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What President Obama Hopes to Accomplish in Turkey; Stocks Tumble After Rally; Earthquake Rocks Central Italy; North Korea's Rocket Launch; Unemployed in America: Working Towards Solutions For All; Green Jobs

Aired April 06, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama on his first state visit to a Muslim country, reaching out to a key ally. The president left Ankara, Turkey, last hour and is expected to arrive in Istanbul shortly. He's trying to rebuild relations with Turkey after strained ties during the Bush administration.

In a speech before the Turkish Parliament, the president said the U.S. is not at war with Islam. He called on Turkey to work with the U.S. to resolve conflicts in region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our focus will be on what we can do in partnership with people across the Muslim world to advance our common hopes and our common dreams. And when people look back on this time, let it be said of America that we extended the hand of friendship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We want to drill a little deeper on what President Obama hopes to accomplish in Turkey. Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is joining us live from New York.

Christian, always great to talk to you.

As we mentioned just a moment ago, before Turkey's Grand National Assembly, the president received applause for saying the United States does not and will never be at war with Islam. So the applause indicates that was an important statement for the people of Turkey to hear.

What does that statement tell us about the state of U.S./Turkey relations in recent years?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, about the state of U.S./Islam relations, because what the president was saying was that, although the Muslim world has viewed the last eight years, really since 9/11 and the war on terror, they viewed that as a war against Islam. And particularly, relations with the Islamic world and Turkey, even though a very strong U.S. ally, relations were very severely strained over the war in Iraq.

So here's President Obama, after his inauguration, in which he said he wanted a new relationship with the Islamic world going forward, after the first interview he gave with an Arab television station, he lands in Turkey and speaks directly to this issue and says that he wants to take the United States forward in a positive partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interests and dignity with the Islamic world.

HARRIS: Well, Christiane, tell us why Turkey needs good relations with the United States, and then flip that vice-versa, why it's important the other way around as well.

AMANPOUR: Well, you know what? It is essential for both countries and for both regions.

Turkey has been a NATO ally since just after World War II. It's been a strong U.S. ally.

Now, also, it is a majority Muslim country. It straddles the crossroads of civilization, it borders Europe on one side and Asia on the other side -- specifically Iraq, Iran and Syria. And not only that, it is a moderate Muslim country, a secular Islamic democracy, committed to the principles of democracy and pluralism and the rule of law, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, all of those things.

Those are its principles. And its actions have been consistently in support of U.S. and other NATO ally actions.

HARRIS: She is, as you know, our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. And Christiane will be back.

Christiane, appreciate it. Thank you. We'll see you a little later.

Christiane will actually be back in about 25, 30 minutes or so to talk more about the importance of Turkey to the United States. Christiane will actually talk about Turkey's strategic location and what that means for U.S. efforts in the region.

Turning now to the markets, a big reversal under way on Wall Street. Stock markets pulling back from a four-week rally.

There you can see the Big Board, and the numbers are down considerably, 135 points. Investors are dumping bank and technology shares.

Let's get right to our Susan Lisovicz and Carter Evans at the New York Stock Exchange.

And Susan, let me start with you.

The Dow has really been on a move and into positive territory recently. Are we seeing a real move off those market lows? To borrow a phrase from a Maroon 5 song, is this something we can believe in?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm so sorry, you didn't sing that Maroon 5 song, Tony. Well, you know, we've had a real move. There's no question about a real move, but the Dow is still more than 40 percent off its high from October of '07.

Is it a big bear market rally, a big bear market rally, or is this the beginning of a bull market? We don't know the answer to that yet.

We do know that if we do have a substantial pullback, you don't want to see this market make new lows. And the low for the Dow, just so you know, is 6500. Right now we're at 7879.

So if we retrench, you don't want to make new lows. That would be an indication. But there's no question there's been more optimism in the marketplace of late.

Right, Carter? I mean, you've heard that as well, right?

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I would agree. There is a lot more optimism here.

The same guys that were saying, oh my gosh, when is this going to end, a few months ago, are now telling me, "I think we've seen the bottom." But we'll probably see it again. We'll probably test those lows again.

