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Obama White House Forces G.M. CEO to Resign; Officials Caution the Red River Danger is not Over Yet; Michael Steele Looks to Bring Diversity to the GOP; End of Newspapers May Spell Bailout; Ohio Lady Takes on Burglars.
Aired March 29, 2009 - 18:00 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. I'm Don Lemon.
Breaking news this hour involving the massive bailout of the U.S. auto industry. The chairman and CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, is resigning. This surprising word comes a day before President Barack Obama reveals his latest plan to keep the U.S. auto industry alive.
CNN's Kate Bolduan is following the breaking developments for us. She joins us now from Washington.
Kate, what does this have to do with the president's announcement?
VOICE OF KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, as you mentioned, it comes just a day before. And according to White House officials, the G.M.'s chairman, just as you said, Rick Wagoner, is leaving the post.
But, Don, as it was put to me, by the administration, he was asked to and agreed then to step down. So you can see this may be -- and we will find out more tomorrow -- but this may be part of the drastic change that we've heard from President Obama during the town hall this week in terms of what's going to be expected of these companies if they want to get any aid in the future.
LEMON: All right, CNN's Kate Bolduan with our breaking news.
The breaking news is that the CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, is resigning, coming just a day before the president reveals what he's going to do to help the auto industry out, to keep them alive. We'll continue to follow this developing story and bring you more details as we get them.
Meantime, there are two other breaking news stories that we're following today.
At least eight people are dead in a massive shooting at a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients in North Carolina. And along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota, more than 100,000 people are still at risk from dangerous high water.
We're learning new details now about today's mass killing in an Alzheimer's facility in Carthage, North Carolina. At least eight people are dead and four others are wounded. The gunman is in custody. Police held a news conference just about an hour ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF CHRIS T. MCKENZIE, CARTHAGE POLICE: I'll note, the emotion entirely has set in. This is a small community built on faith, and faith will get us through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Gunfire erupted about 10:00 a.m. at the facility. Seven patients, ranging from 78 to 98 years old, were killed. A nurse was also killed. The Pinelake Health and Rehab Center houses up to 110 patients. Police say the 45-year-old gunman was not a patient or an employee, nor did he appear to have any connection with any of the patients. And we are still trying to find out what the motive was there.
We'll have more on the deadly shooting at the nursing home in just minutes. But, first, we want to tell you about what's happening with the weather. North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota -- two communities in the icy grip of an epic flood.
The swollen Red River stopped just shy of 41 feet. Now, it is inching downward but it remains dangerously high and exerting enormous pressure on temporary levees. It's already found one weak point on the Fargo side, sending water rushing into a local school. And there's more snow in the forecast. So, it's still possible the river will start to rise again.
CNN's reporters and all of our resources are monitoring the situation minute by minute. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center. We begin with Ted Rowlands who is on the ground in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Hello, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don.
This is a clear example of how this battle continues. This is the Red River. It shouldn't be here. We're at a home in Moorhead.
And the river normally -- the rivers banks are about 300 feet out in the distance. But here's a bit of good news. Look over at this tree and this piece of ice. That represents the high level of the water. And you can see how much it has dropped over the last day or so. In fact, since we've been here, today, we've seen it drop a little bit.
But this levee which is permanent near the bottom, but obviously new here via sandbag construction for this event is all that is holding the Red River from these homes. And down below in each one of these homes where they're still battling, there is some pump system which is taking out excess water and constantly pumping it back up into the river. They're manning these things 24 hours a day. And it is, as you could quite imagine, a tedious job but also a nerve-racking job.
Mark is the homeowner here.
And give us a sense of, boy, haven't slept much, but the sense of how you're feeling now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, we're starting to feel pretty good. We have to be cautious through this whole thing because the water could come back up. There are still tributaries dumping in here.
So, they don't let us, you know, take any time off from manning those pumps, but the most comforting thing is the support of family and friends and co-workers at the office and the kids from the university. I abandoned ...
ROWLANDS: They helped to build this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. A lot of labor. And I left the house for about four or five hours, and my brother and a friend named Dwayne Severson (ph) actually came back and checked on it and said, hey, we can save this. And they got me back here, and we got more friends and more help and built up the dike and we're doing very well.
ROWLANDS: Fabulous story. In fact, you said that you were sharing tears and everything. You were saying good-bye to your house. Unfortunately, some of your neighbors have lost their homes. I know you obviously feel for them and you are going to be here for them as they start the horrendous job of cleanup.
