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Obama Speaks to Energy Entrepreneurs; New Plan Aims to Help Banks; Bank Under Fire for Private Jet; Severe Weather Warnings Issued; Small Banks Make a Comeback; Study Identifies Higher Heart Failure Rate for Blacks
Aired March 23, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, T.J.
Healthy banks are happy banks, and happy banks mean a healthy economy. The treasury details a big bank detox plan, and we're pushing forward on the fallout.
Private jets don't fly in the age of bailouts, or do they? A new outrage takes wing at a bailed-out bank.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Right now, waiting for the president of the United States to begin his speech there at the White House, talking about his going green and special energy-efficient programs. He's got hundreds of energy-type entrepreneurs there at the White House. We will take that live as soon as it happens.
Well, the idea goes back to the early days of the economic meltdown. Get those so-called toxic assets out off the books and off the backs of America's banks so they can get back to business.
Today the treasury secretary outlined plans to partner up with private investors to bid on mortgage-backed securities that banks have been unable to unload. The feds will match private dollars and offer loans on top of that to cleanse bank balance sheets and free up lending.
We'll take you live to the White House. President Obama at the mike.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Talking about the work that you're doing at materials. And thank you, Susan, for describing the research that's taking place under your leadership at MIT. I have to say that Susan made sure to tell me not to touch anything on the table.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good idea.
OBAMA: So I was going to do some experiments for you today, but we decided not to.
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who's here today for joining us this afternoon. I want to introduce a few people on our team that are critical to this effort. As was already mentioned, John Holdren has now been confirmed as our White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Carol Browner is here, assistant to me, for energy and climate change. And behind her is Nancy Sutley, who is the chair of the White House Council on Environment Quality. Thanks to them and all of you for coming. Welcome to the White House.
You know, we gather at a challenging time for our country. We face an economic crisis unlike any we've known in a generation. We've lost 4.4 million jobs since this recession began. Millions of families are at risk of losing their homes, and tens of millions more have lost values in their homes. Our financial system has been severely undermined by the collapse of the credit bubble that was -- it was irresponsible as it was unsustainable.
Now, many of you in this room I know are experiencing this crisis in one way or another. Perhaps you've won fewer investors than you'd hoped or you earned fewer revenues than you expected. Perhaps your share price has fallen or the price of securing a loan has risen.
But you're also helping us to overcome this crisis. Paul's company, Serious Materials, just reopened, as you mentioned. A manufacturing plant outside of Pittsburgh. Last year that factory was shuttered. More than 100 jobs were lost. The town was devastated.
Today that factory is whirring back to life, and Serious Materials is rehiring the folks who lost their jobs. And these workers will now have a new mission, producing some of the most energy-efficient windows in the world.
We've got other examples in this room. Deepika Singh (ph). Where is Deepika (ph)? Is she here? There you are, right there. Deepika (ph) is here from Gainesville, Florida. She's the founder and president of Sinmat (ph) -- did I pronounce that correctly? -- that's developing new ways to manufacture microchips that can help power smarter energy systems for more fuel-efficient hybrid cars, to more responsive efficient lighting for homes and businesses.
So these are the stories that are being told all across our country. I remember during the campaign, I visited McKinstry (ph) Company in Seattle, which is retrofitting schools and businesses to make them more energy-efficient. McKinstry (ph) is expanding and expects to hire as many as 500 new workers in the next few years.
I visited another company, PV Power (ph), a company developing more reliable solar technology in Bend, Oregon.
And then there was Bombard Electric (ph) in Las Vegas, which is building up Nevada's renewable energy capacity.
Just last week I visited the Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona, California, which is testing batteries to power a new generation of plug-in hybrids that will help end our dependence on foreign oil. I have to tell you, Susan, the battery I saw was bigger than that one that's on the desk, but that may be the direction we're moving. So innovators like you are creating the jobs that will foster our recovery and creating the technologies that will power our long-term prosperity. So I thank you for your work. It's said that necessity is the mother of invention. At this moment of necessity, we need you. We need some inventiveness. Your country needs you to create new jobs and lead new industries.
PHILLIPS: So that's why the president is there at the Eisenhower Building, actually talking with clean energy entrepreneurs and leaders of the research community there to discuss his strategy for building a clean energy economy and creating the industries and jobs that he's mentioning right there for the future.
He's going to be going into more detail on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. And, of course, we'll talk more about that and the hopes to reduce dependence on foreign oil, the president was saying, and also help combat climate change.
All right. Now getting back to those so-called toxic assets, getting them off the books and off the backs of America's banks so that they can get back to business.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has been reading the fine print of this new deal.