But they think we have seen the worst. But this is not over. Not by a long shot.

They all say we've got big problems with the unsecured credit markets coming up. That would have to do with credit cards. And it's the same type of investments as those mortgage-backed securities. Will these financial institutions do that with credit cards as well? Default rates are at an all-time high right now. That is coming up around the corner.

HARRIS: Hey, Susan, why do you guys watch treasury prices? And I ask the question that way because I really want our viewers to have a better understanding of how these markets operate now, moving forward, than maybe we all did ahead of the crisis. So why do you watch these treasury prices? And what does it mean when we're talking today about a drop in treasury prices, particularly on these 10-year notes?

LISOVICZ: OK. First of all, what we're particularly watching, Tony, is the interest rates or yields on treasuries, because what you see is interest rates on mortgages are tied to the yields or interest rates in treasuries.

The Federal Reserve of late has been buying longer-term treasuries in order to drive the yields down in treasuries. And that, therefore, it would affect mortgage rates. And we have seen that happen.

HARRIS: I see.

LISOVICZ: We've seen the 30-year fixed is now well below five percent. In fact, it was 4.78 percent last week. An historic low.

What does that do? It sends people into the housing market if it works. And we've seen applications for mortgages rise.

And of course, the housing market is something we watch very closely. We want to see improvement there for the overall economy to improve as well.

HARRIS: And Carter, let me turn to you with this question on what we're anticipating. What is the street anticipating in terms of reporting from companies?

And let's sort of talk about -- we talk about the Dow all the time, but most folks are invested in S&P companies, the S&P 500. In terms of first quarter earnings reports, I think the only question is, how far down?

EVANS: Well, it is a question of how far down. And analysts are expecting big declines, overall declines possibly as much as 37 percent from the same time a year ago. So these numbers that we're going to be getting will likely take the wind out of some sails. But I do think that we've got to keep it all in context.

We have seen some positive news on the economic front lately. And I think that there's going to be a focus on not just the numbers that we get right now, but what these company executives say. Not about this quarter, but about the second, third and fourth quarters, because you always want to know what's happening right now. But the key in investing is knowing what's going to happen just down the road.

HARRIS: Yes, jump in on that, Susan. And Carter makes an interesting point, and I mentioned it to you last hour.

I can't tell you how many people are coming up to me and saying, "You know, it's' bad news, it's bad news. You're killing me, Tony, with all of this bad news."

There are some encouraging signs out there, but I wonder if all of that could be wiped aside if we start to see some bad earnings reports through the first quarter.

LISOVICZ: Well, Tony, the reason for the market's four-week leap, historic leap for the markets over the past month, was because there were tidbits of encouragement from the housing market, from the financial sector, from industrial production. So the market totally jumped all over that. But we're not out of the woods yet.

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: What you want to hear from corporate America with these earnings is perhaps that, this is it, babe. This is the worst. The first quarter may be the worst. If you start to hear companies saying -- from a variety of sectors saying, yes, we're going to see some signs of improvement later this year, that is going to be an encouragement that investors will respond to.

HARRIS: Awesome.

LISOVICZ: If you get it worse than that, well, then you may have a different reaction. But the bar has been lowered substantially for the first quarter.

HARRIS: That's terrific.

LISOVICZ: You just don't want it to be down to the floor.

HARRIS: Yes, you give us something to look forward to with this reporting.

All right. Carter Evans, Susan Lisovicz, both from the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you both so much. Good stuff.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

EVANS: Thanks.

HARRIS: Desperate homeowners looking for help are being targeted by scammers. The warning the government is sending out today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A new plan to combat the growing number of home loan scams. The treasury and housing secretaries, along with the attorney general, announced the measures last hour. As foreclosure rates rise, so are the number of companies that claim they can save your home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. SECRETARY OF TREASURY: These are predatory schemes designed to rob Americans of their savings and potentially their homes. Today we are announcing a major interagency effort to combat foreclosure rescue scams.