But, Don, the good news, water levels are going down and a lot of homeowners, at least for now, have saved their homes.
LEMON: Yes, fingers crossed. Thank you so much for that, Ted. We appreciate it. We also -- you know, our hearts go out to man you talked to and all the families there.
The federal government wants Fargo to evacuate as a precaution, but the mayor is refusing.
Steve Kastenbaum of CNN Radio joins us now by phone to explain that.
Steve, why?
VOICE OF STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO REPORTER: You know, the mayor said that at this point, he didn't think it was necessary to evacuate all of Fargo right now. And in fact, they tried to get 90,000 people away from the river, that could produce more problems than resolution here. So, he really doesn't think it's necessary. They've asked people in those vulnerable areas to evacuate and many have. So, that's where it stands now.
He also thinks that, you know, they need the people off the roads in case there's a breach on the road. And if all 90,000 people suddenly get in their cars to head out of here, the trucks won't be able to get to those trouble spots as they arrive.
LEMON: All right. Well, if those folks have to stay there, Steve, then, you know, tell us what it's like -- what is life like for people who decided to stay, you know, between this primary and secondary dike, despite being strongly urged to evacuate? KASTENBAUM: You know, Don, I spent a couple hours yesterday in one of those sort of no-man lands in between the primary and secondary dike. And there's one of the photos that I took. This is at an area called Harwood Drive.
Those houses on the left are between the primary dike and secondary dike that you see right there the bulldozers are re-enforcing with clay. And the houses between the two dikes, if there were to be a breach, would wind up flooded just to protect the rest of the city. The homeowners understand this. They realize they don't want the rest of the city to flood.
But on the other hand, you know, they're not going to be too happy if their homes do wind up in a breach area. There are some homeowners there on top of the makeshift stairs that were built so they could get over.
I spoke to Brent Olson (ph) and bunch of his buddies who are staying behind. They're in their house. They're still manning the pumps and they're doing well. Their dike by the river, that's literally about 10 to 15 feet now from their back stoop, is still holding up strong and they say they're staying as long as they can.
LEMON: All right. Steve Kastenbaum with CNN Radio, we appreciate it. Best of luck to them as well.
We want to turn now to our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, standing by in the CNN severe weather center.
Jacqui, you know, I said to those guys, our hearts go out to those folks -- it's all they have and, you know, they're in danger of losing it.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know. But you don't want to lose your life either, you know?
LEMON: Yes.
JERAS: That is some really cold water and the force of the water is just incredible. This dike now has been stressed for days and will continue to be stressed from days to come. And we're starting to get more of those weak spots in some of the levees.
We've got video that we want to show you coming in from this afternoon of an aerial assault. Take a look at that. That is a one-ton sandbag.
And what they're doing is they're trying to re-enforce some spots in the levees that they're concerned about. And you've got to do this real gingerly because you don't want to disrupt the dike, you just want to help make it a little bit stronger. So, that's what they've been doing today in addition of the national guardsman patrolling the dikes, looking for these breaks and leaks and things like animals can try and get in there and dig in there and eat stuff as well.
Now, here's where a lot of the weak areas are. The natural flow of a river as it heads toward its reservoir, up towards Lake Winnipeg, it takes all these winds and these turns, it's just trying to take the path of least resistance. But look at how tight some of these curves are. We call them oxbow and it's a natural thing.
But the water has to turn around these curves and as that water flowing fast has to stop and turn, that creates a lot of extra pressure. And that's what happened today with one of those weak spots at the Oak Grove Lutheran School where the dike broke and they got some flooding in this area. So, that could really happen at any of these little curves and turns, and ultimately the river can cut off this curve all together and take a new flow, especially during a flood situation.
And a little bit down stream on the Red River, we found this spot here on Google Earth and it really kind of helps to tell the story. This is called an oxbow lake. And notice, the river used to go like this and curve back this way, and now it's cut off all together and it's taking a new flow. And so, that's part of the reason this is all so very unpredictable.
Now, we've got new problems down the hatch. And that's the blizzard- type conditions and heavy, heavy snow are going to be moving in. We've got a low-pressure storm system moving south of the Dakotas. And winter storm warning has now been issued, that includes Fargo and Moorhead, six to 12 inches of snow.
The snow is not necessarily such a bad thing, Don, other than, you know, it's going to be a problem if you're trying to move around at all. Because we think the temperatures will be cold enough. It's not going to melt for a while.
LEMON: Right.
JERAS: But the winds will be strong.
LEMON: Oh, boy.
