Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Mortgage Delinquencies Surge; 'First Stimulus Project'; Bringing Home the Bacon; Outsourcing Bad Check Threats; Archive Building Collapse in Cologne, Germany
Aired March 03, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, March 3rd, and here are the top stories for you this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Dow stocks try to claw their way back to 7,000 today. Can blue chips turn a morning rally into a winning day?
President Obama welcomes the British prime minister to the White House this hour. Gordon Brown wants a global new deal. What's that?
Prosecutors go after bad check deadbeats by outsourcing. Are you dealing with the legal system or a debt collector?
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
New numbers out this morning suggest the U.S. housing market is still sliding down a cliff, and bottom is still down there somewhere. The National Association of Realtors says contracts to purchase existing homes plunged almost 8 percent in January, to a record low. The decline most likely foreshadows another steep fall in home sales when February numbers come out later this month. The Real Estate Group estimates nearly half of existing home sales are now foreclosures or otherwise distressed properties.
Citi Mortgage is helping its out-of-work customers keep their homes. The bank will cut mortgage payments to an average $500 for three months. Mortgages have to meet certain requirements. They have to be at least 60 days late, and the customer must show proof of recent unemployment benefits. Citigroup, the company's parent, has received $45 billion in taxpayer help.
Make no mistake, Citigroup is trying to help itself as well by stopping the wave of foreclosures. And a new report shows the number of late mortgage payments is -- yes, you guessed it -- surging.
Susan lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details and a check of the markets.
Susan, good morning.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
Well, stocks are cheap, but investors are still not buying in droves. This, despite the fact that the Dow closed below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. You know, you outlined a lot of what's going on, whether it's pending home sales, Citi's plan to try to help folks who are out of a job and late on their payments for their home. All of the president's men are speaking this morning and this afternoon, whether it's the treasury secretary, Geithner, or Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is speaking at the moment. And, you know, there's a lot of to absorb.
But the bottom line is that investors are still thinking that the market will go lower still, because we're seeing a very tepid recovery, despite the carnage we saw yesterday, the worst start to March in the Dow's 113-year history. Check it out on the Big Board.
Right now, the blue chips are up 13 points. Thirteen points. And as I mentioned, not only below 7,000, below 6,800. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is doing a little bit better. It's up a third of a percent.
Citi shares, by the way, right now are up 4 percent. That translates into 4 cents. It's trading under $2, this huge behemoth, and that's one of the reasons why Chairman Bernanke is saying that we need to really stabilize the financial sector. It's not a new statement from the Fed chairman, but you need to see that in order to see an economic recovery. It's only one of the problems plaguing the U.S. economy, obviously -- Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, Susan, a quick one. What is it that markets need, want to hear? What would get investors going again?
LISOVICZ: Well, I mean, the market has not responded well to administration figures.
HARRIS: No.
LISOVICZ: And one of the reasons why is it very much has that sense of work in progress. I mean, to be fair, of course, these are unprecedented times. But there is a sense that it's kind of an ad hoc solution, you know, throwing things here and there. And investors are skeptical.
And even though the market is typically a forward-looking mechanism, I mean, really forward -- six, eight, nine months down the road, looking for a glimmer of hope -- just not seeing it in the fine points of the data that we get bombarded with on a daily basis. And when you start to see a little bit, whether it's the declines aren't as steep, or you're starting to see maybe, you know, more improvement in the housing market in terms of, you know, actual purchases of homes that aren't just simply foreclosed, I think that you're going to see a little bit of a -- of some upward momentum here.
HARRIS: How about this, Susan -- and we're going to talk a couple more times throughout the morning here. I get that the markets may not be happy with the ad hoc approach to what the Obama administration is proposing and acting on right now. But when we come back, will you tell me what it is the smart market analysts suggest to you would be a better approach? Would you do that for me, please?
LISOVICZ: I certainly will, Tony. And we'll be talking later this hour.
HARRIS: All right, Susan. That's right. Oh, that's right. Thanks, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN SAVAGE, IREPORTER: The first thing that comes to my mind is, OK, who is getting paid big bucks or getting a corporate jet just to bail out AIG? We're not so stupid anymore now, are we?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: AIG gets another $30 billion in bailout bucks. iReporter Robin Savage says it smells suspiciously sinister to her.
You know, the nation's first stimulus project begins today. The announcement came today from the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood. Where is this project, and how did it get to be first?
