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President Obama in Iraq; Signs of a Recovery; Selling to Rent; Slicing & Dicing Defense Budget; Canadian Flies Stolen Plan in to U.S.; Tax Refunds Increase 10 Percent Over 2007 Returns

Aired April 07, 2009 - 10:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, April 7th, and here are the top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM. President Obama in Baghdad, his first visit to the war zone as commander in chief.

Looking for hints of an economic recovery? Surprising signs of life from the battered housing market. And the Pentagon kills production of a fighter jet. Is it also killing jobs during a recession?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And our developing story this hour, the commander in chief making an unannounced visit to U.S. troops in Iraq. Right now, President Obama is in Baghdad. He arrived there a short time ago from Turkey.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, live from Baghdad with the details for us.

And Fred, we're calling this unannounced. It is fair to say it would have been a surprise if the president hadn't stopped in Baghdad. Isn't that true?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is something that did surprise some people, but what the White House was telling us is that the president made this visit here to Iraq -- it was either going to be Iraq or Afghanistan -- because Iraq is simply closer to Turkey and the flight was shorter down here.

What he's going to be doing while he is here, Tony, is he's going to be visiting American troops. He's going to be present at a ceremony where medals of valor will be handed out. And of course, what he's going to be doing is he's going to be talking to top commanders here on the ground.

Of course, the most important of them, General Ray Odierno. He's going to be getting an overview of the situation here in Iraq. Of course, that is very important to those drawdown plans that the U.S. military and the administration have.

And the other thing that he's going to be doing or that he planned to do, was he was going to be meeting with Iraqi politicians, with Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, and also with the president, Jalal Talabani. However, due to bad weather here in Iraq's capital -- it is quite dusty here in Baghdad today -- he's not going to be able to make the trip from where he is right now into central Baghdad, into the Green Zone to meet with politicians. So what he's going to be doing is he's going to be conferring with both of them on the phone, talking about the security situation here in Iraq, and about political progress, which, of course, the administration believes Iraq's government still needs to achieve -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Fred, it seems important to make this trip, and the point I was making is, clearly, he was so close to Iraq, being in Turkey. It seems to me, it would have been a surprise if he hadn't stopped, but you make a good point that the options were there for the president to stop in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

But it seems important also that the president is stopping there to, first and foremost, offer his support for the troops, and he also is doing this at a time when so much attention is being paid to Afghanistan. It feels like a particularly timely trip.

PLEITGEN: Well, you're absolutely right, and that's a very good point that you make. And if we look back at the president's visit to Europe and to Turkey in the past couple of days, we haven't heard him mention the word "Iraq" in the speeches that he was giving a lot over the past couple of days. A lot of the attention has been focused on Afghanistan.

If you remember the NATO summit that he had in Germany and France, that was all about the situation in Afghanistan, so it is certainly very important for him to come here right now to reassure the troops that it is still a very important place to the administration. Of course, one of the things that many people are going to be looking at in the past couple of months is how this drawdown is going to be happening, if this drawdown is going to be successful. And the other thing that is very important is to be talking to these Iraqi politicians and assuring them that Iraq is still an important place to the U.S., even as the U.S. hands over more and more of the responsibility of security in this country to the Iraqi security forces -- Tony.

HARRIS: All good points.

Frederik Pleitgen for us in Baghdad.

The trip to Iraq is President Obama's first since taking office. During the presidential campaign, he visited Iraq on a multi-stop trip overseas. He met with U.S. commanders and troops last July. That trip, also, he traveled into Afghanistan, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the U.K. Mr. Obama visited Iraq as a senator in 2006.

We will bring you the latest developments on the president in Iraq as we get them, and we will have much more on this trip this hour, particularly his visit to Turkey. CNN's Ivan Watson joins us live from Istanbul to talk about why Turkey is so important to the United States.

On Wall Street, we have seen four straight weeks of gains, but the optimism is fading this week. (STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: Seventeen months into the recession now, the longest since the Great Depression, and one school of thought says we're finally sort of bottoming out.

Gerri Willis is CNN's personal finance editor.

And Gerri, good to see you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there, Tony.

HARRIS: What signs are out there of a recovery that some experts are starting to point to?

WILLIS: Well, there are a number of signs. And let's be clear here, this is a small band of economists who believe that we could have a stronger economy earlier than anticipated, and it could, in fact, be pretty, pretty -- you know, very strong...