JERAS: And so, those winds are going to push the Red River waters and those waves are just going to be pushing right on up and stressing those dikes even further.
LEMON: Jacqui, thank you very much for that.
We want to go back to our breaking news that we told you about at the top of our newscast. We're getting some new information on the nursing home killings in Carthage, North Carolina. We want to go to the ground now, and Stephanie Stilwell of News 14 Carolina, our affiliate there. She joins us now with the very latest.
What are you hearing, Stephanie?
STEPHANIE STILWELL, NEWS 14 CAROLINA: Well, Don, unbelievable. That's what friends and family are using to describe what happened during Sunday morning. They've gathered here at a church near the sheriff's office to get information and console each other about their loss. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY COLLINS, PATIENT'S SISTER: When we got here, we heard the news that there had been terrible killings over there. We didn't know who, how many dead, how many was hurt or what.
STILWELL (voice-over): Word spread quickly throughout Carthage and Moore County Sunday about the shooting at Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center.
HARRIS BLAKE, PATIENT'S FRIEND: And I was in my car and the first thing I thought about were two of these dear friends that I have in that nursing home.
STILWELL: Friends, family, and loved ones gathered here at First Baptist Church in Carthage to get any word about their loved ones. Judy Collins' brother is a resident at Pinelake.
COLLINS: We come and got the word that -- well, just now, that he is OK. And the rest of them that they haven't given the names out, that the rest of them are OK, that they are feeding them and they are being looked after, and that's all we can go on until we can get to him and see.
STILWELL: And the events that unfolded Sunday morning are still sinking in for the small North Carolina community.
COLLINS: We never thought nothing like this would ever happen, never. But you never know.
STILWELL: But for others, there aren't words to describe this sad tragedy.
BLAKE: That's right. And you don't need to try to have words for it. It's -- it goes to the core and what we think about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STILWELL: Now, friends and family have been coming and going from the church all afternoon long. And they say two things describe how they're feeling right now, disbelief and why -- Don?
LEMON: All right. Stephanie Stilwell -- thank you very much for that, Stephanie.
Just ahead here on CNN, President Barack Obama on the defensive, saying his aggressive military plan in Afghanistan and Pakistan is needed after years of distraction in Iraq. Can he sell it?
Plus, the ailing newspaper industry. Boy, it's really getting bad. A closer look at why it's slipping away and if there's hope of saving it.
Be a part of our community tonight as well. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and iReport.com -- that's how you can be a part of our show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Obama leaves Washington this week for the first overseas trip of his presidency, reviving the global economy will dominate his agenda. But he'll also be selling his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This morning, he said the strategy reflects a much wider objective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: What we want to do is to refocus attention on al Qaeda. We are going to root out their networks, their bases. We are going to make sure that they cannot attack U.S. citizens, U.S. soil, U.S. interests and our ally's interests around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Mr. Obama's decision to send 20,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan will loom over his meetings this week with U.S. allies.
Now, he leaves Washington on Tuesday, headed for the G20 economic summit in London. From there, he plans to stop in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Turkey.
And here again is CNN's Kate Bolduan for the preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (on camera): Don, the president is preparing to head overseas to meet with European leaders. One issue squarely in the spotlight: The president's new approach to Afghanistan.
(voice-over): Returning with his family after a weekend at Camp David, President Obama now faces a jam-packed week ahead. The agenda: His first European trip. One central focus: His revamped strategy for Afghanistan.
He spoke to CBS "Face the Nation" in an interview released Sunday.
OBAMA: We have seen a deterioration over the last several years. And unless we get a handle on it now, we're going to be in trouble.
BOLDUAN: Mr. Obama's top diplomat in the region made the security situation sound even worse.
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, SPECIAL REP. TO AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN: The people we are fighting in Afghanistan and the people they are sheltering in western Pakistan pose a direct threat, those are the men of 9/11, the people who killed Benazir Bhutto, and you can be sure that as we sit here today, they are planning further attacks on the United States and our allies.
BOLDUAN: Preparing for the NATO summit in France, Mr. Obama defended the more aggressive military presence, saying his administration will go after terrorist targets hiding out in neighboring Pakistan but stresses cooperation is essential.
OBAMA: If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists.
BOLDUAN: While the president has ordered an extra 21,000 troops for Afghanistan, he made clear it is not an open-ended commitment. Mr. Obama says a future troop surge is not necessarily in the cards.