I'm very pleased to be joined here today by Attorney General Eric Holder; the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan; and Federal Trade Commission Chairman John Leibowitz; and Lisa Madigan, the Illinois attorney general. Their presence here today underscores our deep commitment to protect American consumers and borrowers, and to cooperate closely at both the federal and state level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Let's bring in our Jeanne Meserve. Jeanne is in Washington.

Jeanne, good to see you.

You were following this event today. I'm just curious, what is it that the administration is doing to stop these scammers? JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, prosecutions. Top officials announced today five new cases against companies that have promised to help distressed homeowners, and taken their money, but delivered absolutely no results. Four of those five firms were using names or logos that were copies of legitimate government agencies or nonprofit organizations.

And the attorney general, Eric Holder, promised more aggressive actions against other companies illegally exploiting the foreclosure crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'd like to speak directly to those individuals and to those companies whose illegal and repulsive practices have harmed far too many Americans. And the message is very simple: If you prey on vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent mortgage schemes or discriminate against borrowers, we'll find you and we will punish you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Holder said the Justice Department is currently conducting 2,100 mortgage fraud investigations. That is up 400 percent from five years ago.

And to uncover more of these predatory schemes, officials announced some new initiatives.

One, financial institutions will be getting an advisory on how to spot red flags that could indicate a foreclosure rescue scam. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will be partnering with law enforcement and regulators to analyze financial data that might indicate fraud. When it's found, they say it will quickly be passed on for investigation and possible prosecution.

Coordination with state authorities, we'll be seeing more of that. And homeowners in financial distress will be getting flyers from their lending institutions telling them how to avoid these scams and where to get free help.

HARRIS: Hey, Jeanne, this certainly looks like a big show of force. The question is, will these efforts be successful?

MESERVE: Well, it's a big question, and we didn't get all the answers because the officials doing press conference didn't take any questions from the press. But clearly, this is, in part, a public relations effort.

They want to put these companies on notice, hey, we're watching out for you. We're going to catch you. And secondly, they really want to inform the consumer, let them know that these scams are out there, how to spot them, what to do about them when you see them. And that's valuable.

HARRIS: Yes, it is. It really is. All right. Jeanne Meserve in Washington.

Jeanne, as always, great to talk to you.

MESERVE: Thanks.

HARRIS: How can you be sure the mortgage company you're working with is on the level? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has some advice.

And Gerri, let's revisit some of this information that you shared with viewers last hour, particularly since, as we saw just a moment ago, there was a big show of force from Treasury and the Justice Department.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right.

HARRIS: What kind of scams are out there right now?

WILLIS: All right. Well, let's talk about, what are the scams that are out there right now? And the thing is, they're so diverse, there's so many of them, that it's sort of hard to keep up because they keep changing as times change. But let me tell you about some of the most popular.

Foreclosure recue scams, number one on the list. And this is really nefarious.

You know, when you go into foreclosure, that information is published in the local newspaper. Scamsters see that. They send you a letter offering to rescue you. But guess what? That's not what they're doing at all.

They're actually going to steal your house. They ask you to give them money up front. None of this is going to work out for you. You have got to be careful not to deal with these people.

Application fraud is kind of a garden variety of fraud that occurred -- a lot of it occurred during the boom, but it's back. People lying on applications. Mortgage brokers and bankers saying, hey, leave these pages on your application empty, we'll fill it out. What happens? Well, incomes are inflated, there are lies in the application process. And this is why we've seen so many people with homes that they can't afford.

Then there's something newish called deed or property stealing. This is when they actually steal your home. And maybe you've already paid for your home, you own it free and clear. It tends to happen to the elderly.

Basically, what happens, the fraudster, they go to the court, the courthouse. They look at your signature. They get a deed transfer form, and they...

HARRIS: Are you kidding me? WILLIS: ... and they take your house. They get a deed transfer form from like a Home Depot or an Office Depot. Those forms are available everywhere. They simply forge it and take your house.

HARRIS: That is crazy. So, OK, how do you protect yourself against all this?