Allan, let's talk about what's needed for this program to actually work.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, what we need to do here is create a marketplace to have buyers come in to buy these toxic assets, and you need the sellers willing to actually sell.
So the government here is creating big incentives for buyers to step up to the plate. They're going to provide low-interest financing. The question is, will the banks be willing to sell those assets? If they've got them on their books, say, at 80 cents on the dollar, will they be willing to say, "OK, we'll sell at 60 cents on the dollar"? Unknown yet.
PHILLIPS: And it's interesting, too. There's a lot of heavy hitters in the financial world already stepping up to the plate saying, "OK, we'll go for this. We'll take a risk. We'll start buying some of these assets." So if that continues to happen, Allan, what does it mean for you, me, the average consumer?
CHERNOFF: If this program works, this means that eventually lending will increase to consumers and to small businesses. It's all a matter of getting these bad assets off the books of the banks. They'll feel more secure, and if they do, then they can start to lend.
However, there is another issue involved in that if the economy continues to contract, well, that would make the banks less willing to lend. But let's hope the economy doesn't contract too much more -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Amen. We're all crossing our fingers. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much.
Let's continue to push forward now. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have a date tomorrow with the House Financial Services Committee, a date that we'll be covering of course. They're going to get plenty of the deep anger and outrage that Geithner spoke about today.
The issue is million-dollar bonuses, in some cases, multi- million-dollar bonuses, and for the very executives who actually drove AIG to ruin. And today taxpayers own 80 percent of the world's largest insurance concern, at a cost of more than $170 billion.
And President Obama says that anger is no way to govern. You may recall that the House passed a bill last week that would actually tax those AIG bonuses and others like them at a rate of 90 percent. Well, the Senate is taking up its own plan with a lower tax. But in an interview last night on "60 Minutes," the president took a dim view of punitive taxes. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You don't want to be passing laws that are just targeting a handful of individuals. You want to pass laws that have some broad applicability. And as a general proposition, I think you certainly don't want to use the tax code to punish people.
I think that you've got a pretty egregious situation that people are understandably upset about. So let's see if there are ways of doing this that are both legal, that are constitutional, that uphold our basic principles of fairness, but don't hamper us from getting the banking system back on track.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House now.
Suzanne, you heard the president right there on "60 Minutes," talking about that anger. He recognizes all this has hit a tremendous nerve with the American people. So what specifically is he going to do to quell that anger.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, it's a really delicate balance here, Kyra, because they realize they need some of those executives to sign up to be on board when it comes to these bailouts and cooperating with some of the policy changes that the administration is pushing. White House aides recognize that there is a crisis in confidence here, Kyra. And so what are they doing?
Very telling that we saw Christina Romer, top economic adviser to the president, this morning, on all of the shows, essentially the rosy face, the happy face, if you will, of this administration, talking about policy changes and plans. Not Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner, who did kind of a pen and pad, behind the scenes. He released those details. But in the back, at least in the past, he's gotten some mixed reviews on whether or not he actually instills and brings that kind of confidence to Wall Street that is necessary. And what we're also going to see moving forward, Kyra, is tomorrow a primetime press conference. They believe the person who can sell this the best, whether it's the budget, whether it's bank bailouts, whether it's this new program, this initiative that was announced today, is the president himself. He is going to be in the hot seat at 8 p.m. tomorrow night. He's going to be answering questions, obviously to push forward, to try to get that budget passed, and to push forward many of these other policy changes that he needs the American people to back him on, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So we're talking about the primetime interviews, the P.R. blitz, the happy faces out there. But you and I were talking earlier, we're actually seeing even more than the smiles and the happy faces but actual powerful money types saying, "OK, we'll take a risk. We'll buy into this. We'll buy up some of these toxic assets." Right?
MALVEAUX: Well, that's actually a really good sign for the administration. Allan Chernoff knows, as he was reporting, that there are some heavy hitters that are already taking a look at this plan to buy these toxic assets from the banks and get a subsidy from the government, up to 50 percent or so, saying this is a good idea.
Bill Gross of PIMCO (ph), he is one of those people. Really, this is one of the largest, most respected loan investors in the world saying, "We'll take a chance on this. We'll go ahead and sign up on this, buy some of those toxic assets."
Also Black Rock (ph), a major investment firm, saying the same thing.
So that's a good sign here. The administration looking, just a few players, but big players that are willing to sign onto this. A good sign, the Obama officials believe -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux live from the White House. Suzanne, thanks so much.
Well, do you have questions for the president about the economy or the stimulus package? E-mail us at MailToTheChief@CNN.com. One of President Obama's economic advisers will be joining me at the 2 p.m. Eastern hour to answer your questions.
