, more and more families who never thought they would be turning to food stamps are asking for government assistance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Sean Callebs with his first-person account of what it was like for him to live on $176 in food stamps for one month.
Well, a campaign to wipe out foul language -- Curses! A teen takes on some popular but profane words. I'll talk carefully, of course, with McKay Hatch (ph) in about two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, there's an unusual club that's taking off online, one I'd never be admitted to, that's for sure. The No Cussing Club is the brainchild of McKay Hatch. He started the first chapter as an eighth-grader. Now his county, Los Angeles County, is putting the campaign on the calendar. McKay Hatch joins me live from L.A. Thirty thousand members now, McKay?
MCKAY HATCH, FOUNDER, "NO CUSSING CLUB": Yes. That's right.
PHILLIPS: That's amazing. OK, so, tell me why you came up with this idea.
HATCH: Well, you know, it all started in elementary school when none of my friends really cussed. But when I got in middle school, all my friends started cussing, and this bothered me. So I challenged them, and they didn't cuss around me. So, later on in eighth grade, they came back to me, said because of you, we don't cuss, so we made some fliers, and we had our first meeting on June 1st, 2007.
PHILLIPS: So, what's wrong with cussing?
HATCH: Well, you know, it just doesn't make someone feel good. I mean, when my friends were first doing it, you know, they were using it every other word, like it was kind of like the word "the". So, I think that's why at first, you know, it was bothering me.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So, what do you do when you get angry? What do you say?
HATCH: Well, what I try to say is I guess is when I stub my toe, I go, oh, pickles.
(LAUGHTER)
HATCH: Or barnacles or something like that on "SpongeBob."
PHILLIPS: OK, I'm going to remember that. Pickles. Take note, the entire newsroom here.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right, so, now you're pitching to L.A. County, "No Cussing Week." And they're seriously putting it on the agenda. Do you think this is going to happen?
HATCH: Actually, I really do think this is going to happen. And I really hope it does because, you know, everyone alwasys says during this whole thing, you know, words are just words. Words have no meaning.
You know, words are powerful. Words can, you know, end up, you know, telling you where you're going to go in life. You know, we need to get back to the basics, you know, of treating people with civility and using positive language that's going to, you know, only uplift people.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So, if indeed this happens, and L.A. County decides to make "No Cussing Week," will there be a fine? How will people be held accountable if they cuss?
HATCH: People are probably going to end up being put in jail or maybe whipped -- no, just kidding.
(LAUGHTER)
HATCH: No, it's not forcing anyone to stop cussing. I think it's just going to, you know, be a start for people, because maybe if they could do it for a week, maybe they could do it for two weeks and then a month.
PHILLIPS: So I'm curious, are you thinking about running for office? Is that what you're gearing up to here by -- sort of, this is your first step into suggesting legislation?
HATCH: Well, you got me. That's exactly what I'm doing -- no, I'm just kidding. No, I'm not. But I hope this, you know, "Cuss-Free Week" ends up working out, and people really try to, you know, take this in and do something with it.
PHILLIPS: Well, your Web site is pretty amazing. You've got a book out, you've got a DVD, you've got songs, you've got bracelets. Where is all of that money going?
HATCH: All that money goes just back to buying, you know, more books and more bracelets and more shirts to sell on my Web site, nocussing.com. And...
PHILLIPS: All right.
HATCH: Yes, go ahead.
PHILLIPS: So the money's going to college?
HATCH: Yes.
PHILLIPS: It sounds good. All right. OK, well, McKay Hatch, I tell you what. We're going to track you. We're going to see what happens, if indeed this week goes through. Check in with you. So, you mean to tell me when your dad picked you up from school and went through L.A. traffic, he didn't cuss once in the car to bring you to the studio?
HATCH: Well, he doesn't want me to really admit that. But, he might have slipped up a little bit.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: OK, McKay Hatch, we'll be tracking your efforts. Nice meeting you.
HATCH: Oh, cool. Thank you. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, who speaks for the GOP? That's been an open question pretty much since the Republicans lost Congress in 2006. And over the weekend, President Obama's chief of staff called Rush Limbaugh the Republican Party's intellectual force. Well, many would agree but Michael Steele isn't one of them. He's the newly elected Republican Party chairman and a guest on CNN's "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Let's put it into context here, Rush Limbaugh's an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertaining.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He influences the Republican Party, right, and he gives a sense that he would say anything. D.L. HUGHLEY, HOST, "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS": He influences the party. And I'll tell you what, you're the first Republican I talked to, and I've talked to a lot, that said he's not the leader of this party. I've never heard anybody say that on any show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, after that interview was taped, Limbaugh gave what he called his first national address, almost 90 minutes worth, at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Well, Team Sanchez is going to have a lot more on this at the top of the hour, but Rick, can you believe this kid out of Los Angeles, "No Cussing Week"?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Really?
PHILLIPS: You didn't hear it?
SANCHEZ: I missed it.
PHILLIPS: You were busy cussing at your producers.
SANCHEZ: I was busy putting together that Rush Limbaugh series that you've been pushing for.
PHILLIPS: OK. Oh, you do a pretty good Rush Limbaugh.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Hey, look, it gets better. You didn't know this, but now you do. Moments ago, Rush Limbaugh went after Michael Steele on his radio show.
PHILLIPS: What did he say?
SANCHEZ: He's saying, as we understand it and we're trying to get that verbate, as we call it here in the news biz, you know, get the exact quotation, so, I'm not going to quote him specifically. But he seems to be very critical of Mr. Steele's comments. He seems to be critical of Mr. Steele's handling of the Republican Party.