Josh Levs is here with some answers.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, because I spent the past 45 minutes running around trying to find them, thanks to Mr. LaHood.
This is interesting, isn't it Tony?
HARRIS: It is. It is, yes.
LEVS: We didn't see this coming. They're officially saying -- the government is officially saying today that the stimulus money is now being spent, they actually have a project under way. Let's take a look at exactly what the secretary said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: And I am happy to announce that the work begins today in Montgomery County, Maryland, where a work crew is starting on a project to resurface Maryland State Highway 650, a very busy road that has not been fully repaired in 17 years. The contract for which this first project is being awarded is to America Infrastructure, a family-owned business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And actually, let me tell you something about that family- owned business. I've got it on the screen behind me.
HARRIS: Wow.
LEVS: America Infrastructure, I just spoke with them. This is their 70th birthday, Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, good. Good.
LEVS: And they're saying it's quite a 70th birthday gift that they got here. Officially, the first project in the nation.
Let me show you where it is. We can zoom in. We've got this Google Earth animation that will start off with the country, and I think it will be able to close in on the actual street.
We don't have that? OK, don't worry about it. I've got it here on my screen.
HARRIS: Nice.
LEVS: This -- yes, I spoke with them just now. And you know Maryland pretty well; right, Tony?
HARRIS: I do. I do.
LEVS: All right. So check it out. We're going to zoom in here.
It's a stretch of Route 650. You know 650?
HARRIS: I do, yes.
LEVS: OK. Well, I just spoke with the DOT, and you see this A over here is a road called Venice Drive. I got in closer over here. This is the stretch right here.
HARRIS: Oh, yes.
LEVS: See Route 650? You know it pretty well.
And obviously, it's a major artery for Maryland. And we're told it's been 17 years since this one-mile stretch has been cleaned up.
It starts there at Venice Drive, and for those of you who are familiar with it, it's going to go down close to Columbia Pike. And let me give everybody a warning when you hear about this project. It's a one-mile stretch of road that we're talking about, no more than one mile. But sometimes the way the Transportation Department talks about this stuff, because there's lots of lanes -- if you have three lanes, they'll call it three miles -- so it's actually just a one-mile stretch that they're doing.
And I'll tell you, Tony, this is -- you know, there was a lot of competition to be the first in the nation.
HARRIS: How about that?
LEVS: They managed to jump at it, and there you go.
HARRIS: So the first infrastructure project under way. How much is it going to cost?
LEVS: OK. This project itself is going to be $1.84 million. They also said that in the news release today over at DOT.
And they're saying that it's going to create 60 jobs. I wanted to reality check a little bit about that before I spit the figure at you.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: I asked the company. Here's what they're saying.
During the lengthening of this project, which is about 140 days, at some point they will use 60 people. That doesn't mean that they're going to use 60 people the whole time. Still, it's a project and it's jobs -- Tony.
HARRIS: And how was it chosen to be the first project? Do we know?
LEVS: You know what? I asked about that. They told me that what happened is, there's a lot of competition. And they asked all the states, what's ready to go the very first day?
This was one of a handful that was ready to go the first day. How ultimately this became the one, that I don't know yet.
HARRIS: Good stuff, Josh. You turned that around really quickly. Thank you, sir.
LEVS: Thank you.
HARRIS: You know, critics call it pork, lawmakers call it bringing home the bacon. The spending bill making its way through Congress, packed with pet projects. Even members of the Obama administration are not immune.
Details now from Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The busy I- 95 corridor in Delaware is about to get some $4 million taxpayer dollars for repairs and upgrades thanks to earmarks from Delaware's former senator, who is now the vice president. In fact, a spending bill now moving through Congress, a holdover from last year, includes millions of dollars in projects from several lawmakers now serving in the Obama administration.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel got at least $3.5 million for street repairs in his old Chicago district and $900,000 for a planetarium. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has a lot of earmarks for his former Peoria, Illinois, district, including three totaling $440,000 for the Lakeview Museum. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has earmarks, too, like $380,000 for a hybrid transit system in her old California district.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He doesn't control everything that happened before he became president of the United States.
BASH: At the White House, the president's spokesman shrugged it off as last year's business. And despite billions of earmarks from Democrats and Republicans, said the president will sign the $410 billion spending bill. That prompted a scathing speech from the president's former rival and longtime adversary of pork barrel spending.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: To say this is last year's business, we want to just move on, that's insulting to the American people.