Well, if AIG bonuses get your blood boiling, you'll love what ABC is reporting now.
JPMorgan Chase plans to spend $120 million for a pair of new corporate jets. That's right. And they want to renovate a hangar to hold them. Cost? Another $18 million bucks.
Oh, and did we mention that JPMorgan Chase is a TARP taker. It got $25 billion in government funds. The company insists that it's not using TARP money for any of this, but in this climate, critics call the plan tone deaf and just plain bone-headed.
But, hey, in fairness to the company, those planes look pretty super nice.
Let's gauge the outrage with David Guerra. He's managing director of Meridian Investments. That's an investment bank based in Boston.
So what do you think, David: boneheaded, tone deaf or perfectly OK?
DAVID GUERRA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MERIDIAN INVESTMENTS: Well, I'm appalled and outraged. However, I think this is only a symptom and not the problem. Because of a lack of transparency in the corporate culture, this deal could have been made four or five years ago, and now it's coming -- it's coming up and everyone's outraged about it.
I think the biggest problem is that the evolution of the corporate culture is the lack of transparency. I think these executives forget that they do not own the company, that they work for the company.
PHILLIPS: But wouldn't you think that, in this time, spending lavishly, especially when you're receiving TARP money, is just an absolute no-no? Or do they just think, "Hey, we'll just do whatever we can until we're caught red-handed. What do we have to lose?"
GUERRA: Well, I really do not think it's that at this point. I think these contracts have been in place for a while. The company's built the planes for them, and I think now they just sort of have to live with it.
However, again, it is a symptom of the problem, the problem is that these executives, again, think that it's their company, and it's not the stockholders'.
PHILLIPS: So how do you prevent this type of excess? How do you prevent this type of spending? How do you prevent this from happening in the future? And does Obama just have too much to handle here?
GUERRA: I think President Obama has a lot to handle. And I think everyone should give him time to handle it, because it's -- it's a situation which -- and I've been in this world, in this environment for over 35 years. I've not -- never seen anything like this. So he has a big, big plate.
How do you stop this in the future? Well, it's transparency. I don't think it's the government telling the public companies what to do. It certainly can't tell a private company what to do. I think it has to be the stockholders.
And the problem has then -- is that -- and I have a lot of friends that run public companies -- is that their biggest fear -- the biggest pain in their lives is the annual meeting, where they had to answer these silly questions from the owners. And I think that has to change.
PHILLIPS: David Guerra, appreciate your time. And before we get a move on, let's get a load of the Dow. It's the opposite of what happened last month when the treasury secretary gave only the broadest outlines of his new bank rescue plan. Now that investors know the details, they're jumping back into the market with both feet. Take a look at this: Dow Industrials up 336 points.
Well, not all banks are on the brink and taking TARP. Some of them are on a roll and taking deposits from happy customers. What's their secret? We'll tell you.
And there's the threat of severe weather taking aim at several parts of the country today. Chad Myers tracking where the tornadoes and flooding could hit.
And two horrific plane crashes, one in Montana, the other in Japan, all on board killed. We'll tell you what happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. We're working on a developing story in Pakistan right now. A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up today at a police station in the capital of Islamabad. Pakistan's GEO Television says that at least three people were killed; ten were wounded.
Islamabad and other Pakistani cities have been the target of numerous terrorist attacks in recent years, including those carried out by the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Well, today may be a good day to stay indoors. Possibly some dangerous weather brewing up. Our severe weather center expert and meteorologist, Chad, following all the trouble. You have something right on...
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I hold in my hand...
PHILLIPS: OK.
MYERS: ... from Johnny Carson.
PHILLIPS: All-time favorite show, but you need the big, you know, genie hat.
MYERS: I don't have it. Yes.
A new tornado watch in Nebraska.
PHILLIPS: OK.
MYERS: And this is one of many we're going to get today.
PHILLIPS: Why are there so many?
MYERS: Because we're going to go from Nebraska, through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. This is a storm coming out of Colorado, pushing dry, cold air in, and in the way is all this moisture that's been there all weekend. Behind it: 20 to 40 inches of snow.
PHILLIPS: Oh, boy.
MYERS: Not for everybody. But...
PHILLIPS: Wait a minute. It's spring. Easter is just around the corner. What's going on?
MYERS: Didn't we just spring -- didn't we just spring forward?
PHILLIPS: We just sprung forward. What's going on, Chad?
MYERS: I don't know. Big red box here, South Dakota and also down into Nebraska. That area there, that's the tornado watch.