WILLIS: Well, there are a lot of red flags here. Obviously if somebody is asking you for money up front to help you, that's not a good sign, right? You don't want to sign something that you don't understand.

And typically what happens in a lot of these scams is they give you a lot of paperwork to fill out, say, in foreclosure scams, and buried in there is a deed transfer form. And what you have done is signed over your house.

All right. Check with people you work with. Check them out. Go to BBB.org. That's the Better Business Bureau.

I have to tell you, they don't know about all the fraudsters out there because this is so commonplace now, Tony. I'm telling you, it's everywhere. You've really got to be on guard against it. Whether you're buying, you're selling, even if you own your home outright, you can be a victim.

HARRIS: And Gerri, just very quickly, remind folks again the advice that you shared with us on a couple of occasions at least, that in many cases if you're in trouble with your mortgage, you don't have to seek out one of these companies who...

WILLIS: No.

HARRIS: ... you see the ads on television, you may see them in the newspaper, you may hear them on the radio, but you don't necessarily have to go to one of these companies to help you out of the difficult times that you're in right now.

WILLIS: Call your lender.

HARRIS: Call your lender.

WILLIS: Call the people you're dealing with. That's number one the first thing to do. You get one of these letters in mail from somebody saying they're going to rescue you? Rip it up, throw it away.

HARRIS: Great advice. Great tip, as always.

Good to see you, Gerri. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: Rescue teams are searching for survivors right now after a massive earthquake in Italy. Almost 100 people are known dead and thousands are homeless. We will take you to the area hardest hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Many historic buildings are in danger of collapse right now across central Italy. A strong 6.3 earthquake hit the region overnight. Italy says at least 92 people have been killed, many others are feared trapped.

The quake hit at 3:32 a.m. local time when most people were sleeping. At least one five-story apartment building and a dormitory collapsed. The quake struck near the medieval town of L'Aquila, less than 100 miles northwest of Rome.

In all, 26 homes have some degree of damage. Thousands of frightened people rushed into the streets. One report estimates 70,000 people may now be homeless.

This stretch of Italy is a mountainous land of remote villages dotted with medieval castles.

CNN's Diana Magnay joins us now from L'Aquila.

And Diana, are we still talking about a rescue effort there now, or is this becoming more and more a recovery effort?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I mean, there is still hope. There are -- I'm standing in front of a building in the town of L'Aquila which is a student dormitory, where over the course of today, they have pulled four people out, two or three of whom, unfortunately, did not make it, but two of whom did. They're now looking for six more bodies in the rubble here. And rescue workers say they hope to find them.

In front of me, I can see family members and friends who were students with these people standing around in blankets. Some of them wearing the pajamas that they were wearing this morning when the earthquake struck, waiting for hope from the people in the building front of me. So there is still hope, but there is also an enormous recovery operation under way.

The Italian premier was here today. He declared a state of emergency. There are 4,000 rescuers on the scene, and they've set up mobile camps in and around the town of L'Aquila and the surrounding area, where the thousands homeless can go and spend the night in safety.

HARRIS: Yes. Diana, if you would, we were talking with Delia Gallagher last hour, who suggested that in the aftermath of this, part of the outrage surrounding this tragedy is going to be that a number of the structures that collapsed should have been brought up to current earthquake codes.

Would you agree with that?

MAGNAY: Well, I mean, this is the problem that towns across Italy face. The town of L'Aquila, like many others in this region, is medieval. The center is extremely historic.

These are not buildings that have been reinforced with concrete to protect them. But that would be a huge operation. If you were to start doing that to cities across Italy, you'd be looking at doubling your budget.

HARRIS: Sure.

WILLIS: And it will surely be a scene in the coming days that there were warnings about earthquakes such as this and that buildings were not properly enforced. But this is Italy we're talking about -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Diana Magnay for us.

Diana, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, within minutes of the earthquake, we were on the phone with an American missionary in L'Aquila.