OBAMA: There may be a point of diminishing returns in terms of troop levels.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Obviously, foreign policy isn't the only thing on the president's agenda next week. He'll be taking on the global economic crisis at the G20 Summit. And even before he leaves, the president is set to announce Monday the administration's latest plan to help the ailing auto industry -- Don?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Kate, thank you very much for that.
President Barack Obama is getting ready to travel overseas as we've been saying. But before he leaves, he's expected to announce tomorrow his plan to help save the auto industry. On Tuesday, he's traveling to London ahead of the G20 Summit. There, Mr. Obama and other leaders will talk about the global economic crisis. And when that's over, the president is off to France for a NATO summit on Friday.
The ripple effects over the failure of Washington Mutual are being felt. Just ahead: Two very different perspectives on what led to the biggest bank meltdown in U.S.
And spotlight on Michael Steele, the head of the RNC. This week, I sat down with the always outspoken chairman for a free-wheeling conversation, his political aspirations, and whether he has, you know, compromised his core values. We talked about all those issues. Our exclusive conversation -- straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is back front-and-center defending the White House approach to solving the nation's economic meltdown. This morning, Geithner said the administration has move aggressively to rejuvenate the economy. But he said a full recovery is going to take some time. He also said the private sector has to regain its confidence is there is going to be a real turnaround.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC "THIS WEEK")
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: To get out of this, we need banks to take a chance on businesses, to take risk again. We had a long period where banks were taking too much risk. The challenge for us is that they take too little now. And for us to get through this, we need investors and banks to be willing to take a chance again on providing credit to that business that's got a great idea and needs to grow and expand.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Well, one of the other ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Geithner also said that only Washington has the power to rescue the economy. In his words, the market will not solve this.
Washington Mutual marked the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Big bets on risky mortgages drove its demise. But, the ripple effects are still being felt.
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow sat down with two men on opposite ends of the collapse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Dale George and John Giallombardo have never met. But they'll have a lot to talk about if they ever cross paths. Dale rated loans at Washington Mutual. John got a loan from WaMu. Both said they were burned by the now bankrupt institution that prided itself on writing its own lending rules.
ANNOUNCER: Uncertainty of getting a home loan made Paul irritable. Then he went to Washington Mutual. Thanks to their flexible lending rules, Paul got a quick approval. Now, he's always in a great mood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: The 81-year-old John Giallombardo tells a different story about refinancing with WaMu.
JOHN GIALLOMBARDO, REFINANCED WITH WASHINGTON MUTUAL: One of the guys from Washington Mutual, they're the ones that spoke to me about the loan. So I proudly accepted knowing that I only had to pay so much a month. Then they tell me the payments would go up and they just -- they didn't say anything -- that's what you pay a month and that's it.
HARLOW: With a fixed monthly income of $1,600, Giallombardo was sold an option ARM loan with an interest rate that increased quickly. The initial interest (ph) rate of 1.25 percent only lasted for a month. His current payment of $1,077 a month will jump to more than $2,100 in October. That's roughly $500 more than his monthly income.
(on camera): Do you feel like you were taken advantage of?
GIALLOMBARDO: Oh, absolutely. Let's see -- this guy that come into my house, they took me for good.
HARLOW (voice-over): An internal Washington Mutual document obtained by CNN Money and verified by a former WaMu senior risk officer, Dale George, shows the blank was strategically targeting retired borrowers as well as others with fixed incomes for option ARM loans. DALE GEORGE, FMR. SR. RISK OFFICER, WASHINGTON MUTUAL: Well, the option ARM loans were the largest product in our portfolio at the time. And along with the subprime loans, they were really the riskiest product. And that wasn't even incorporated in our corporate risk model.
HARLOW: In early 2004, Dale George began to notice a shift in the bank's risk appetite -- an increased pressure to rate loans favorably.
GEORGE: I said, we can't -- there's no way that we can keep this as a client or we're going to get burned. And that's when they literally snatched the file out of my hands and shipped it up to Seattle and had the associate up in Seattle do the work that needed to be done to keep the rating the same so they could keep the client.
HARLOW: According to Dale George, situations like this persisted.
GEORGE: They basically took that and used it to give me a warning that I would no longer be working there if things didn't improve.
HARLOW (on camera): And by improve they meant ...
GEORGE: Well, fix the rating -- is what they wanted. They wanted to me to fix the rating.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Dale says he refused and was fired in June of 2006. He is suing the now bankrupt Washington Mutual for wrongful termination.
And, Don, a spokesman for WaMu declined to comment on Dale's case or mortgage woes of John Giallombardo. Meantime, Giallombardo is trying to get his loan restructured. But if he can't, he'll lose his home.