Now you -- look, there's not even a cloud in the sky. That's the problem. Because the sun is out. The sky is heating up. The air is heating up. When the air heats up, then all of a sudden that air wants to rise like a hot air balloon, and that's what's going to happen throughout the afternoon tonight. That air is going to rise, and severe weather is going to pop up from all the way from the Dakotas, all the way down to West Texas. Behind it, a lot of wind.
To the north, it is snowing in the north, in the Dakotas, I mean, through the Black Hills, and through Mt. Rushmore, and west into Wyoming and Montana, 20 to 40 -- blizzard-like conditions, where it's raining all the way down from Minnesota down through Chicago.
This is the first batch. This is not where we're worried about for severe. It's back closer to the low. That's where the severe weather is going to be today, and it's going to pop all day long, Kyra. It is going to go throughout the afternoon and through the evening. And I'll probably be here all the way through "ANDERSON COOPER" tonight, as we see that rain and thunders story. Look at this rain. A million sandbags or more needed up here.
PHILLIPS: A million?
MYERS: At least. And tell you what: North Dakota, here in Fargo, seven feet above flood stage right now. They may go another ten feet before it's all said and done. The flood stage, about 17 to 20 feet. It may go to 40 feet. That's just going to flood a lot of the city.
We saw this same type of floods years ago, but this one won't be as bad as the one we saw there. A lot of snow on the ground all over the place. The rain's on top of it. The rain melts, and the water goes up.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad. All right.
I know you're a Lance Armstrong fan, right?
MYERS: I am. I'm sad about this.
PHILLIPS: Well, he was feeling some pain in Spain. The seven- time Tour De France champ crashed in a race there today, about 12 miles, we're told, from the finish line. He's in the hospital now with a possible broken collarbone. Not good news.
Armstrong is making a comeback, though. The race was supposed to be in preparation for another run at the Tour De France title.
Well, think you deserve a raise for the work that you do? Think now is not the time to ask for one? Hmm. Maybe it's worth a shot. Gerri Willis has your strategy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, have you noticed any cute little banks popping up in your neck of the woods lately? Hard times for the big boys mean golden opportunities for the little guys. Community banks do radical things, like get to know their customers.
Jason Carroll shows us how thinking small is definitely paying off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, they may not have the name recognition, but some start-up banks say they can provide service that's just as good as the larger chains. And they say their customers' money is just as safe.
(voice-over): Just as word spreads several banking giants were buckling under the strain of the economy, a little-known smaller bank was muscling its way into the financial world.
(on camera): You opened, what, January? Just about January?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We're open about two months now. I mean, there were some hurdles. I mean, we were raising money, literally, when people had newspapers in front of them saying that the banks were going out of business.
CARROLL (voice-over): Robert Long (ph) founded Long Island's Hanover Community Bank. It's considered small by industry standards, with less than $1 billion in assets. But unlike some bigger competitors with trillions, Hanover doesn't need a bailout.
(on camera): And so far, how have you been doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are -- we've exceeded our expectations.
CARROLL: Hanover hoped to raise $20 million in cash by selling certificates of deposit, but ended up raising more than twice that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wanted to go back to the old days. We wanted to go back to face-to-face banking.
CARROLL: A key to success? Knowing the customer asking for a home mortgage or business loan. It's a formula that's working around the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Business is very good.
CARROLL: Valley Green Bank, another community bank in Philadelphia, opened three years ago. Today customer deposits are way up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time there is bad news about, you know, one of the large banks, we sometimes have a line out the door of people transferring their deposits from those institutions to us.
CARROLL: Much like Hanover, Valley Green lends primarily to those from the community, like florist Herb Roth.
HERB ROTH, FLORIST: They gave us the attention that probably I wouldn't expect from any other big bank.
CARROLL: But some financial experts say there can be a downside to small banks.
BART NARTER, COLANT RESEARCH'S BANKING GROUP: You need bill pay. You need mobile banking. You need all these things that a small bank just doesn't have the mass to deal with.
CARROLL: Hanover says technology isn't everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call an 800-number and you get somebody that's not in this country, I don't think that's banking, to tell you the truth. That's technology.
CARROLL: And some customers joke these startup banks have another advantage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're starting clean, and it's going to take a while before they get into trouble, no. I'm kidding.
CARROLL (on camera): Kyra, some banking experts say one of the problems community banks can run into getting off the ground is passing all the financial tests, the FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, requires in order to get backing on customers' deposits. The banks we profiled met those requirements. Now Hanover Bank says it may open more branches very soon -- Kyra.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you so much.