Listen as Joshua Brothers describes how it felt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA BROTHERS, AMERICAN MISSIONARY: The bedrooms themselves were actually shaking and moving across the room. The best way I could describe it perhaps is exactly just a 747 coming over -- very loud, you can feel the entire building swaying back and forth.

As you went outside, there were a lot of people that were very loud and calling for people that they know, looking for one another. They're all very worried, because the last earthquake that happened, there was one about 100 years ago that completely destroyed the city for a large part of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy. Aftershocks continue to shake the region, further unnerving residents, as you can imagine.

North Korea defies the world by launching a rocket. Reaction and what this test could mean for the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You know, it was dubbed a failure, but North Korea's weekend rocket launch set off a wave of condemnation and concern around the world. The U.S. calls it a provocative act.

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us now with details on what happened and what it means for the United States.

Good to see you, Chris. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, bottom line, the U.S. says the launch did fail, but North Korea learned from this test and it's probably another step closer to having a missile that can one day reach the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): North Korea's missile launch set off reactions around the world. Its allies, China and Russia, urged calm. But South Korea called it reckless and President Obama demanded action from the U.N. Security Council.

OBAMA: North Korea broke the rules. Once again.

LAWRENCE: North Korea claims it put a satellite into orbit, but U.S. defense officials say it failed.

(on camera): Here's the launch site on the eastern side of North Korea. U.S. Navy missile destroyers are positioned here and here on both sides of Japan.

Stage one of the rocket falls right here in the Sea of Japan, roughly where the North Koreans thought it would.

But then a few minutes later, something goes wrong, because the satellite does not make it into orbit and part of the rocket falls here into the Pacific Ocean.

(voice-over): U.S. officials say the payload did not separate successfully during the last stage. But North Korea was able to control its rocket through that point.

LT. GEN. TREY OBERING III, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): That is a significant step forward for any missile program, because oftentimes those missiles become unstable as they go through these staging events.

LAWRENCE: This was a more advanced rocket than the one North Korea launched in 1998. And it improved the range from a similar test in 2006 when the missile blew apart 40 seconds after launch.

But experts say the longer test gave the U.S. military more to study.

CHARLES VICK, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: I think, for the first time, we've gotten full images of the entire vehicle. I don't think we've ever fully had that except back in 1994 when we saw the mock up of the concept of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: And the U.S. can incorporate that information into its own missile defense systems. Experts say this missile could potentially reach Alaska and Hawaii. It could be armed with a nuclear warhead. Now, North Korea is not there yet. But there's a concern it could take the technology that it does have and sell that to other nations, which may be developing their own nuclear capabilities -- Tony.

HARRIS: Which leads to this, Chris. Is this just about North Korea or are there other countries involved here?

LAWRENCE: No, you know, General Obering is the former missile defense chief here in the Pentagon. He said that he fully believes that this is about North Korea and Iran. He fully believes that Iran and North Korea have been working together on their capabilities.

HARRIS: All right. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon for us.

Chris, good to see you. Thank you.

LAWRENCE: Yes.

HARRIS: You know, hours after North Korea launched a long range rocket, President Obama called for a world without nuclear weapons. Would such a move make the world safer or make the United States less safe?

International security analyst Jim Walsh discussed some of the implications with our Betty Nguyen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: As President Obama said in his speech, what he is doing is starting a journey with this first step. He doesn't expect that we're going to get rid of all our nuclear weapons any time soon. He says not in our lifetime. So I don't think we're going to zero any time soon.

The U.S. and Russia have 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads. We're talking about going down to around 1,000, 1,200, something like that. Believe me, 12,000 nuclear warheads is more than enough to protect the United States and its allies.

But what we have to do to protect the United States is to get other countries to help us stop the spread of nuclear weapons. And we can't keep saying to other countries, you do your part, but we're not going to do anything. We're not going to get our house in order. We have to show leadership and do something on our end if we expect others to do the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spent the weekend mulling over the Pentagon's budget. He is expected to announce cuts today that could eliminate several multimillion dollar weapons programs and bring an end to thousands of jobs around the country. Pentagon Spokesman Jeff Morell says that there will be major changes in spending priorities.