LEMON: All right. Poppy, thank you very much for that.
Here's what you guys are saying tonight. IamSalin says, "To Detroit CEOs, it's nothing personal, it's just business. It's time for a new leadership in Detroit." Mychal_smith says, "What's on my mind is following or follow the money to see why Wall Street execs are basically getting a free pass compared to auto industry."
KJones says -- KjonesMorehouse, I should say, says, "The other car maker CEOs should think about stepping down as well. Change doesn't start at the bottom, it starts at the top."
Also, one is just coming in and I really like here, from JVaun. It says, "All top brass at G.M. should go -- weed it out to start anew. Kind of like what we just did at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
Guys are really weighing in on this -- I should say, G.M. thing, pardon me -- General Motors thing, and Rick Wagoner having to resign. Thank you. We appreciate it. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and iReport.com -- that's how you can get on the air.
Stay with us, we'll have the very latest on the flooding situation in Fargo, North Dakota. That's just moments away.
Plus, it's no secret the newspaper industry is in big trouble. Can it be saved? Is it time for a bailout? We'll talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: If you're just joining us, we are following several breaking stories on CNN.
A White House tells CNN that G.M. CEO Rick Wagoner will step down. It's part of a massive re-structuring plan for struggling U.S. automakers. The sources said the Obama administration asked Wagoner to resign. The president announces his auto industry rescue plan tomorrow.
Seven patients and a nurse have been shot dead in a nursing home in Carthage about 60 miles outside of Raleigh. Police say they shot the 45-year-old suspect. We don't know his condition yet. The patients range in age from 78 to 98 years old. And we'll continue following this breaking story as soon as we get new information on it.
We want to go to the Midwest now where the Red River is still receding. Officials caution people in North Dakota and Minnesota not to let their guard down, especially with snow on the way. It could see a second round of flooding.
That's why we turn to meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
Jacqui, is that correct? A second round of flooding?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, potentially. The snow, from what I'm hearing from the meteorologists up there, they say the snow itself probably isn't going to aggravate the river levels. It's the wind associated with this system that's more of a problem.
Temperatures are going to be warming up eventually. We'll get the melt, the runoff. We'll have a secondary crest down the line. The hope is we'll stay cold enough long enough for the major flood to go down before we see another melt. We'll have to watch that closely in the coming weeks. We're not looking at any big time warm-ups for the next five to seven days.
There's the storm system moves south of the Dakotas. It is going to be wrapping that moisture back up into this area. A winter storm warnings have been issued for much of the Red River valley. The blizzard warnings are going to be west and south of there. We don't think they're going to get the worse of this storm system. 6 to 12 inches of snow. That's our best estimate right now along the I-29 corridor here. 8 to 15 across parts of South Dakota and even more as you head across parts of Montana. So really crippling travel in this area.
In the northeast, our last blizzard-type system is here now, not creating too much trouble unless you're trying to travel. Unfortunately, not a lot of rain. We have a couple of thunderstorms, but the clouds cover is really what holds you up. Ground stop now at LaGuardia until quarter till. JFK looking for a ground stop till quarter after the hour.
One other note I want to mention, check it out, no red stop for Anchorage. About half an hour ago the airport was re-opened. Fights are scheduled in and out. Mt. Redoubt erupted twice yesterday, Don, and there was ash fall across the Anchorage area. They closed it down as a precaution. It looks like things are up in operational for now.
LEMON: You and I were talking about that. That can be very scary, especially if you're flying on an airplane.
Thank you very much.
CNN iReporters are sending us lots of incredible images of the situation around the Red River. 18-year-old John Kinney of Briarwood, North Dakota, sent us these photos from inside a flooded home. Boy, oh, boy, look at that. It looks like nice furniture too. John tells us there was about three and a half feet of water inside the house.
There are a number of organizations providing volunteers, food, and supplies for people in the flood's path. Find the links to them on our "Impact Your World" page at CNN.com/impact, CNN.com/impact.
This week I spoke with the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. He has had a lot to say in his short tenure. Part of his mission, though, diversity in the GOP. I talked to him about that. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: In the current climate, though, when you think about those things one might think maybe we need to -- let me finish, ease our stance on abortion, gay marriage, on other issues that are deemed...
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: You're asking me to compromise my principles. Why would you ask me to do that? Why would I do that? That makes no sense to me.