BASH: The president's spokesman did signal that Mr. Obama will issue new guidelines to Congress about future earmarks.
GIBBS: You will see and hear outlined a process of dealing with this problem in a different way, and the rules of the road going forward for those many appropriation bills will be done differently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy. Dana Bash joining us from Capitol Hill.
And Dana, we know the bill must be passed to keep the government in business, but will the earmarks really survive?
BASH: They likely will, Tony. You know, in just in a little more than half an hour, John McCain is going to have a vote on an amendment that he has on the Senate floor, which would be to get rid of not just the earmarks, which really only make up about 1 percent of this $410 billion bill, but also to get rid of the other spending increases.
This bill which the Senate is working on has about an 8 percent across-the-board spending increases over last year. He is going to try to cut that all out and say let's just keep the government running at last year's levels. It's not likely to pass, because Democrats feel that they have the votes to do that.
So the answer to your question is, these earmarks that are in here, the increase in spending levels, at this point, it looks like it is probably going to pass and get to the president's desk. And he did say he would sign this.
HARRIS: Boy, OK.
On Capitol Hill, our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.
Dana, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
HARRIS: The global scope of the economic crisis topping the agenda when President Obama meets with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. That is happening later this hour.
White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us live now with a preview.
And Suzanne, this is an important meeting for these leaders, particularly as they set the stage for the G-20 summit next month.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. We're expecting Gordon Brown to arrive in about a half-hour or so. These two, it's not the first time that they have actually met.
You may recall, there was candidate Obama who was in Europe. They met face to face, they talked for a little bit. But it is very clear this time around, Tony, that the stakes are a lot higher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are determined to change the game, turning from partners in war to partners in peace. On the eve of this historic visit, Brown had this to say...
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know that past prime ministers have gone in times of war to talk about war. What I'm going to do is to talk about how we can work together at climate change, the economy, and security for the future.
MALVEAUX: Their new focus, the economic crisis that plagues both nations. Brown comes armed with a so-called Global New Deal, ideas on how to reform the crumbling financial institutions in London and New York.
BROWN: If America and Britain did the same or similar things to deal with the economy, then the effect of that will be magnified by all of us doing it together.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama is listening. After all, it was Britain that took the lead in recapitalizing its own failing banks. The U.S. followed suit.
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.
MALVEAUX: But both countries are in trouble, and Obama is eager to set a common agenda with Brown before he visits London in April for a global economic summit. The two leaders will also try to find common ground on climate change, fighting poverty, and the war in Afghanistan.
"The Times of London" says Gordon comes bearing a gift for Mr. Obama, a wooden ornament carved from a British ship that was used in the 19th century to suppress the slave trade. It replaces the last gift from Britain that sat in the Oval Office, a bronze bust of the war leader Winston Churchill, who President Bush adored. President Obama had that removed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So, Tony, obviously, the symbolism very important there when it comes to that gift. But also, we'll be taking a look at their body language and the words that they use, whether or not they really do come together when they answer some questions from the press about whether or not they really have a common vision when it comes to dealing with the global economic crisis -- Tony.
HARRIS: Very good.
All right, our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for us.
Suzanne, thank you.
Terror in Pakistan again. What's going on there?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A deadly ambush in Pakistan caught on tape. Now, if you look closely here, you will see gunmen firing at a bus. It was filled with a visiting sports team from Sri Lanka.
Latest reports say eight players were hurt, at least six police officers protecting them were killed. The brazen attack happened in the city of Lahore.
Our Stan Grant is in Pakistan with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dramatic video of gunmen attacking the Sri Lankan team bus in broad daylight. The cricketers on their way to the stadium for a match with Pakistan's team. The attackers armed with rifles, rocket launchers and grenades. A shootout in the streets, as Pakistan security move in to protect the players. A number of police left dead.
GOV. SALMAN TASEER, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN (through translator): This was a planned terrorist attack. The people had with them heavy weapons, grenades. The way they attacked wasn't normal terrorism.
CHIEF HAJI HABIBUR REHMAN, LAHORE POLICE (through translator): The police put up a lot of resistance, and I am proud of my policemen. They sacrificed a lot, and five were martyred, and four or five were injured.
GRANT: Sri Lanka players hit as well, a number wounded. Reports saying mostly minor injuries.
LUCIEN RAJAKARUNANAYA, SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: There are at least six players who are injured. Two of them have been treated at the hospital. And the others -- and all others are to be brought back.