A solemn return from war seen publicly for the first time in 18 years. The flag-draped casket bearing the remains of Air Force Staff Sergeant Phillip Myers was flown into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware last night. The media allowing media coverage of the return after receiving consent from Myers' family.

The Obama administration overturned a policy from the First Gulf War that bard such images. That policy was presented as a way to shield grieving families, but critics said the government was trying to hide the human cost of war.

Myers was killed Saturday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan. He was 30 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just moments ago we showed you the flag-draped casket bearing the remains of Air Force Staff Sergeant Phillip Myers as it arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware last night.

Our question for you is this -- should the media be allowed to cover the return of bodies of fallen military members? We want to hear from you on this. E-mail us at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. In the 1:00 p.m. Eastern Hour of NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips will read your e-mails and talk with two women who lost loved ones in action and are on opposite sides of this issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The unemployment rate in the United States rose to 8.5 percent in March. A 25-year high. When you break it down by ethnicity, the picture is even bleaker. The jobless rate for African- Americans, 13.3 percent. For Hispanic Americans, 11.4 percent. And for whites, 7.9 percent. Joining me to dig a little deeper, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. He is in New York.

Marc, my friend, it has been a long time. Good to talk with you.

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: Tony, good to be with you. Good morning.

HARRIS: Yes, good morning.

And in Washington, Catherine Singley from the National Council of La Raza. La Raza is the largest national Latino civil rights advocacy group in the United States. They work to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.

And hello to my new friend, Catherine.

Catherine, thanks for the time.

CATHERINE SINGLEY, NCLR POLICY ANALYST: Thank you, Tony. Hi.

HARRIS: Let me ask this to both of you and, Marc, let me have you respond first.

You know, one of the key findings of your organization's most recent state of black America report is this, blacks remain twice as likely to be unemployed. And as you look at the black and, Katherine, the Hispanic unemployment numbers over let's just say the last three months, can I have you revisit the why question again. Why do blacks and Latinos always appear to be hit hardest in times of economic stress?

And, Marc, take that first.

MORIAL: I'll tell you that with this particular recession, this deep recession we're facing today, black people had a higher unemployment rate before the recession began because, in a sense, the black community did not recover from the 2001 recession fully. So, in effect, came to the dance, if the recession is a dance, with a higher unemployment rate.

The second reason is long term and it's structural. Those with a higher educational attainment level, meaning college and beyond, typically have a lower unemployment rate than those with either high school only or less than high school. So thus, for African-Americans and Latinos who typically have a lower across the board educational attainment level, the unemployment rates are higher. And that's the structural issue.

HARRIS: Yes. No, good point.

And, Catherine, let me have you chime in on this. I would imagine that you would agree with a lot of the points made by Marc. But it seems to me that there are perhaps some different issues as well.

SINGLEY: Right. Well, in addition to the issues that Marc had already mentioned and, yes, there are major inequalities that were pre-existing, Latinos also started at a different point before the recession began. And also it has to do with the types of jobs that Latinos tend to hold. Latinos tend to be in low quality jobs with low wages and the lowest rates of insurance. So they're more vulnerable to a downturn. And as we've seen, they're the first -- among the first hit.

HARRIS: Yes, got you.

And, Marc, back to your report for a moment. You have a list of priorities for changing the employment story for blacks. We're going to show a few of them. We've highlighted them. But if you only had to work on one of the priorities, where would you start?

MORIAL: Well, I think long term it's guaranteeing access to high quality, early education, is the long term most important thing we can do to address structurally. But in the short term, I think increasing funding for job training so that stimulus job opportunities in the fields of construction, alternative energy and green jobs are available to African-Americans and Latinos. And I know that the new secretary of labor, Hilda Solis, and the president want to do this. We want to work with them to ensure that this, in fact, occurs.

HARRIS: Yes.