In order to hang out with you, to be a part of what you're doing, you say, hey, we want to hang out -- I say, you know what, man, you're going to have to change your view on this issue before we go have a beer. Wait a minute. why that issue? If that's core to who you and that's defined you in some way or other, why would I disrespect you by asking you to do that? No, I don't need to compromise our views and our position on issues.
What we need to do is focus on the things we do have in common. Reagan said it best. He said, look, you know, "if we agree on 80 percent of the issues why are we going to throw you out or prevent you coming in on the 20?" Let's find the things we have in common. We're a pro-life party. We have a pro-life plank. We support and value the life of the unborn. We believe in the rights of men and women under the Constitution, hence the Second Amendment matters to us. That's just who we are.
But there are other things that will draw you in that are important. Philosophical views on the role of government and the importance of allowing you, as an individual, to achieve your goals and dreams. I'm not going to limit it to one or two or three issues.
LEMON: Do you feel you're doing that? Have you seen progress in the area?
STEELE: We're up and running. I've only been on the job about four and a half, five weeks.
LEMON: I hear another person saying the same thing.
STEELE: That's the price we pay for the job we do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That's not all we talked about. More of my conversation with Michael Steele is coming up in the next hour. This one is part of a segment we call "Up from the Past: African-American Firsts." We'll talk to Michael Steele about his childhood, what motivated him to do what he's doing now, his mom, his kids. It's part of our series coming up only here on CNN.
Still ahead, a piece of America's heritage slowly slipping away. We'll take a look at the ailing newspaper industry and if there's any way to keep the presses running. Those are my guests. They will tell us.
(COMMERCIA BREAK)
LEMON: We want to talk to you about a subject we talked a little bit about yesterday. It's getting serious. In case you haven't noticed, U.S. newspapers are folding at an alarming rate. Some people are switching to online only. No newspaper in your hand.
Can grab me a newspaper so I can have it?
Others have pulled the plug completely. The "Rocky Mountain News" stopped presses at the end of February. That's after 150 years. The "Seattle Post Intelligencer" fell behind it. It was almost as old as that. Even some of the biggest newspapers, the most well-known papers in the country are bleeding red ink and might not survive.
Should newspapers get a financial bailout? There has been some talk in Washington about it. I think one lawmaker introduced legislation to possibly make them operate as non-profits, tax free. My guess here this evening -- I've written extensively on the uncertain future of the newspapers.
Here again with us tonight is Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist with the "Miami Herald."
Thank you, sir.
Also with us, another -- I guess you can call him a regular. He's political author and columnist, David Sirota. Both of them writing this week, as a matter of fact, about newspapers, is it the end? Is it the, you know, possibly be bailed out? I for one, I have to say, I'm somewhere in the middle. I get my news on the Internet. And I like, especially the Sunday paper, Mr. Pitts. I like holding this in my hand and reading it.
LEONARD PITTS JR., MIAMI HERALD: Right. Well, I think that a lot of us who grew up with newspapers have a romantic attachment to newspapers. The problem is those of us who have that romantic attachment tend to be, how shall I put this, of certain age.
(LAUGHTER)
Those who have yet to attain that certain age have no romance about it at all.
LEMON: Don't know about it, know about what's going on.
PITTS: Exactly.
LEMON: There are people who say, David Sirota, that you know what, the newspapers are really just sort of relics of the past. Information can be gotten at your fingertip. Why do we need newspapers?
DAVID SIROTA, INDPENDET RADIO HOST: Because newspapers are the original journalists. They do a lot of the leg work in real reporting that the rest of the media uses. If it's talk radio, if it's the Internet, a lot of television stories come from the hard-scrabble reporting of newspapers, metro dailies. They have traditionally been the home of investigative journalism.
If that goes away, it hollows out the rest of journalism. What will talk radio have to talk about if there's no newspaper in a mayor city? What will the Internet, what will bloggers have to blog on if there's no original reporting at newspapers? That's the foundational question here.
LEMON: If you look at blogs and all of the things, most of the stuff is gotten from newspapers anyway. The other things that -- usually the things that don't come from newspapers turn out not to be on the factual side once it's on the Internet.
But let me say this. As I was speaking with you yesterday, Mr. Pitts, you were talking about if newspapers die, the crooks won't cry. We may not have known about Rod Blagojevich or Detroit or Kwame Kilpatrick and other stories if there were not for newspapers. You wrote about it. Do you really believe it's so, though?
PITTS: I believe it's definitely so. I think people are under the misconception that any platform that brings you news is interchangeable with any other platform. That's not the case. Each has different strengths and weaknesses.
