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The Fed Prints Trillions to Stimulate the Economy; IRS Says Scam to Take Tax Incomes, Stimulus Checks Increasing; More AIG Bonuses Discovered; Tent City in Sacramento Closing
Aired March 21, 2009 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, Don Lemon, live here in the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We begin with developing news that is sure to make many of you very angry. There are new claims today that AIG has under-reported its bonus payouts. The Connecticut attorney general tells CNN that he has documents that show the company paid out 53 million dollars more in bonuses than they first thought. A total of the 218 million dollars instead of 165 million that we heard about all last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're asking the company to explain or confirm all of the numbers which appear to total 218 million dollars. If this money is taxpayer-funded, it certainly raises the total amount from 165 million to 218 million. We believe the company ought to be accountable to explain why there is a discrepancy in the documents they have provided in response to our requests and subpoenas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Meantime, Connecticut is one of the 20 states, ones in blue, which have announced official investigations into the AIG bonuses. An AIG spokesman calls this report old news. He tells CNN the confusion apparently surrounds 55 million dollars in bonuses paid the out in December. Connecticut's attorney general says he wants AIG to clarify this apparent discrepancy.
Well, all of this is only stoking more resentment between the haves and the have notes.
Just recently, we showed you how people in economic distress in Connecticut went on a bus tour of the homes of wealthy executives. As you can see, they vented their frustration over losing their own jobs and homes. Today, the group is on another tour, this time visiting estates of AIG executives. Our Susan Candiotti road with the bus, and joins us now by phone.
Susan, are you on the bus now? What are you witnessing?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, actually, the tour ended several hours ago. I'm here to tell you about it. It was interesting. People who simply wanted to have their voices heard; there were about 20 people on the bus. About 20 more joined a rally outside AIG's financial Products Offices, their division in Connecticut that has been the focus of much of the attention of these bonuses.
These people are fed up that so much money has been paid to executives not only at AIG, but other companies. They say, enough is enough. Money can be put to so much better use. So many people are hurting. So many people's homes are being foreclosed and they can't even afford health care.
So the small group of people on this bus, really, far outnumbered by, frankly, the number of reporters and photographers that went along. What they did was they stopped outside the estate homes of two AIG executives who returned their millions of dollars in retention bonuses. These people tried to deliver letters, hand deliver them to the front door.
They were kept at bay by security guards. There was no confrontation. Everything was very, very orderly. When they couldn't deliver the letters, they read them outloud. Again, telling the executives they were glad that they were giving money back, but thought the money could be used in better ways to help more people.
LEMON: All right, thanks a lot for that, Susan. Susan is going to join us tonight at 7:00 with a report on exactly what she found out and what she experienced on that trip to CEOs' homes in Connecticut.
Meantime, President Barack Obama is trying to shift the spotlight away from things like AIG bonuses to issues more favorable to his overall agenda. Let's head now to Washington and CNN's Kate Bolduan. She's standing by for us at the White House. Tell us about this big shift in tone.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don. As you mentioned, after a week of losing focus, we could say, or having his message overshadowed by things like the uproar over corporate bonuses, as well as the Congressional Budget Office report projecting that Obama's budget proposal could create a deficit of nine trillion. That's more than two trillion more than the administration had projected over the next ten years.
President Barack Obama is now trying to return the focus to his economic plan, defending his priorities and his budget. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With the magnitude of the challenges we face, I don't just view this budget as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs. It's an economic blueprint for our future; a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banked, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education, and health care, that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now Republicans responded today and did the same as they had yesterday, jumping in on the CBO report, calling it a wake-up call that President Obama's budget and his economic plan require taxing too much, spending too much, and borrowing too much, pushing the cost to future generations. They say, it's just too much to afford.
LEMON: And the president was talking there. We saw him talking about recovery. Talk to us about the recovery plan for banks. What does he have in the works?
BOLDUAN: Yes, we're expecting to hear more about the new bank plan. This will be the latest effort by the administration to try to stabilize the financial sector. We know we'll be hearing the details in the coming days. No official word on exactly when. But we expect, at least in part, for it to offer more details, to flesh out the broad strokes that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had offered last month, when he said, at least in part, it could include a public/private partnership of sorts, in trying to buy up some of these bad assets.