GRANT: Witnesses and others traveling with the team describe what they saw.
"Suddenly in front of me was the SP van and two police warden (ph) vans, and the attackers targeted those vans first," says this bus driver. Officials in Sri Lanka quick to react. The match cancelled, the players will be flown home. The future of Pakistan cricket now in doubt. Other nations, Australia and India, already refuse to tour.
SANATH JAYASURLYA, FMR. SRI LANKAN CRICKET PLAYER: It's an unfortunate incident. And I think the only thing to be happy with, they are all safe. That's the good news when I spoke to Kumar (ph). So I think that is why we can be happy.
GRANT: This attack, proof again of Pakistan's struggle to contain terrorism. The government and military already battling militancy across the country.
(on camera): Some are already drawing parallels between this attack and last year's terrorism in Mumbai. Pakistan once again front and center in the war against terrorism. Once again, the world looking for answers.
Stan Grant, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Wedding plans up in the air, vacation homes with no extra amenities. When a resort shuts down, many things change.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really breaks your heart. You think, oh, a lot of times, why has mom or dad sent them like that? Well, you know, a lot of times, mom and dad may not have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy. Students falling behind on money for their school lunches. Officials in Jefferson County, Alabama, report an increase in the numbers of students applying for free and reduced-price lunches. They say it is a sign of the times not just in their county, but across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONYA ANTHONY, JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA, SCHOOLS: Whenever we hear of any -- unfortunately any stores or plants closing that we know in that geographical location, we're going to see some increases. When we start seeing it countywide, then that is an indication to us that this is not just a localized issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, school officials say if students can't pay for a meal, they will still be fed. They may be given a cold meal with a sandwich instead of a hot lunch.
An Idaho ski resort once billed as a hot new destination now a casualty of the economic meltdown. Tamarack is shutting down operations tomorrow.
Alyson Outen of our affiliate KTVB has details on the resort's downhill plunge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALYSON OUTEN, REPORTER, KTVB (voice-over): Over the years, we followed Tamarack's development in the mountains outside Donnelly. Step by step, it seems skeptics were proven wrong as more and more structures and amenities were added. But within the past year, a combination of financial failings and the economic downturn have put the resort in default. Despite efforts to keep it afloat, Tamarack is sinking under insurmountable debt.
DOUGLAS WILSON, COURT APPOINTED RECEIVER: The homeowner is going to be very troubled by this, obviously.
OUTEN: Tamarack says there are currently 250 people who own cabins, chalets and homes on the premises, people from around the world who bought into the promise of this new resort.
WILSON: It is going to have an impact, and it's going to have a lot of disappointed people who, you know, are there, to a large extent, because they want to enjoy some of these -- the amenities.
OUTEN: Those amenities included a $6 million golf course. Osprey Meadows will not reopen this spring. But to preserve the course for the future, it will continue to maintain the greens and fairways.
Overlooking the golf course is the $20 million lodge completed about three years ago. Inside, there's a gourmet restaurant and a full-service spa. Along with hotel rooms, there are also condominiums in the lodge. Those owners will still have access to their condos, but as of this week, all those other services will be closed.
One of the most highly profiled activities at Tamarack is its mountain biking trails. The trails that run through state land will remain open, but those on private property will be closed. And, of course, the chair lift will no longer taking mountain bikers to the top of the hill.
Two years ago, Tamarack opened a zip line course that covered nearly 4,500 feet of treetop terrain, suspending riders 200 feet above the ground. Now it's that activity that's suspended. It will not reopen this summer.
Another favorite at Tamarack has less to do with nature and more to do with nuptials. It's become a popular location for weddings. Over the weekend, Tamarack had difficult discussions with a dozen engaged couples with wedding day reservations, one wedding which was just three weeks away. Their money is being refunded.
WILSON: This, too, will pass.
OUTEN: Doug Wilson is temporarily running resort operations. He was appointed by a judge last fall after the CEO was ousted. He says there's no way to sugarcoat this situation. But in his professional opinion, this is not the end of Tamarack.
WILSON: Based on my experience of doing this 500 times over 20 years, I think we'll look back some years from now and say, this was a tough time for Tamarack, but it survived.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, we hope so.
We've been telling you this is a global economic problem. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has arrived at the White House for his meeting with President Obama. They will discuss how to recover from this crisis.