And, Catherine, same question to you. The top priority for changing the Hispanic unemployment story in America. SINGLEY: Right. We're watching very carefully at the National Council of La Raza to ensure that those stimulus funds do make it to the communities hardest hit by recession and by unemployment. Some of the solutions we've got to work toward are targeted. And they happen at the state and local level. It's about getting adults the training they need to compete fairly for the new 3.5 million jobs that the president's plan promises.

HARRIS: All right. I'm going to ask you one final question here. Marc, first, it goes back to your report. I wonder what your expectations are for this president. Gwendolyn Grant, of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City warns, "we must use this moment to reinvigorate the movement and re-engage the nation in a struggle to finish the job of equality, liberty and justice for all." Do you expect more of this president than, say, you expected from the Bush administration?

MORIAL: We expect more because we believe that this president understands these problems. And I think all Americans expect more from this president. And we think he's taken the most important, positive steps in yet only 90 days, less than 90 days in office. We think it's so important that we also recognize that there's a role for us to play in our community.

HARRIS: Oh, very good. I'm glad you . . .

MORIAL: We can't be spectators.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

MORIAL: We can't sit on the side. We've got to engage, we've got to work, fight and absolutely be responsible. So it's a partnership. And we think the president's gotten off to a good start.

HARRIS: Yes.

And, Catherine, final word on this to you. What do you expect from the president? Are you holding his feet to the fire on promises made during the campaign?

SINGLEY: Well, certainly. And I think we have a shared agenda here. Groups like National Urban League and NCLR.

HARRIS: Oh, I'm happy to hear that as well. No, go ahead, I'm sorry.

SINGLEY: No, and we firmly believe it's -- we cannot have an economic recovery without taking into account the inequalities that already exist in our labor market and the promise and potential of all of our workers in our community.

HARRIS: Well, Catherine, meet Marc. Marc meet Catherine and talk early and often.

MORIAL: Thanks. We talk a lot.

SINGLEY: Yes, we do.

HARRIS: Thank you both. We appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

SINGLEY: Thanks for having us.

HARRIS: What do you say we get an "Energy Fix" now. With 2 million jobs lost this year alone, you might be wondering, where are all the green jobs we've been hearing about? The president signed a stimulus bill on February 17th. And the question is, has there been any hiring?

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Good to see you, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Tony.

Yes, we have not yet seen that massive wave of green jobs promised by the Obama administration. Also, folks, we continue to see layoffs in the energy sector. Here's a few to tell you about.

Last week, BP Solar said it will cut 140 jobs at a plant in Maryland. In Iowa, a wind turbine plant recently cut 58 workers. A little bit here, a little bit there. Not the added jobs we want to see.

There is one area, though, where some green jobs are being added. That is in making homes more energy efficient. The stimulus plan set aside $5 billion for this. There are estimates it could create 115,000 jobs. Everything from people to insulate your home, to energy auditors. But a group that is tracking this green job creation says so far only about 16 or 17 states have gotten just a small portion of that stimulus money, Tony. So the hiring has barely started. A lot of talk, not much action.

HARRIS: And, yes, it's been, what, six weeks or so. So there's some time but the clock is running.

Poppy, sorry, I mismanaged my time in the last segment, so I got to run. It won't happen tomorrow, I promise.

HARLOW: No problem. OK.

HARRIS: President Obama taking a tour through Turkey. Why the country is so important to the U.S. and the fight against terrorism.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, as we told you earlier, President Obama is in Turkey this hour trying to rebuild ties with that key ally. Part of the reason Turkey's so important is its location in relation to Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as you can see from the map here.

Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is back with us again from New York. And, Christiane, the president is asking Turkey to play a bigger, positive role in mitigating tensions in the broader Middle East. Any thoughts from you on whether Turkey will resume its role in brokering talks between the Israelis and the Syrians? And maybe you can sort of revisit the history -- the recent history of those talks for everyone.

AMANPOUR: Yes. Well, as you know, basically, the Israeli/Palestinian peace process doesn't exist. It just doesn't exist. And so nothing is happening there right now.

In the last several months, however, Israel was perhaps seeking talks with Syria. And Turkey was mediating those. And they had gotten to a certain level of progress and advancement that even the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, the previous prime minister, went to Turkey and visited and was signing off on some of the crucial and important details. Then came Israel's war on Gaza.