The price tag is a big question. How much is the Obama administration going to be asking for this time from Congress and the taxpayers this time.
LEMON: Talk to us about Timothy Geithner. Is his job still on solid ground? A lot of people have been calling for him to resign, especially Republicans. I know that he spoke about that on "60 Minutes." The president at least talked about Geithner.
BOLDUAN: Yes, it seemed like it was a wide ranging interview. But CBS released excerpts of the "60 Minutes" interview. We can say that President Obama said there is no resignation that has been tendered and no resignation will be accepted. He joked if he would get a resignation, he would say, sorry, buddy, you still got the job.
So it doesn't seem like a job opening any time soon.
LEMON: Kate, thank you very much for your reporting.
Three letters that became a four-letter word this week, A-I-G. From Congress to the White House to Main Street, the insurance giant has been buried in a wave of outrage. But is all this anger misguided? Is Congress actually hurting the economy by lashing out at AIG? And is AIG just a scapegoat in much more -- a much more tangled web?
Well, the 7:00 Eastern hour promises to be an interesting one for you. We're digging deeper with outspoken radio host Neil Boortz and David Serota. Plus, Ray Seckoff (ph) of the "Huffington Post" and Rick Newman of "Newsweek" will all join us right here on CNN. A no holds barred discussion.
Meanwhile, tonight, Ali Velshi and the CNN money team search for truth inside the AIG scandal. See what they found in "AIG, Facts and fury." That's tonight at 8:00 pm Eastern, only here on CNN.
In other news, in eastern Pennsylvania, 5,000 people have been evacuated after a tanker truck overturned with a load of toxic acid. It happened over night near Wind Gap, when the driver apparently swerved to avoid hitting a deer. The accident blocked the highway in both directions. Crews are currently trying to get the tanker upright so it can be towed.
High above the Earth this afternoon, two astronauts did some weekend chores outside the International Space Station. They did routine maintenance to prepare for a future mission. They also attached a GPS antenna and an infrared camera. Alarms sounded towards the end of the space walk, but mission control called the problem nothing to worry about. Another space walk is planned for Monday.
A shameful scene in Sacramento, California may soon be going away. We'll have the latest.
Also, scamming Uncle Sam and you, how one mistake, like losing your wallet, could cost you tax dollars, tax refunds for the rest of your life. You need to know about this story.
Also tonight, we want you to be a part of community. Make sure you go to Twitter, Facebook, IReport.com, MySpace. Tell us what you're thinking. We will get your responses on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: There is new hope today for homeless people living in tents outside of Sacramento, California. After worldwide media attention, the city says it's shutting down the tent city. Steve Large of our Affiliate KOVR reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE LARGE, KOVR SACRAMENTO (voice-over): You'd never know it was here if you didn't look for it. On the other side of the train tracks, under a slew of smud power lines, and now in the focus of national and international media crews, it is a city of tents. This is the unofficial mayor, Rico.
RICO, MAYOR OF TENT CITY: A lot of these people around here, they consider this home. And they really mean it. Some of us, we're trying to get the hell up out of here, you know.
LARGE: And now the real mayor has a million dollar plan to clear it out.
MAY. KEVIN JOHNSON, SACRAMENTO: You've got to have tough love and we have to be very compassionate.
LARGE: The homeless here will be given choices. Cal Expo Shelter, churches, community centers, and permanent housing solutions will all be made available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still not -- not going to work, man.
LARGE (on camera): The city says about 150 people live in this area that's become known as tent city. But if you ask the people living here, they'll tell you that number is a lot higher, maybe as high as 250 or 275. And about another seven people move in every single day.
(voice-over): One welcome addition on this day, Port-O-Potties, rented by a Sacramento Pastor Darrell Wilhelm (ph). If the city has its way, they won't be need for long.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The city has got a plan in place, from what I understand. I haven't seen a lot of action in terms of the plan.
LARGE: But Mayor Johnson is calling on everyone to keep watch.
JOHNSON: And I challenge everybody who came from international, national, "New York Times," L.A., come back six months from now, do a follow-up story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Just a few facts for you about Sacramento. It is one of the highest mortgage foreclosure race in the country. Some estimate that the number of homeless increased 10 percent just in the past year alone.