HARRIS: Yes. Pretty robust? Yes.

WILLIS: ... because we have had such a decline. They think that the rebound will be stronger than expected.

Here's what they're looking at.

Now, Susan was talking earlier about stocks giving up some of their gains, but remember, they're up 22 percent from a 12-year close low hit on March 9th. So they've had a strong rebound.

Now, put on top of that the fact that housing activity has picked up somewhat. Existing home sales up 5.1 percent in February, new home sales up 4.7 percent in February. And of course, that's where all of this got started, the housing market falling apart. So, to see some bright lights there, really meaningful.

Now, job losses, they seem to be easing off the peaks in January. You know, January, we had 741,000 jobs lost. February, 651,000. March, 663,000.

There is a trend that could be emerging here, that the job losses won't be as bad as we had thought. So, here you have this growing sentiment among some economists that the economy could be forming its bottom, starting to turn around. One of them even said that the rebound could start four months from now. Compare that to most economists, who say it's not until the end of the year, or even next year.

Put on top of that, Tony, the fact that a recent poll shows that 20 percent of American consumers -- that's everybody out there -- now think the economy is getting better. That's compared with just 7 percent in mid-January. That was just before President Obama took office.

The percentage of people who said the economy was getting worse declined from 54 percent in January to 34 percent today. So, interesting.

HARRIS: Yes, it is. Yes.

WILLIS: . You know, a little -- don't you love to see glimmers? I love to see those.

HARRIS: Well, we were talking about this, yes, just yesterday, that, you know, we're getting battered, those of us who do this for a living, by people who are saying you're just harping on the bad news way too much. But I guess my follow here, Gerri, is the economists -- let's sort of focus on that pool of economists who see a rebound coming.

Do they see a strong rebound or a slow recovery? I'm thinking -- are they looking at kind of a V here and up, or something of, you know, a U?

WILLIS: Well, I think what they're saying is that the decline was so sharp, so sudden, that the rebound will be the same. It will be sharp and sudden in the up -- they see a strong rebound, the people who were in this school of thinking. Of course, they're not the only people out there, you know.

There are a lot of people who were negative and say, wow, come on, you're discounting, you know, months of inventory in the housing market that are on sale right now that are going to slow down any economic rebound. And what's more, we're still getting layoffs, and as long as there are layoffs, that also threatens the housing market as well. So, still problems out there, but I just want to let you know there's some good news to be had.

HARRIS: That is terrific, Gerri. Thank you for the good news.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: Boy, you're helping my day. That's for sure. All right.

The latest figures confirm the housing market has a pulse. Both new and existing home sales jumped around five percent in February.

CNN's Sandra Endo joins me now from Washington.

And Sandra, some developers who still can't sell their homes are starting to get pretty creative here. Isn't that true?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. There's a lot of stock out there on the housing market. And to get through this recession, a lot of developers and property owners are trying to resort to other ways to meet their bottom line.

For example, many condos which were built to be sold are now being converted to rentals, and many homeowners are also opting to rent out their houses as well. Well, this trend is helping renters get the better end of the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRETT WILSON, RENTER: Well, this is it.

ENDO (voice-over): A luxury, one-bedroom condo in affluent McLean, Virginia. Brett Wilson is paying less than $2,000 a month for this brand new apartment which was meant to be sold for $500,000. The building features a party room, gym and outdoor pool. Pretty much a steal.

WILSON: You get the benefit of high-end construction, high-end value, with all the amenities that went with that.

ENDO: For the developer, it made sense to put the units up for rent instead of letting them sit empty, waiting for buyers in the slumping housing market. With monthly rents coming in, at least that's steady income.

JAMIE GORSKI, PARK CREST LOFTS: I think the developer was bright enough to understand that conditions were changing. In cases where they haven't sold very many units and the market has turned, it's probably best to rent those units.

ENDO: The economic downturn is also hitting individual condo owners. People are facing layoffs and other bills, so many are resorting to renting out their units and finding cheaper housing for themselves.

(on camera): Here's the problem: Many condo buildings have rules which only allow for a certain portion of their building to be used as rentals. It's causing friction among owners, who are calling on condo boards to ease up on those regulations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In good times, I support restrictions on rentals. In bad times, like we are now, I support modification or leniency on these rentals.

ENDO: So if you're a renter, the market is ripe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENDO: And real estate brokers say renters have more power to negotiate these days. They can haggle to reduce their rent and ask for specific maintenance to be done on their place, as well as ask for more flexibility in their leases -- Tony.