Our CNN money team is tracking this from both sides of the Atlantic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Right now at the White House, President Obama welcomes British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He is the first European leader to visit President Obama, the global economic crisis tops the agenda. And as you can see, on the president's schedule, he speaks at the Interior Department this afternoon, and later he meets with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The British leaders call for a global new deal, symbolizes the deep reaches of the financial meltdown. Let's talk about that with the CNN money team, Christine Romans in New York.
Christine, good to see you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: And Richard Quest in London. Richard, as always, good to talk to you.
Look, I would like to just tee this up for you two and then you have at it. Fundamentally, what are global markets looking for? It can no longer be news that the financial sector is in pretty horrible shape right now. So what do the markets want to hear?
ROMANS: Well, I'd say, Tony and Richard, that they'd like to see some leadership, and they would like to see some confidence coming back. You know, back in 1932 to 1933, when FDR was dealing with the original big problem that sparked the new deal, he promised persistent - bold, persistent experimentation, he said. And - if something didn't work, he forgot it and moved on.
We haven't seen the commitment, I don't think, to that here. I mean, something really bold, really a lot of change.
HARRIS: Like what, Christine? Like what, like what? ROMANS: That's called flip-flopping now. Now we keep saying, oh, they switched, you know, in the TARP, and that's flip-flopping. We haven't seen the big ideas out there. Look, these are the people that are supposed to have the big ideas. These are the ones who we elected to try to get us out. What Wall Street is telling you - and Richard, I want to know what you think about this - what Wall Street is telling us is that they haven't seen anything yet they think is going to help turn the tide.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine has put her finger absolutely spot on it. If you go back to what we are asking, it's less than a year ago that the former president, Bush, was saying that the economy was in good shape.
So look, put it this way. Until people realize that the global economy is undergoing cancer surgery, and that it is going to take some radical solutions, you are still arguing about whether public ownership of banks, even - not even nationalization, whether the banks should be recapitalized. I don't know how many times people like Christine and myself have to say this to you, Tony. But the reality is, it's going to cost a great deal of money, and the sooner we get on with it, the sooner we'll come out the other side of it. It's not pleasant, but then surgery never is.
HARRIS: Well, wait a minute. I just hear carping all over the place, about the money that we're spending. That we're throwing good money after bad, and you're telling me that more money is going to be need to turn this around?
ROMANS: A lot more. A lot more.
QUEST: Yes, yes! Because no - because you failed to actually do it properly in the first time around. This was a liquidity problem, initially. And now it's become a capital problem. But nobody actually wants to look people straight down the barrel of the lens of this camera and say it's going to cost money, real money. Just remember when the TARP came out, how that wasn't done properly. And now look at what's being done over various stimulus packages. Every bit of the way, it's been an uphill struggle.
HARRIS: Come on, Christine. Politically, this president can't go and say, hey, look, give me another $700 billion for the financial. Come on!
ROMANS: Wait, but didn't he put a place holder in the budget in case he needs it?
HARRIS: Yes, he did.
ROMANS: Didn't he? And didn't, yesterday, the Fed and the Treasury, didn't they say about IAG , didn't they say we're doing everything we can to help stabilize this company so that we can -but it's going to take time and it might require more government support?
I think they are telling us slowly but surely that they're there, and that they're going to be able to come up with the money or the support, however it's going to be. And you know, the Fed, for crying out loud, whose has already come up with an awful lot of support and didn't have to ask Congress to do it. I mean, it just did it.
I think what the markets are telling us, Tony, is that they're just - nothing that's happened yet has restored the confidence in here. Now, a couple people I talk to on Wall Street, frankly, they say, how do you know? How do you know we wouldn't be another thousand points below here without all the things that we've done? How do you know this isn't all working and at least stopping the worst of it?
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, and that's what's so frustrating. We just don't know here. We've never been in a situation like this, so we're just trying to figure it out as we go along.
HARRIS: Well, let me throw one more on the table here for you, Richard. What's the best - British Prime Minister Brown is here meeting with the president, what's the best that can come out of the G-20 economic summit in London? They're laying the ground work for it with this visit.
QUEST: Oh, I look - I wish I could say something decent and pleasant about the G-20 process. When it happened in November, I was like a naive child who had been taken and handed a lollipop. I thought something might come out of it. But frankly, I think they maybe should save the air tickets, stay at home, and have a conference call on the phone. Because I've heard nothing that suggests that this G-20 is going to be Bretton Woods, three, four, five or six.