Meantime, a lot of you are weighing in on stories we've been telling you about here. Here's what DWJAuthor says, "the AIG bonus situation sets a precedent for more bad things to come."
Jacob0622 says, "I think we should blame AIG, Congress, President Obama and Senator Dodd, because it's everybody's fault, not just one person's fault."
From Back Then, "enough already. High time we move to something meaningful." That's a question mark there. "Take back bonuses and focus on fixing schools or improving environment."
Gamer920 says, "I understand outrage of average Americans funding failure and recklessness. But I think over-reaction might lead to more problems."
We want to know what's on your mind. Make sure you go to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or IReport.com. We'll get your comments on the air.
The high cost of identity theft and how it could cost you your tax refund and stimulus checks for years to come.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Let's hear it for vegetable vegetables. Yes! Whoo!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Kids actually cheering for veggies. It was more the first lady cheering there. But the first lady sets up a Victory Garden. We're playing in the dirt with her at the White House coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The success of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" has put the spotlight on India. Some celebrities are adding Indian style to their look, thanks to an American company that is both small and global. Richard Lui has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The vibrance in style of India inspired Rosena Sammi to create her own jewelry company.
ROSENA SAMMI, ROSENA SAMMI JEWELRY: In a former life, I as a lawyer. I always had a passion for jewelry.
LUI: So she designed a business plan and some south Asian bling.
SAMMI: One wonderful thing about designing jewelry is it allows me a creative outlet that the law didn't allow. So it's an opportunity also to reconnect to my culture.
LUI: And Sammi's culture is delightfully complicated.
SAMMI: I'm of Sri Lankan origin. I was born and raised in New Zealand. I moved to the U.S. to pursue a masters in law degree.
LUI: Jewelry is designed by Sammi, made by artisans in India, and sold in boutiques around the will world.
SAMMI: I have workshops in different regions of India that assist me in creating these amazing designs. So often I go to a particular region and ask for a particular style of work.
LUI: The style is popular, from Japan and Australia, to Europe and Hollywood.
LUI: I've had some amazing good luck with celebrities responding to my jewelry. Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Debra Messing. It's very much east meets west, and having fun with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The first lady plays in the dirt as the White House goes organic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The first lady is hosting a ground breaking right off the White House kitchen garden and on the south lawn. It's a victory garden, and only the second of its kind really to encourage locally grown organic food. Here is Randi Kaye with more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
M. OBAMA: You can lift up the grass with a pitch fork. Go, go, go.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Armed with a pitch fork and shovel, First Lady Michelle Obama digs in to her next project, an 1,100 square foot vegetable garden on the south lawn of the White House.
M. OBAMA: I want to make sure our family as well as the staff and all the people who come to the White House and eat our food get access to really fresh vegetables and fruits, because what I found with my girls, who are 10 and seven, is that they like vegetables more if they taste good.
KAYE: Everything grown here will either be cooked in the White House kitchen or sent to a local soup kitchen.
(on camera): Judging from this map of the new garden, there will be plenty to go around, spinach, kale, fennel, rhubarb, collared greens, even mint. And there will also be a couple of beehives for home made honey.
M. OBAMA: We need a wheel barrel.
KAYE: The first family, White House staff and more than two dozen students from DC's Bankroft Elementary will tend the garden year round. These kids have a garden of their own at school.
M. OBAMA: Let's hear it for vegetables. Yes! Whoo! Let's hear it for fruits! Yes! Did I hear a boo?
KAYE: The first lady hopes this will encourage parents to talk with their kids more about making healthy choices.
M. OBAMA: I've been able to have my kids eat so many different things they would have never touched if we had bought it at a store, because they either met the farmer that grew it or they saw how it was grown.
KAYE: Renowned California Chef Alice Waters, a long time proponent of locally grown and organic food, has envisioned a vegetable garden at the White House for two decades. She tried convincing Hillary Clinton, no luck. She sent this letter to the Obamas, and it worked.
ALICE WATERS, CHEF: I call it the victory garden, because it certainly harks back to a time when people cared enough to work together to make gardens part of that war effort. We can band together now and help each other. The victory garden represents that.