He seems to be saying as well that he's not interested in being the leader of the Republican Party, although that seems to be what people are saying right now, that he is the de facto leader. That was a word that was used by Steele in his interview. So, this thing is getting really interesting at this point and...
PHILLIPS: Well, Steele still thinks Limbaugh is an entertainer, not a leader of the Republican Party.
SANCHEZ: Well, he may be an entertainer, but there's no question that he's being viewed in many circles right now, including among those in the Republican Party, as a very strong figure in the party that is at least leading in many ways. That's very good for Rush Limbaugh, very good for Rush Limbaugh's ratings, maybe not so good for the Republican Party. At least that's what some Republicans are saying, like Mike Murphy, for example, who was on "Meet the Press" this weekend, who said if they continue to follow just Rush in the Republican Party, they're only going to end up with 25 percent of the possible votes out there, and they're not going to be able to win elections. Again, that's a Republican saying that.
So, we're going to try and break this down. Is he good for the party? Should he be the leader? Who's in charge? Is it Michael Steele? Is it Rush Limbaugh? And why are they going after each other right now? That's what we're going to be talking about.
Oh, and that big story coming out of Clearwater, Florida, these four guys who went out on the boat. You've been following it. The Coast Guard's going to be having a news conference coming up in just a little while here. They told us 3:00. We don't know when it starting, but we're going to take it live, and man, that's a story that still has a lot of questions to be answered.
PHILLIPS: One survivor, three guys still missing.
SANCHEZ: Well, how come only one person was able to cling to the boat? And what happened to the other three when that wave hit the boat? We'll get into all of that.
PHILLIPS: All right, sounds good. Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, see you.
PHILLIPS: Well, as we told you earlier, one of Europe's biggest banks, HSBC, says it's slashing about 6,100 jobs here in the U.S. Why here, why now? CNN's Richard Quest is in London with some answers.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, HSBC said it was going to lose about 6,000 jobs, and most of them would be in the United States. They come from the Household International division that was bought some years ago, particularly from HFC and Beneficial, two subprime mortgage lenders in the U.S..
Now, to any viewers who have either got loans with or savings with HFC and Beneficial, the bank tells me not to worry, this is going to be a gradual process. There will be no sudden moves. Nobody's going to find their loans and mortgages called in overnight. They will gradually be run off over time. And the bank will be getting in touch with both those savers and borrowers alike. As for HSBC, overall, the bank says it remains profitable. Not bad in this day and age -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Richard Quest, appreciate it so much.
Well, Dodger Stadium not a field of dreams this weekend but a place where people were looking for a break. The Los Angeles ballpark was inundated during a two-day job fair when nearly 7,000 people showed up, applying for one of 500 part-time positions. And the folks in line say they'll take anything that they can get.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been up here quite a few times for games. I never thought I would actually be up here applying for a job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to do traffic control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm applying for maintenance work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warehouse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you willing to do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm willing to do just about anything at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the positions ranged from security to hawking peanuts and beer at the stands, and the pay is up to $17 an hour.
Well, imagine having to swim 1,000 yards, sprint 500 yards in the ocean, then complete a mile-long run, swim, run combo event. One hundred fifty-six job seekers did just that, competing to become lifeguards in Huntington Beach, California. The job pays $16 an hour. More than a few people were overqualified for 25 openings, including two-time Olympic water polo medalist, Erika Lorenz, but like many of you, she's looking for a job, too.
In this recession, a new gold rush underway. But you don't need a pick-axe. We're going to tell you what you do need to strike it rich.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, tough economic times have created a new niche industry, hosting gold parties. Neighbors get together to sell gold for something more precious: cold, hard cash. CNN's Susan Candiotti checked it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Can you part with it for $650?
UNIDENTIFIEF FEMALE: Heck, yes.
CANDIOTTI: Driven by the need for green, women -- mostly -- are staging gold rush parties, the perfect place to unload those clunky high school rings, lonely single earrings and rarely worn bling taking up space.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I just had a new roof put on, and I needed a furnace, so I'm still, you know, paying on those two items. And so, every little bit helps.
CANDIOTTI: Gold buyers are happily setting up shop in private homes. The host gets 10 percent of the action. Magnets check whether the glitter is really gold, solutions test for purity and scales weigh it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whereas we would do three, four a week, now we're booked every night with gold parties.
CANDIOTTI: Catching on because of rising gold prices, fluctuating around $940 an ounce. But because of carats and commissions, sellers usually get far less. Wallie Naughton (ph) recently lost her job, and she's three months behind on the mortgage. She gets an offer of $1,200 for a chunky gold necklace and other jewelry.
WALLIE NAUGHTON (ph), GOLD SELLER: It would take care of a month's bill. Monthly bills. Without the mortgage. Without the mortgage.
CANDIOTTI: Bills without the mortgage.
NAUGHTON (ph): Yes.
CANDIOTTI: Is that enough to say OK, I could use it?
NAUGHTON (ph): I don't make hasty decisions. Never do.
CANDIOTTI: Good idea. Experts say sellers beware. Get more than one appraisal.
DONALD PALMIERI, PRES, GEMOLOGICAL APPRAISAL ASSN.: Once it's sold, it's gone. All the memories, whatever the happiness that the jewelry brought you in the past is gone. Once you've sold it, it's gone.
CANDIOTTI: For Beth Turner, on disability with three children and a husband just laid off, selling some jewelry may be worth it to take her son to a national cheerleading tournament in Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's $500.
BETH TURNER (ph), GOLD SELLER: That's awesome. That will pay for my hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good for you.
UNIDENTIFIEF FEMALE: Now you're going to make me cry.
(LAUGHTER)
CANDIOTTI: Gold parties may not be the answer to all your troubles, but trading in a little gold for green sure can help.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New Windsor, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.