We're getting some breaking news now. We're getting word of a C- 17 aircraft charter (ph) crashing near Olney, Texas. That's about 130 miles outside Dallas, Texas.
We're just getting word. Apparently, some witnesses saw this aircraft flying pretty low to the ground, and then we are getting word that it has crashed. Apparently, crews are on the way to see if anybody has survived that crash, how many people were on board. It's a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. As you probably know, it's a transport aircraft used to move troops and cargo for military operations.
We'll continue to follow up on this. We're getting word out of the Texas Shepherd Air Force Base that this crash has happened, got it confirmed through folks there on that base. Apparently, the plane did not come from that base. We are working more details. We'll bring it to you as we get it.
Well, you might think now that it's not the time to hit your boss up for a pay raise, right? Well, a recent survey from the consulting firm Watts and Wyatt suggests that almost half of companies have already frozen salaries, but there are some ways to get a raise these days.
Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with those strategies. Wow. I think there's a lot of people that are going to be paying attention to this, Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, exactly, but did I say it was easy? No. No, it's still difficult.
PHILLIPS: Nothing's easy, right?
WILLIS: Right. But it's not impossible, if your value as an employee is not dependent on the economic conditions of the time. It's all about what you bring to the company and the market value of your services.
And putting together a good strategy is key. Here's some do's for getting the raise right now.
OK. First of all, you have to time it right. You want to have a large achievement in your back pocket -- maybe you landed a big client -- before you go into the boss. Highlight your accomplishments. Think, how have you contributed to the company's bottom line this year?
And, of course, always be flexible. Know your boss know that you understand that times are tough. Maybe you don't get the raise you wanted, but you can maybe negotiate for something else, like work-at- home Fridays.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, what are some things that you shouldn't do when asking for a raise? Maybe working at home Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Fridays, that might be one place to start.
WILLIS: Yes, right.
OK. No begging, no whining, no getting angry. You don't know how tenuous your job really is, right? So...
PHILLIPS: Gerri, you and I should probably hit the road, then.
WILLIS: I know.
PHILLIPS: Only on certain days.
WILLIS: Right. Exactly.
Well, and also, don't make it about you, right? I mean, don't base your case for a raise on the fact that your personal expenses have gone up. If the light bill is higher, don't walk into your boss the next day and say, I'm really looking for more money. And, of course, necessity never makes a good bargain.
Don't be realistic (ph). You need to have an idea of the parameters to work in. You want to know what people that do what you do, what do they make and how does your pay fit in with that -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, so, what happens if you think you've just hit a brick wall, though? When do you know when to stop, keep going?
WILLIS: Well, you have to be persistent, right, but not too persistent in this market. Ask the boss if he or she will consider a second meeting maybe six months down the road. Maybe you can get an accelerated annual review.
If you can't get a raise, take the long-term view and think about how your company can help you take the next step on your career path, only don't tell them that. Perhaps you can ask your employer to pay for additional education, training, career development courses that will raise your value, despite what's going on in the economy. So, you know, the highlight here is don't beg, but pressure, you know, subtle pressure to ask for what you really need.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you're asking for a raise or just trying to get a job, Andy Andrews says never underestimate the power of persistence. The best-selling author and business consultant was turned down 51 times before he got his book published. He's going to join us in the NEWSROOM for some tips on how you can change your life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: President Obama calls it a critical element on the road to rescue, a market for those so-called toxic assets that are wrecking bank finances and the economy in general. And today, the Treasury secretary outlined plans to coax private investors to bid on mortgage-backed securities that banks haven't been able to unload. Well, the feds will match private dollars one to one and offer loans on top of that to cleanse bank balance sheets and free up lending. This is what the original bank bailout was supposed to do, but it didn't, by the way.
Well, the detox plan comes just weeks after the administration unveiled a bailout overhaul that was lacking in detail and widely panned. Unlike that event, today is off-limits to cameras, but it was followed by a meeting at the White House where cameras were invited briefly and where the president sound pretty optimistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We believe that this is one more element that is going to be absolutely critical in getting credit flowing again. It's not going to happen overnight. There's still great fragility in the financial systems. But we think that we are moving in the right direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, talk about moving in the right direction. The market's on fire now. Bank stocks leading the way. This follows the first back-to-back up weeks for blue chips in almost a year. Dow Industrials up right now 274 points.
Well, in this historically horrible economic downturn, Andy Andrews has a message for you: You can dig yourself out of the financial hole with the power of persistence. No problem. He's actually gone from homeless to hero, from living under a bridge to writing best-selling books and consulting for big businesses like AIG.