KAYE: During World War II victory gardens, as they were called, helped feed troops and their families. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had one. That's the lime time there was a victory garden here. Since then, just herbs and limited container gardening on the White House roof.
But Michelle Obama has a real interest in promoting healthy families. M. OBAMA: Are we done yet?
CROWD: No.
KAYE: And she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty getting the word out.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Good for them. It's probably a nice day to do it in Washington, even here in Atlanta. Not in the Midwest, Jacqui. Hard time getting a shovel in the ground.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: It's time for feedback. Our viewers have the most amazing feedback. Don't they? Very candid. Let's read some of them now.
Here's what Zach Westfall says: "blame the unbelievable greed on Wall Street. Human nature to the extreme."
Zoe says "everyone shares blame, but we have bigger problems than one one thousandth of bailout to AIG going to greedy execs."
Gingerlatte says, "I think there's a back story that we aren't privy to. I'm not sure why this was allowed. Dumb mistake? Not so sure anymore."
Pei-Anne says, "listen, to President Obama, "AIG is the scapegoat, but not the only offender. Enough blame game. Let's focus on fixing the problem."
Everyone wants solutions. We hear you, guys. Make sure to become part of the show, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, IReport.com. You, too, can be on the air here on CNN, at least your comments. We'll get your picture on as well.
The hidden cost of printing a trillion dollars. Sure, it will keep the government going, but we could all get hammered by it. CNN's Josh Levs explains how. Plus, scamming Uncle Sam and you. Identity thieves cannot only steal what's in your bank account right now, but also what could be in it in years from now. That's what you really need to know about. All of this coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In case you're just tuning in, here's a quick roundup of the stories that we're covering for you today on CNN: 218 million dollars, Connecticut's attorney general says that's how much AIG paid out in employee bonuses, 53 million more than what it earlier reported. Seventy three employees received at least one million dollars. Seven of them received over four million dollars each. That's according to those documents. AIG says it reported everything. We'll dig deeper into the story tonight, 7:00 p.m. Don't miss that.
Sixteen tons of toxic acid have spilled in a town in eastern Pennsylvania. The tanker truck carrying it tipped over in that accident; 5,000 people were told to get out of Dodge until it was all cleaned up.
More money, more problems. That's what we hear. The government is doing all sorts of things to try to get the economy moving again. This week, they've printed a trillion more dollars. How exactly does that help out in all of this?
Let's turn now to Josh Levs, to help us get through it.
Josh, how does it? Just print more money?
JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Doesn't it feel like trillion is the new million?
LEMON: I was talking -- I was doing radio and saying trillion is like the new, you know, 100. Can wee just keep rolling in out? A trillion, yes.
LEVS: A trillion. In two years, we'll be like, oh, yeah, another quadrillion. What are we going to do? I'm just kidding. That's not going to happen
LEMON: There's truth to that.
LEVS: Yes, I know. Let's not depress everyone. We don't have reason to believe it will happen. The Fed did do this. they did print a trillion dollars during the week. It's cool to look at the video and see the dollars rolling out. Some people find it cool.
But here's the thing. I want everyone to understand where the money is going. What the whole point of it is. Let's go to the graphic that will break it down for you. We have a pie chart.
This is a basic idea. You can see where it's going. Don, you have $750 billion going to mortgage-backed securities and $300 billion to treasury securities. The goal of those two things basically is two-fold. One is to lower mortgage rates. The other is to make it easier for the government to borrow money. By putting all the money out there, by buying up those things, it should be able to do those two things, lower mortgage interest rates and make it easier for the government to borrow money.
There's one more thing, Don, also. That is they are pushing for a little bit of inflation.
LEMON: Wow. What?
LEVS: Yeah.
LEMON: Inflation is a bad thing. I think we just did a poll recently that said it's a top economic concern that Americans have. They're worried about inflation. LEVS: It's one of the top ones. Here's the thing. Let me show you a quote. This comes from Investor Guide. A lot of people don't realize. "Some inflation is good. But it's essential the organizations like the Fed keep a close eye on the status and make the necessary adjustments."