The reality of this situation, we may be living in a Twitter world and a Facebook world, an "American Idol" world, but we are still living in the real world. And that means it's going to take time to put this right.
ROMANS: I wonder if they're all Facebook friends, the G-20. I don't know. I'm just wondering.
HARRIS: Christine, thanks.
Richard, thank you, sir. Thanks for the time.
These days, it is tough to get a job almost anywhere, even in the tour bus and trucking industry. It used to be tough to attract new drivers despite decent pay. Not anymore. The owner of a Tennessee bus company says he's been hammered with resumes and is currently running a wait list for new drivers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLAN WITT, OWNER, COACH QUARTERS: I've been surprised at some of the people we've seen coming in the last few days, looking to get into this type of work from other vocations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The salary? Eighty grand, eight months on the road.
Students, typically, fill temporary summer jobs at the zoo, but things are different this year. More than 800 people lined up at the Nashville Zoo yesterday for a chance at just 60 summer jobs in retail and concessions.
And the long lines are a familiar sight. This is a job fair about to show you for computer company Hewlett-Packard in New Mexico. Thirteen hundred jobs available, most of them in sales and customer service. The applicants, well, some of them have decades of experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN MOLLOY, LOOKING FOR WORK: I kind of took jobs on the side, and I've been doing that, but these days, it's hard to make a living just doing that. So I'm looking for the full-time position and the benefits and everything else that I really don't have right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes, he hopes to get a job in sales. He'll find out next week, the job actually starts in April.
Let's get a check of weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: We've been following this story, monitoring developments in the search for the three men, two of them pro football players, still missing. Missing since Saturday off the coast of Clearwater, Florida. Dramatic rescue, obviously, yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico. Nick Schuyler was found clutching the engine of their overturned fishing boat. Still waiting for the latest on the three missing men. One of them is Marquis Cooper, an NFL player. The other NFL player, Cory Smith.
Just moments ago, Marquis's dad, Bruce Cooper, spoke to the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE COOPER, MARQUIS COOPER'S FATHER: Me personally, I'm just mentally exhausted. It's just gut-wrenching. It's just left me where I'm just sapped of any energy. I mean, I've been on the other side, when I've sympathized and empathized with people in similar situations, but it's always the other guys, it's never you. So, I can sincerely stand here and tell you that I definitely know what the other two families are undergoing and what they're going through, because it's - it's just absolutely terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: That is Bruce Cooper, he is the father of NFL player Marquis Cooper, one of three men still missing off the coast of Clearwater, Florida. As we get more information, we will pass along that new information to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You ever bounced a check? Well, now the government is allowing one company to get more than check charges from you. We are talking millions of dollars. It's a CNN Special Investigations Unit report you must see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MORRISON, CNN IREPORTER: Americans are having to give up an awful lot in this economy. Thirty-four percent of New Yorkers are having to choose between rent and food. Well, this Sunday in the "New York Times" we found out what corporate America is giving up on. Its hold on reality. Macy's is asking us to buy $1,125.00 trench coats and $230.00 T-shirts. What planet are these people living on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow, OK. A serious sound off there from CNN superstar iReporter of Brooklyn, New York. He says, maybe Macy's hopes the AIG guys will come down and do some shopping after their latest taxpayer cash infusion. Ouch.
Tough economic times, you may accidentally bounce a check, right? Well, be warned. In a favor to local prosecutors, Congress changed a law. Now, going after bad check writers can be outsourced to a private debt collector. CNN's Special Investigations Unit in collaboration with the online investigation organization propublic.org has this exclusive report from our Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It happened to Michelle O'Neil and her husband, Mike. Both say they wrote checks with insufficient funds, as they were moving from Florida to Michigan. It was a mistake. But letters and phone calls soon followed.
MICHELLE O'NEIL, DETROIT TEACHER: They told me that they were a part of the attorney general's office.
GRIFFIN: In California, 21-year-old Jennifer Osborn wrote a check to her college book store. Her math, she says, was wrong.
JENNIFER OSBORN, COLLEGE STUDENT: So I called them and so I said what's going on? They basically told me I had to pay all of the money and go to the class or I would be arrested.
GRIFFIN: She got this letter with the district attorney's official seal on the letterhead. Mike O'Neil thought this phone call was from the state's attorney office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE ON ANSWERING MESSAGE: State's attorney bad check restitution program, our office has an official matter requiring your immediate attention. GRIFFIN: But none of the letters or calls were from local prosecutors. They came from a private debt collection agency named ACCS, a southern California firm hired by about 150 district attorney's office across the nation to collect bad checks.