HARRIS: That's right.

AMANPOUR: And that is what forced Turkey, the prime minister, Erdogan, to leave and get out of those talks. So that's what happened.

And, yes, again, President Obama, in his speech to parliament today in Turkey, said that the United States was recommitting itself to vigorously entering -- re-entering the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians and again mentioned favorably what Turkey had done vis-a-vis Israel and Syria and perhaps that might go ahead again. But it's unclear whether that will and whether the new Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu will want to do that or not.

HARRIS: Well, Christiane, another point here, talk us through some recent polling in "The Washington Post" that suggests that the president is going to have to play the role of educator in chief when it comes to explaining Islam to many in America, even as he works for better relations with the Islamic world.

AMANPOUR: Well, again, you know, the latest poll says that the majority of Americans strongly believe and supported the notion of the United States, President Obama, sort of repairing relations with the Islamic world that really came to a terrible rupture over the eight years of the war on terror and particularly over the war on Islam -- rather, the war on terror, the war on Iraq, they saw as a war on Islam.

HARRIS: Sure.

AMANPOUR: So President Obama has been trying to smooth that over and correct that. But the problem is, that the same polls showed that some 55 percent of Americans say they don't know enough about Islam. They don't know enough about the details. And 48 percent of Americans said that they view Islam unfavorably. So there is an enormous amount of work to be done. And I don't think actually it's just the president. I think it's really schools, it's media, it's the whole sort of public sphere of public debate. And to that end, we here at CNN have a two-hour documentary coming up. My next documentary is, in fact, on the next generation of Muslim youth.

HARRIS: Now, that worked out well.

Christiane, good to see you, as always. Thank you.

President Obama is wrapping up a jam-packed eight-day international trip. Here are some of the perceptions of the president and the United States, first from the U.K. and from his last stop in Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putting a very good face on it for Europe generally. Much better than the Bush administration, which gave a very negative image of the U.S. But I think he's thoroughly positive and a breath of fresh air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely since his speech, I think it was yesterday in Prague, I think a lot of people watched that and a lot of their opinions have changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think he's done even better since he's been here. I think both he and Michelle have done a terrific job as ambassadors for the U.S., as well as being president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We start to -- we started to love and like America because of Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what people are expecting from Obama, I think. So ending this conflict with other countries, bringing peace to the world and these issues, that's what the Turkish people are hoping for, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The president, as you know, made stops in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic before arriving in Turkey.

She is being called a hero for calling 911 after she was shot. New details about a woman who survived the massacre in Binghamton, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, a story of pure heroism coming out of that deadly rampage at the immigrant services center in Binghamton, New York, last week. A receptionist was shot in the stomach. She faked her death and then called 911. Because of that, police are calling Shirley DeLucia a hero. Officials say DeLucia stayed on the line for 90 minutes feeding police information about the gunman. Her brother tells CNN DeLucia has a big heart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYLE FASSETT, SISTER WAS WOUNDED IN RAMPAGE: She would be the first person that would be there to help you if you needed help. And if you go to her house, you better eat. She's just a good person. That's all I can say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: DeLucia is recovering from her wounds and Binghamton is trying to cope. Thirteen people were killed at the center on Friday. The gunman then took his own life.

More details are coming out about that weekend shooting in Pittsburgh that left three police officers dead, two other officers were wounded. A police report says it started with a 911 call from the suspect's mother. Now, listen to this. She was arguing with her 22-year-old son over a family dog. Police say when they got there, the man opened fire and a four-hour standoff followed. He was shot in the leg and is now facing murder charges.

In Washington state, police believe jealous anger caused a father to kill his five children and then himself. The children, ages seven to 16, were found shot to death Saturday in the family's mobile home near Tacoma. Four died in their beds. The fifth was found in a bathroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids shouldn't have to die like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Police say before the killings, James Harrison saw his wife with another man and she told him she was leaving him.

It's time to go. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.