One more quote from the Fed saying they're worried inflation is isn't high enough. They say is "could persist for a while below the rates that would best foster economic growth and price stability in the longer term."
But, yes, long term, lots of inflation is a bad thing. It can hurt the economy. But when there's growth, there's always some inflation, so they need a level of inflation.
LEMON: So why is some inflation -- is good, just because it's normal? Why is that?
LEVS: It's incredibly complicated, but the basic idea is that if you're going to have some growth, it will automatically mean there's some level of inflation going on. It still doesn't feel good when you see the prices going up.
LEMON: OK. OK. What about the trillion dollars we've been talking about? Does it work? Do we know so far?
LEVS: Here's what we know. It caused mortgage rates to go down a little bit. And it has caused some inflation.
In fact, you know what I can show you, the figures that show what happened with the mortgage rates.
Let's see what Ali Velshi reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ECONOMIC ANALYST: So a dramatic effect. A lot of people thinking that the Fed has done something the White House hasn't been able to do. It's been a big deal even amongst all of the other business news that we've been talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: That was what happened there. It dropped from the 5 percent down to 4.68 percent. So, so far, yes, some things are happening they did plan for. But the truth is long term, could this hurt the economy? Yeah, it could, depending what happens.
LEMON: All right, Josh. Thank you very much. We appreciate that, your reporting.
Also, you saw Ali Velshi there. Join him at 8:00 tonight. There's a big special coming up called "AIG, Facts and Fury," 8:00 p.m. eastern. Our money team on top of all of it for you.
Josh Lev's here doing fact checking as well. Thousands of Americans were promised stimulus checks and tax refunds. In some cases, criminals are the one who are cashing in. It's a scam. The IRS says it's on the rise and could affect any one of us.
Special investigations unit correspondent, Abbie Boudreau, has a story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brenton King is a 25-year-old father and husband. He says he was only 17 when someone stole his wallet and his identity.
BRENTON KING, IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM: I started receiving letters from the IRS. And the letters were asking me to pay taxes for a lot of income.
BOUDREAU: King says for years at least five people used his Social Security number. Since the criminals earned income on his number and never paid their taxes, the Kings can't get any tax refunds from the IRS or government stimulus check.
KING: We want to put that in the bank. We want to be able to put money down on a home.
BOUDREAU: The Federal Trade Commission says more than 50,000 Americans have fallen victim to this type of identity theft. It's a way for criminals to file false tax returns so they can get refunds or evade taxes all together.
KING: From before we file our taxes, we know we're not going to get anything back. It's frustrating.
BOUDREAU: King says when he went to the IRS to report the problem, no one believed that he was the real Brenton King.
Senator Chuck Grassley says he feels the IRS is not doing enough.
SEN. CHUCK GRESSLEY, (R), IOWA: They aren't going to prosecute. And that's not very helpful. It sends a signal that you get a free pass if you're doing identity theft, using IRS instruments.
BOUFROU: National taxpayer advocate, Nina Olson, helps taxpayers resolve problems through the IRS.
NINA OLSON, TAXPAYER ADVOCATE: We see a lot of activity now. Clearly, folks who are trying to perpetrate a fraud have to get claims in early before the true taxpayer files their return.
BOUDREAU: Olson says there is help for the Kings through her office.
Brenton King says he just wants his life back, and that stimulus check.
KING: The fear is that it will happen for the rest of our lives.
BOUDREAU: Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: An IRS spokesman tells us preventing identity theft is a top priority. and the agency has set up a special unit to crack it down, to crack down on that. But when we asked how many people have been prosecuted, he wasn't able to give us an exact number.
The IRS is now sending out letters to taxpayers who may have had their identities stolen. Good luck with that.
One way our identity can be stolen is through a bogus e-mail alert that appears to be from the IRS. Pay attention to this. A lot of people are being scammed by it and you don't know. It looks legitimate.
Recently, I spoke with a scam buster Christine Durst about how this works. Here's the information that you should hear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE DURST, CEO, STAFFCENTRIX: Right now, people are getting e-mails, Don, that say that we're IRS representatives, we've had a chance to review your tax return and you've made errors. You're eligible for a refund or tax stimulus check. We just need some information from you.