DEEPAK GUPTA, PUBLIC CITIZEN: They're renting the prosecutor's seal and they're using that name and authority to collect bad check debt.
GRIFFIN: The fees are large. Mike O'Neil says he wrote a $14 bad check to a CVS drugstore in Florida. That cost him $285.
MICHAEL O'NEIL, DETROIT CONSTRUCTION WORKER: They make you feel like a criminal. They try to scare you. They - you know, they use - again, scare tactics, harassment, everything. And, you know, you really take a look at it, and seriously, is the attorney general of Florida after me for a $14 returned check.
GRIFFIN: The company splits the collection fees with prosecutors, then, as part of its contract, requires even more. Mike O'Neil and Jennifer Osborn had to take the company's money management class. The fee, $160.00, all of it going to ACCS.
(on camera): What was that like?
OSBORN: It was boring. I mean, it was pointless.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The watchdog group, Public Citizen, filed class action lawsuits against ACCS for deceptive debt collection practices, claiming that you really only need to pay the fee to those classes. You don't even have to show up.
GUPTA: ACCS doesn't really care about these classes, about teaching people how to balance their checkbooks. It's really about collecting the fees.
GRIFFIN: And those classes are required under some state laws. In this court filings, ACCS says the classes are successful in preventing repeat offenders, and the company denied deceptive practices. But the firm would not talk to CNN on camera, suggesting we talk to local prosecutors instead. So we did.
SHARON MATSUMOTO, ASST. DIST. ATTY., LOS ANGELES COUNTY: This particular function is something that we can legally outsource to another company who is experienced in doing this.
GRIFFIN: Sharon Matsumoto runs the program for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Last year, she says, ACCS collected $2 million on $80,000 bad checks. She says without the private contract, the never gotten that money back to merchants. She hasn't heard any complaints, and neither has Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), FINANCIAL SERVICES CHAIRMAN: This is the first anybody has brought it to my attention.
GRIFFIN: It was Frank who helped change the law allowing private debt collectors to work for local prosecutors, something the prosecutors wanted.
BRANK: The way it had been represented was this was an alternative to criminal prosecution. So I would be surprised if someone was going to be criminally prosecuted for one check of just a few dollars.
GRIFFIN: That is why Jennifer Osborn was so surprised and scared when she was threatened with jail if she didn't pay up. Pay up the $360.00 ACCS was asking for that $92.00 check she bounced at the campus bookstore. An honest mistake, she says, that she tried to immediately fix.
OSBORN: I'm disappointed in the system. It shouldn't happen.
GRIFFIN (on camera): The government should not be in business with a private collection agency.
OSBORN: No way. Not at all. It just should not happen that way.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Drew Griffin, CNN, Santa Barbara, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: This just in - and we've got pictures to show you as well from Cologne, Germany. A building we understand housing Cologne city archives collapsed into a pile of rubble. And you can see these pictures from a website. I guess someone will tell me what the website is.
There were a number of people inside who were able to flee to safety, but we understand two construction workers were reported missing.
A German newspaper website. OK, fine.
The collapse actually took down part of a neighboring building. Work was being carried out on a new subway line under the street and some witnesses did report that there was some shaking before the collapse.
We are going to keep our eye on this story and bring you the latest as soon as we get it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right, we want to update the breaking news. We've gotten additional tools to help us set the scene for you. A building in Cologne, Germany, has collapsed and the building houses city archives, Cologne city archives. There are descriptions of the building shaking. One witness says, suddenly there was a rumbling as if a train were going past. Then, the noise got louder and louder and we heard vibrations. Then, in seconds, the whole area was covered in a haze. One witness to the collapse telling the Associated Press what happened. A number of people were with inside the building, but managed to get to safety. But we understand two construction workers are still reported missing. The collapse actually brought down a neighboring building. Some pictures you are seeing here from a newspaper, a Cologne newspaper, website. A fire department spokesman says, the staff and visitors to the building were able to get out of the archive building shortly before the collapse. Work was being carried out on a new subway line under the street.
And those are the latest pictures. We will continue to follow developments in this story and find out if anyone, in fact, is hurt and the whereabouts and condition of the two construction workers who are still missing.
Your money, your life. President Obama and Prime Minister Brown are still meeting at the White House. And Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is about to testify before a congressional panel.
Stay right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