He spent time poolside with Bob Hope, and then, well, he shot skeet with General Norman Schwarzkopf. Doesn't stop there. He's toured on the comedy circuit with Joan Rivers, and he's even got a new book out called "The Noticer." Well, sometimes all a person needs is a little perspective.
OK, that makes sense. He sounds pretty intriguing, doesn't he? Well, that's why exactly why we wanted to book Andy on our show today. How are you doing?
ANDY ANDREWS, AUTHOR: I'm doing great, Kyra. How are you?
PHILLIPS: You always are doing well, especially compared to when you were 19 years old.
ANDREWS: You're not kidding. It's all uphill.
PHILLIPS: You know, you obviously -- I looked at the family pictures. I mean, you had a beautiful family, but you lost your mom to cancer. Your dad was killed in a car accident. At 19 years old, you found yourself homeless. What happened?
ANDREWS: Well, I took one bad decision and (INAUDIBLE) it with another one and ended up under a pier and in and out of people's garages within a couple years. And so, it was a crazy time.
PHILLIPS: How did you turn it around?
ANDREWS: I read. Honest to goodness. I read so much because I met an old guy late one night who gave me three biographies. He said, they're from the library. When you get through with them, take them back. And so I did. But these biographies turned into obsession for me. And I read over the next several years 200 biographies of happy, influential, successful people, trying to find out, you know, is it something they did or were they born this way? And if it was something they did, what did they do?
PHILLIPS: Interesting. And it took just one person to kind of set a trigger in your mind. Do you keep in touch with that person?
ANDREWS: No, I don't. He's been gone for years now. He was an old man named Jones, and scared me to death one night when he came under my pier. But he was a guy who set my life in a different direction by telling me things I'd never heard.
PHILLIPS: You never know where your wakeup call is going to come from.
ANDREWS: That's exactly right.
PHILLIPS: All right, so you write about these tips, how to change your life. There were three things specifically I wanted to talk about for folks that are struggling right now, and really, many of them in the position you were in at 19 years old wondering, what the hell am I going to do now...
ANDREWS: Right, right.
PHILLIPS: ... because it's gotten so bad?
Make a plan.
ANDREWS: Make a plan. I mean, get up every day knowing what you're going to do. You have your idea pile right here with all the names and the numbers and the people and the places. Don't get up and wonder. Go to bed knowing what you're going to do.
You know, that old man told me, he said, the people who encourage you and offer you opportunities are not laying on the couch with you when you're depressed. Get out. Go.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So even if you have nothing, you still need to imagine a game plan.
ANDREWS: Yes. You've got to do something. God feeds the birds, but he doesn't throw the worms in their nest.
PHILLIPS: All right. Think about who you can help, who can you be of value to.
ANDREWS: Yes, this was very important to me, and it's very important for people in the worst time of their life to consider, who can you help? You know, there is a gratefulness that we need to grab, but who can you help? Who can you be of value to?
What company can you help? What nonprofit can you work for? What person can you serve? Because tons of opportunities and encouragement come -- even money comes -- from serving other people.
PHILLIPS: You're only lacking one idea for success, stop blaming other people and just take responsibility. ANDREWS: Listen. When we take responsibility -- so many people think responsibility is about blaming people or making you feel bad. It's about hope and control. Who among us doesn't want to have hope for a greater future that we can actually control? And so, when you realize that if it's your mother's fault -- what are you going do?
PHILLIPS: Well, there comes a point where you have to stop blaming others and look inside yourself: Why am I feeling this way, why am I doing this? I've got to take responsibility.
ANDREWS: Right. But man, if I can make choices that will lead me to a bad place, I can make choices to lead me to a good place.
PHILLIPS: So AIG, very interesting. You consulted AIG three or four years ago?
ANDREWS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Did they bring you in for motivational speaking? Did they...
ANDREWS: No. I figure if somebody wants somebody to tell them to have a good attitude, I'm not your guy, because your mother should have told you that. I want to talk about principles, and I want to talk about what you should do during tough times.
PHILLIPS: Well, it seems like it was lacking principles on many levels. I mean, let's take a look at what's happening now. I mean, were you able -- did they know they were in trouble? I mean, why did they bring you in?
ANDREWS: I don't know. You know, that was several years ago. But I wish somebody would give me a chance to talk to them now.
PHILLIPS: What would you say?
ANDREWS: I would tell them -- he's going in to testify again tomorrow, right? I would say, look, you need to show us your pain. You don't live in the same world you lived in ten years ago. You're not in your office by yourself. We're all on the Internet. We're looking over your shoulder.
We need to see you driving a smaller car, you living in a smaller house. And you can control your descent, because we're all feeling the pain. We need to see yours. You can control your descent or they're going to throw you out the window.