If you look at the information they're gathering, the Social Security number, bank account numbers, passports, pin numbers, that type of information could only mean one thing and that is they want in your bank accounts to clean them out.
LEMON: Does the IRS send e-mails at all or will they not just send e-mails just requesting personal information? Clarify for us.
DURST: They rarely send e-mails. When they do, they will never request personal information. If you do receive an e-mail from the IRS requesting personal information, forward it to phishing@irs.gov. That's phishing with a p-h, because they're going to want to be able to trace it to the originator. It's not from then.
LEMON: I found an interesting one here that I actually printed off the page. It's from proofofemployment.com. It's really disturbing. Talk to us about the web site. It goes on and says you can create your own -- I don't know, in my ways, your own tax refund and receipts and basically do what you want.
DURST: Exactly. You can print out your own paystubs, W-2s, your own 1099 for $49.95. You can essentially print out anything you want, which means, of course, you can apply for loans you may not be eligible for. You can get loan modifications. You can file tax returns that are bogus. It means an awful lot of terrible things.
LEMON: Here's the interesting thing. The way they stay on the internet is they have a disclaimer that says all sales are final, and then it tells you what happens, and that at the end it says, it's not legal, don't do it. But you don't see that when you're online.
DURST: There's a lot of white space at the bottom of the page. There doesn't appear to be anything on that page. But if you mouse over, in other words, click and hold your mouse and drag over that white space, you're going to see a bunch of information telling you what not to do. They put white text on a white background intentionally so you don't see it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That's really sneaky of them so you really have to be really careful if you get something in the mail like that. Most times, don't even click on it.
My conversation with Christine Durst from Staffcentrix. She's going to join us from time to time here to expose the latest scams for you so you don't get ripped off. Information that we think you need to know, especially in these times. People are taking advantage of people whoa re in tough times.
Getting back to business -- funeral business in Baghdad. We'll talk to the guy who makes the headstones. He's making more and more, sadly, every day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The Iraq war is now entering the seventh year. To mark the anniversary, this anti-war rally in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTOR: We want to let the government know that the people of this country don't want the world...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Hundreds of protesters marched to the Pentagon to demand an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq.
President Barack Obama has pledged to dramatically reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq by next August.
This was the start of the Iraq war in 2003. The initial strike called Shock and Awe. Remember that? Well, a new CNN opinion research poll finds 70 percent of Americans support the president's plan to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq. A total of 4,261 Americans have died in Iraq since that war started.
One sign that things are improving in Iraq, the business of death is picking up. More Iraqis are buying headstones for loved ones and funerals are attracting bigger crowds of mourners.
CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You might think Samir Aziz, a tombstone maker in Baghdad, would be a rich man by now. Over the past five years, the city has probably had among the highest death rates of any capital worldwide. But Aziz is still poor.
"The situation was horrific" he says. "Horrific. There were killings, robberies, sectarian killings based on your I.D. gangs and militias. That's what we had in our area."
As we talk in the store he runs with his brothers and sons, police keep watch over the neighborhood that's slowly coming back to life.
Aziz explains, "For two years, 2006 and 2007, we had to shelter our store. We couldn't even go outside the house. We just couldn't," he adds emphatically.
But with improving security, his business is slowly building up again.
"People have started to come back and order headstones for their women and children," he says, "to mark graves they couldn't afford to before."
(on camera): This area is the only place in Baghdad to get headstones. A small one costs $35. A large one here is about $150. Not cheap by local standards. These stores are a barometer not just of death, but of prosperity.
(voice-over): A few hundred yards away at the Sheikh Maruk (ph) Cemetery, Sayyed Rassol al-Hassani's family have been burying them for generations.
"during the worst of the violence, only a few people would come to funerals," he says. "Many didn't have money. We would pay their costs."
Around the cemetery now people are returning and a profusion of headstones marked with red flowers is emerging, each symbolizing innocence killed in the past half decade of carnage.
Some mark the graves of children. This one, a chief appeals court judge gunned down near his home.
"Thank god the economy is recovering," Hassani says. "Graves are being renewed. But I can tell you those who work in our business are not there if for money."