This evening, for instance, CNN is covering a shooting in a nursing home, as I recall. I didn't see much of it, but I happened to see that. Well, that's a story that is major and it's breaking and it's something you guys are going to be all over. If, in that same town, the governor is steering contracts to a construction company that is controlled by his brother-in-law or high school chum or something like that, CNN is not going to be the best position to bring that news. It's going to be a newspaper in that city, in the region that has had a reporter parked on the governor's doorstep for days turning into weeks digging through the files and the information that's going to find that story.
LEMON: The way we do that, though, maybe that's part of the solution. The way we do make sure we have inroads or insight into communities or local communities, we have affiliates and partners in those areas.
So should the bloggers and people putting your information out on the Internet become partners? And should people who are receiving that information, should they be paying for it off of the internet? David?
SIROTA: Well, I think there's going to be new partnerships, new collaborations. But the question is whether citizen journalism, if you will, can replace newspaper journalism. I don't think it can.
LEMON: No, not at all.
SIROTA: It was HBO's David Simon who did -- the director of the show "The Wire," who was a former "Baltimore Sun" reporter, who recounted the story about how he looked into a major police shooting there. He said, when I looked through it I wasn't stumbling over bloggers or citizen journalist banging down the doors of the police department. In other words, citizen journalism is not going to replace newspaper journalism. So newspapers are going to have to innovate their way out of it. The way they're going to have to do that is focus in a hyper kind of way on local, local news.
LEMON: Local news and also -- go ahead, Leonard.
PITTS: I was going to say, I think the misconception we have sometimes that nobody's reading the stuff we do in newspapers, it's exactly the opposite. We are being read more than we've ever been read before. The problem is we are being read in a new medium. We're being read online on the Internet. We have not yet figured out a way to turn enough of a profit from the Internet to support the huge news gathering operations we have. That's the problem.
LEMON: I really think the answer is somewhere in there. It becomes a rights issue if you're, you know, your product of what you produce shows up somewhere, you should be able to be paid for it. And newspapers should be able to be paid for it as well.
I think last night's "Saturday Night Live" summed it up when they had a blogger on, being interviewed on the news. He said, what do you doing, are you a full-time blogger? She said, no, I work for an insurance company and blog on the side. It makes the point you are making here today.
We appreciate it. Thank you for joining us.
PITTS: You're quite welcome.
SIROTA: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
Here's what our viewers are saying about all of the stories we're putting on.
Poeticpiscies says, "Can't say I care about papers stopping the presses. Isn't this a green solution anyway? Clearly, a sign of the times. Imo."
OK. Marcus -- I can't say the last name -- "For me personally, I never read a newspaper. At 19 years old, I get my news online plus by watching CNN and local TV news."
We appreciate you watch us. You should probably pick up the newspaper.
rgreen0623 says "G.M. CEO is stepping down. I wonder what kind of a golden parachute he'll be taking with him."
That is a good response. We'll look into that as well. Twitter, Facebook MySpace, iReport.com, that's how you can get your thoughts here on the air.
Keep in touch with friends, help catch crooks. Facebook can help you do both. A neighborhood crime in Georgia is solved thanks to the web site. We've got the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: For all of you who think social networking sites are all fun and games, well, that is not so. The Facebook community helped snag a crook. A man in Brunswick, Georgia, had two of his company trucks broken into and items were stolen from them. He told his wife, who immediately posted it on Facebook. And her post led to other posts that eventually led police to their man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL CHAPMAN, THEFT VICTIM: The officer was on top of her job. She had fingerprints, a suspect, but Facebook went just like cyber space, straight to the crime, and got our criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Al Chapman says he wasn't a fan of Facebook until it helped solve the crime. Don't knock it until you try it, sir. That's what he says.
I just got an interesting one here on one of our social networking sites. This is from Twitter. This is from barkway. He brings a very interesting point here. He says, "Facebook didn't solve that crime. The home-bound busy bodies on the alert did and could have communicated that without Facebook."
Let us know if that is true, because then the story is not accurate and we want to report it accurately. But it was on Facebook, so we're taking that at face value. We'll check it out for you.
Thank you, barkway, very good one.
And then there's a scrappy little lady from Ohio who took on a burglar. Wait until you see the guy's mug shot. John London with CNN affiliate in Cincinnati, WLWT, has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIFFANY FRIDAY, STOPPED BURGLAR: I ran up these stairs. There's a door right here. This is the door that they came out of.