PHILLIPS: Good to see you, Andy. Amazing story. Your books are fantastic. You're a fascinating person, even more so in person. Appreciate your time.
Well, startling new information about heart disease and race. A look at which group develops more heart problems at a younger age.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, important health -- heart health news, especially for African-Americans. A new study now saying that blacks are 20 times more likely than whites to develop heart failure. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here. Pretty shocking numbers. But doctors not necessarily surprised. I mean, we've talked about this before among certain ethnicities.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. They knew that the numbers were possibly in this neighborhood, but I think just the hugeness of it did surprise some people. This is an incredible study. Doctors followed black patients and white patients over a 25-year period. That's a long time.
And let's take a look at what they found. They found that a 35- year-old black person has about the -- on average, has about the rate of heart failures that a 55-year-old white person would have. So, in other words, your chances of getting heart failure when you're 35 if you're black are about the same as if you're 55 if you're white.
And Kyra, they think the main reason for that, or one of the main reasons, is that black people tend to have high blood pressure more than white people. The rate is three times higher among black people. And it's the high blood pressure that then can lead to heart failure.
PHILLIPS: OK, so why do so many African-Americans have high blood pressure?
COHEN: They are not sure about that. There's probably a variety of reasons, including genetic reasons. But one reason that the author of this study really emphasized with us is that many times when black people have high blood pressure, it starts in their 20s. So, they're seeing 20-year-olds, people in their 20s who are African-American, with high blood pressure.
When those folks show up at the doctor, the doctors aren't necessarily being very aggressive about treating them. Because you know, a 25-year-old, high blood pressure, maybe it will go away. They're much more aggressive when people are older. So, part of the moral of the story is, when a young person has high blood pressure, you've got to be aggressive about it.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Attack it right then.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, volcanic eruptions, rivers overflowing their banks and tornadoes possible. Severe weather guru Chad Myers hard at work monitoring the danger zones for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Rain on top of melting snow. Of course that's bad mojo for the Midwest. Severe weather guru Chad Myers here with all the details. A lot of wicked storms out there, Chad.
MYERS: Absolutely. Flooding, blizzards and tornadoes today, and extreme fire danger because of the wind. And we're going to do all this in a minute. From Oklahoma all the way down to Texas and then back up to Nebraska, that's where the severe weather is going to hit today. In fact, we already have the first tornado watch of the day from South Dakota down into Nebraska. A big storm but not rotating, near Gothenburg, Nebraska, right now. These storms will rotate.
Today is the day to get that NOAA weather radio. If you have one, go turn it on. If you don't, go buy it. It really could save your life.
And then for something else completely different here, we're going to take you to Alaska, almost near Anchorage, a little bit -- 100 miles from Anchorage, but still, you can see it from there. And then down here, Mount Redoubt. This has been erupting now for the past couple of days, but a big eruption that has sent ash plume 50,000 feet into the sky.
We have a little bit of video from there right now. The sun just coming up, so we're going to get some new video here from today. But here are some photos here. This is Heather Bleick from the USGS, the U.S. Geological Survey. We're going to get more pictures today. Big, big explosions up there. Five eruptions, so to speak, but I think they're all part of the main -- the one main eruption that's taking place now. Big eruptions going on up there. We'll keep you advised.
PHILLIPS: Wow, pretty cool pictures, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Thanks.
Well, have you been laid off? Well, you could follow in the footsteps of this former banker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DICK, TAXI DRIVER: Naturally, while I was working at UBS, I made a lot more money. However, I had ten times the amount of stress. The beautiful thing about having this business is, it's my own business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The rest of his story just for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK COKER, ADMINISTRATOR: There are teachers who may have been around in a district sometimes for as much as ten years, and they're looking for jobs now because their positions are no longer there.
CARLYN WEIR, JOB SEEKER: My job has been eliminated because of budget cuts, and I'm just not ready to stop teaching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Busy weekend for teachers hoping to get back in the classroom in New Hampshire. Hundreds of them showed up at a job fair in (INAUDIBLE). The district has just 16 openings now. With other districts in the state laying off teachers, the competition was pretty fierce. There were only -- or nearly 300 qualified applicants.
War veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are now doing battle in the job market, and it's tough going. New Jersey's Institute of Technology sponsored a job fair for veterans this weekend in Newark. Many vets say that they had to put their after-war plans on hold since they can't land a job. New Jersey's unemployment rate is just over 7 percent, but for new veterans, it's more than 8 percent.