Around the corner, Aziz has perhaps a slightly less spiritual calling. He needs customers so he can feed his family. His concerns now are not the impacts of the global recession, but quite simply the uncertainly of life, what tomorrow may bring, peace and prosperity or back to violence.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Nic.
Well, meet the angel of Queens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a school bus driver. When I come back around 5:15, my second job starts. The (INAUDIBLE) is like a family project seven days a week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Taking care of the hungry in his neighborhood every single day. He's our hero. You're going to meet him.
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LEMON: Every week for more than four million Americans, the road to rescue includes a stop at a local food pantry or soup kitchen. With food banks struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand, this week's "CNN Hero" is doing his part. He's feeding scores of needy people every single day.
(CNN HEROES)
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LEMON: Well, we certainly want to hear from you about the people who are making a difference in others lives. If you know about them, you can nominate him or her. Just go to CNN.com/heros. We want to hear from you on that.
Our Ali Velshi and the CNN money team are working overtime and digging deeper to get to the bottom of the AIG bonus stories. Tonight, they're taking a closer look at the outrage, the fallout and how is responsible.
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VELSHI: No one wants to take responsibility. We're taking the responsibility of telling you who knew what, when, and why provisions were put in the stimulus bill that resulted in the bonuses being able to be paid out. The outrage is palpable, Don. Everybody is angry about this. AIG was at the center of the economic collapse. And now there are people in the very unit that was at the center of AIG's collapse who are benefitting to the tune of 1$165 million just this past week. But $450 million, because they have retention bonuses, Don. And we are trying to figure out who thought that this was a good idea and why.
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LEMON: Ali Velshi and our money team getting to the bottom of this bonus mess. "AIG: The Facts and the Furry" airs tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on CNN. You don't want to miss that.
You've heard of job fairs for bankers and for college grads. But, OK, you all, what about a stripper job fair. Someone asked me, what do you wear to a stripper job fair? And that was a good question, because I had no idea. We'll try to find out, coming up.
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LEMON: OK. Well the Fox Lady strip club in Providence, Rhode Island, is hiring. Yes, a job fair for exotic dancers and other critical club staff. There are somewhere around 30 positions to fill, including strippers, waitresses, and bouncers. It is the owner's way of stimulating the economy. He expects to take up to 150 resumes. So you can get a job. Actually, strippers do very well.
Here's what you guys are staying about this stories we are -- stop laughing, you're making me laugh. Some of the stories we are running -- those are the people who are sitting next to me in the studios.
Buzzardskorner says, "Can't blame Obama. this was done under Bush's watch. Let's not forget that."
Sweetcop95 says, "This is why the country is in the shape that it is in. Everyone is taking their eyes off the real issues, education, energy, jobs."
Bobgipson says, "I blame everyone, everybody who signed the bill giving AIG money. No one read it, obviously."
Patrickthepoet says, "You can blame it on AIG. but really, the culprits are the lawmakers who let there be a loophole happen" -- I guess, let a loophole happen is probably the best way to put it -- "That's was problem."
Join us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or iReport.com. And then you can join us here on the show because your comments will be on the show.
"The Situation Room" is straight ahead and Mr. Wolf Blitzer is here to tell us what he has -- Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: "THE SITUATION ROOM": Don, thanks very much. We've got a big show coming up at the top of the hour right here in "The Situation Room."
an exclusive interview with the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. We go over all the major issues.
Also, we'll be hearing from the top two Republicans in the united states Congress, the Republican leader in the House, John Boehner, the Republican leader in the senate, Mitchell McConnell.
And a special interview with the editor of a new book, a very revealing book on Senator Ted Kennedy.
All that and a lot more in "The Situation Room," Don, right at the top of the hour.
LEMON: Wolf, we'll be watching. Thank you, sir.
Are you hungry? Not Wolf, I'm talking to you guys. Well, you can eat healthy and you can eat cheap as well. It's not as hard as you might think.
CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, show us how in tonight's "Fit Nation."
(CNN FIT NATION)
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LEMON: So tonight at 7:00 p.m., AIG outrage. We're digging deeper with outspoken radio hosts and a whole bunch of other panelists. We're going to get to the bottom of this.
I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here at 7:00.