JOHN LONDON, WLWT REPORTER (voice-over): Tiffany Friday, re-enacting yesterday's foot chase and smack down with two intruders.
FRIDAY: I come home. I can't get in my door. So I'm pushing the door. I'm pushing the door.
LONDON: But burglars have propped this A.C. unit up against it. Tiffany had a hunch how to head them off.
FRIDAY: I went to the back of the house and that's when we started running through the woods. They were coming out.
LONDON: Up these steps and back into this dense wooded area, she went after them. They threw a brick at here, sticks, whatever they could scavenge on the fly.
FRIDAY: I was mad. I mean, they just have taken everything from us. They took my daughter's games, my son's games. They took TVs, computers.
LONDON: This was the second time her stuff h ad been carted off, so she was determined to nail the culprits this work. Her handy work, visible on the unsmiling face of Lonnie Lane, one of the suspects who could not outrun or outfight her.
FRIDAY: Air assault. You see that? That's what they say. That means, you run fast, you're going to catch your man. Thank you.
LONDON: Here's her motivation. A 5-year-old daughter to protect, a 12-year-old son to raise. She's moving out of here any way. Victim not longer, as the detective said.
FRIDAY: He told me, he was like, good job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Just ahead, what one family is doing to stay afloat. They're proving that a lost job doesn't mean lost hope.
First, remember taking notes by hand in college? Not anymore. CNN London's Becky Anderson says some medical students are taking their studies to the edge of discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BECKY ANDERSON, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Imperial College, London, in real life. And this is Imperial College, London, in second life, an online community located in the virtual world.
These medical students are checking on patients in this online hospital's respiratory ward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't talk to each other here in the physical world.
ANDERSON: Students range the hospital wars as digital characters called avatars. Once inside, they act like real doctors in a real hospital, washing their hands before seeing patients and checking x- rays.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can order the tests and it puts it all together nicely.
ANDERSON: This program takes medical training to another dimension, quite literally.
PROF. MARTYN PARTRIDGE, IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON: This sort of research is vital if we're going to make sure that tomorrow's doctors are as well trained as you and I want them to be.
ANDERSON: For now, it's not part of the official curriculum. And the program isn't meant to replace face-to-face training with real patients. But it offers an interesting diversion on the road to a medical career.
JIEXIN ZHENG, MEDICAL STUDENT: I hope it's a bit like playing a game and less like learning.
Becky Anderson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: More men in the workforce are losing their jobs and more women are working while dads stay home with the children.
Here's CNN's Kara Finnstrom with one family's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRO HARO, UNEMPLOYED ELECTRICIAN: I'm Mr. Mom. I'm taking the kids to school, picking them up. I get their lunches ready. I cook dinner. My wife's working, not me now.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pedro Haro's family has undergone radical changes since November when he was laid off after seven years with an electric contractor.
HARO: I went from $6,000 a month income to 1600 a month. It hurt a lot.
Let's get a batter up.
FINNSTROM: The only bright side? More time to coach his son's little league team.
HARO: It's making me a better father because I'm with him more.
FINNSTROM: But the family is struggling. They dropped medical insurance, a huge worry. And the hardest changes may be yet to come. In three months, Haro's unemployment checks will stop.
HARO: I don't know what we're going to do. Going from $30-plus an hour, I'm going to have to go to a $10 an hour job just to bring food into the house.
FINNSTROM: Haro's big hope? The stimulus bill and what it may mean for companies like his former employer, Berg Electric. Berg works on big projects like office buildings, hospitals and water treatment plants.
THOMAS ANDERSON, BERGELECTRIC CORP. I understand there are at least 12 projects we've been tracking in California that could benefit from the stimulus monies.
FINNSTROM: If that happens, Bergelectric hopes to hire back some of the more than 300 workers it's laid off in California, close to half its construction force.
ANDERSON: We have projects like the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Palm Desert where the financing absolutely collapsed and in one day we had to clear 60 works off of the project. In other words, the work stops overnight.
HARO: I think when some of this stimulus money's flowing through, more buildings are being built, I think that I will go back to work.
FINNSTROM: But there are no guarantees if or when the stimulus dollars will create new electric jobs. And while the Haro's are hopeful, they can't afford to wait long.
HARO: We had it all planned and everything was going just right, you know, until -- I just never saw it coming.
FINNSTROM (on camera): Haro feels extremely fortunate that his wife had just gotten her teaching credentials before he was laid off, and is substitute teaching. But the family that had started saving for a home is now struggling to keep their apartment.
Kara Finnstrom, for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