One day you're making 75 grand a year, the next day you're out on the street. You would moan and groan and cry about your bad luck, or like one laid-off New York City banker, you could drive a cab. CNN'S Richard Roth took a ride with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laid-off workers like Michael Dick are turning to taxi driving to make money.
DICK: It's amazing. You never get bored.
ROTH: Dick was laid off after 13 years at the financial house UBS, a $75,000 a year back office job.
DICK: And I was promptly escorted out of the building.
ROTH: A bank man, now a hack?
DICK: Naturally, while I was working at UBS, I made a lot more money. However, I had ten times the amount of stress. The beautiful thing about having this business is, it's my own business.
ANCHEW VOLLO, TAXI SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR: What would you rate the public image of a new taxi driver?
ROTH: Don't complain that you can't find a taxi. Classrooms are packed as the newly unemployed mix with traditional immigrant cabbies. New York City says taxi licenses have hit an all-time high, near 46,000.
VOLLO: Whenever the economy is doing bad, we do much better.
Eye contact very important.
ROTH: When you see your next driver, it could be a chef.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely, I'm a victim of this economy. It's a lot less job, you know? DICK: Berta (ph), I can't talk to you now. I'm driving. Bye- bye.
ROTH: A cabbie with manners who speaks English well and wears a tie?
DICK: I mean, a pedestrian that was in harm's way, I might, you know go like that to warn them, but I never do this kind of thing. You know? It might be a tap. To me, that's the way a horn should be used.
ROTH: By chance, his first passenger is a banker.
DICK: You know, young lady? I am the hired help and you are the boss.
JANIT GREENWOOD, PASSENGER: I think it's a wonderful thing that he picked himself up and found something to do.
ROTH: Not everybody was quick to praise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to be careful!
DICK: I'll try to be more careful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got passengers in here, man.
DICK: I apologize.
ROTH: He still misses UBS, which he drives by, but...
DICK: Actually, I'm a better fit as a cab driver than I was as a banker.
ROTH: A cabbie banker doesn't faze the next passenger.
VINCE GONZALEZ, PASSENGER: Nothing surprises me today. You know, I was caught in the corporate downsizing.
ROTH: Michael Dick says his focus on customer service has brought large tips.
DICK: Cash, cash works.
ROTH: He is enjoying the ride.
(on camera): This is like a great life adventure for you?
DICK: This is. This is. This is like a Broadway show.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: I'd like to know what type of Broadway show, Richard. Did he tell you?
ROTH: Maybe "Oh, Calcutta." I don't know. PHILLIPS: Maybe so. All right, well, what does he think of the economic crisis that we're in?
ROTH: He said it was greed, greed, greed. He said he knew it was like the final days of Rome, so he's blaming everyone in the back office there at UBS. I think he knew things were going wrong.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know you, and you probably engaged in a number of hours of conversation with him. So, what did you learn?
ROTH: Well, I learned that cab drivers like to use the best bathrooms in New York's fanciest hotels. They scope them out. And that Michael Dick has made progress in customer service, and he checks in with the doormen at all the best hotels, and the customers love him so much that he drives them to the airport, they exchange phone numbers and when they fly back in from overseas or elsewhere, they have him do the pickup.
PHILLIPS: How much does he make? Did he tell you?
ROTH: He could make more, I think, but $200 at least, a day, after all the expenses, and he's going to retire next year, take Social Security. He's definitely enjoying it to the fullest.
PHILLIPS: Well, he's quite a character. You always seem to find them. Richard Roth, bit of a, I guess you could say somewhat of a positive story right now in this economic situation. Thanks, Richard.
Well, New York probably isn't the only place where some laid-off folks are now driving a taxi. Overseas, for example, the mood is downright depressing in the car-crazy Germany. But not so in one Middle Eastern country, where it's still shop 'til you drop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN BERLIN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Germany, where the mood among consumers is about as gloomy as the weather here in Berlin. Two-thirds of Germans are afraid of losing their jobs. Now, the Germans have always been savers but the one thing they've rarely cut back on is their automobiles. But now with the crisis in full force, many Germans are buying smaller cars instead of the luxury vehicles that this country is known for.
STAN GRANT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CORRESPONDENT: Hi, I'm Stan Grant in Dubai, where you can actually ski while you shop. I mean, one of the largest shopping malls in the world. In fact, you could say that shopping is an art form here. Wholesale and retail make up about 40 percent of the gross domestic product of the United Arab Emirates.
But the recession is starting to bite. Just speaking to people here today, they're saying that they are thinking now before they buy. They're checking out the bargains. But everyone I've spoken to says the same thing: If you still have a job in the United Arab Emirates, you're doing OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