HARRIS: Renters in charge right now.

All right. Sandra Endo in Washington for us.

Sandra, good to see you.

Did he save the best for last? President Obama's ending his first overseas trip. We will take an in-depth look at his last stop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Add another stop to President Obama's overseas trip. As we mentioned earlier, the president is in Baghdad right now. We will bring you more on his unannounced visit to Iraq as developments come into the NEWSROOM.

Really waiting for those first pictures, video, the first video of the president on the ground in Baghdad. The president traveled to Baghdad from Turkey, where he tried to rebuild ties and reach out to Muslims. He wrapped up his European tour with a request to the world: Don't judge the U.S. by its flaws and stereotypes.

One of the last events on the president's schedule in Turkey, a town hall meeting with college students. One student asked Mr. Obama what young people can do to help improve relations between countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the most important thing to start with is dialogue. You know, when you have a chance to meet people from other cultures and other countries, and you listen to them, and you find out that even though you may speak a different language, or you may have a different religious faith, it turns out that you care about your family, you have your same hopes about being able to have a career that is useful to the society, you hope that you can raise a family of your own and that your children will be healthy and have a good education, that, you know, all those things that human beings all around the world share are more important than the things that are different. And so, that is a very important place to start, and that's where young people can be very helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: President Obama today repeated his pledge to reach out to the Muslim world. It was a hallmark of his trip to Turkey.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria was asked whether Muslims believed the president when he says the U.S. is not at war with Islam. Here's Fareed on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Fareed, the president says we're not at war with Islam. Do ordinary Muslims believe him?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA: GPS": Well, I think it's important to signal to ordinary Muslims that if this is a fight, this is your fight, not ours. In other words, that we are reaching out an olive branch. It's very -- it's in accord with what he's doing with everyone else.

He's reaching out to Iran. He's reaching out to Syria. He's reaching out to Europe. So, what's changing here is, the dynamic is changing so that all the attention is not on the 800-pound gorilla, the United States, that's refusing to talk to people, sanctioning people, being unilateral. I think it's a very smart move because it changes the dynamic of the dialogue.

COOPER: And he's saying reaching out not just in anti-terror ways, but in a more full way.

ZAKARIA: In a more full way, and actually in a very sophisticated way. If you look at the trip to Turkey, what was striking to me is how he did exactly what David was saying, which is, he talked to the Turks in exactly the language they wanted to hear, which is not entirely and exclusively as Muslims.

He signed the register at Ataturk's grave, the founder of Turkey, saying, I want to support Turkey as a modern and prosperous democracy. That's what the Turks think of themselves.

They think the fact they're Muslim is incidental. Of course, the rest of the world looks at Turkey and they see a Muslim nation. So, the signal works both ways. It's a fairly shrewd and sophisticated strategy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, the president's visit to Turkey underscores the country's importance as a U.S. ally. He met one-on-one with Turkey's prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan.

Here's a little background on him.

He has been prime minister since March of 2003. He is chairman of the Justice and Development Party. And he was mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

And for more on President Obama's visit to Turkey and its significance, let's bring in CNN's Ivan Watson, live from Istanbul.

And Ivan, good to talk to you.

You know, it seems to me, President Obama is really leaning heavily, counting heavily on Turkey and Prime Minister Erdogan to do a lot of heavy lifting in the Middle East from Iran to Syria, Israel. My question is, is the president looking to Turkey too much? And then I've got a quick follow on that.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I think that what we're seeing, actually, is not President Obama thinking that Turkey can be some savior here in the Middle East, but more trying to pull Turkey back into the U.S. orbit after seeing this relationship between two longtime allies, a NATO ally, the only Muslim country in NATO -- after this relationship suffered so much under the Bush administration and during that incredibly unpopular war in neighboring Iraq, here we saw President Obama come in with a two-day charm offensive and telling the Turks, you're important to us, we care about you. Like Fareed Zakaria said, speaking in the language that Turks want to hear to bring Turkey back in. It's far easier to do that, Tony, to salvage that relationship, than to build new bridges and turn things around with very difficult governments like Syria or Iran.

HARRIS: So, then, that puts an even finer focus on Erdogan. Is he ready to be a major player on the world stage? Does he believe it?

WATSON: He wants to be a world player. He is very ambitious, and he's brought in some very interesting policies.

Turkey, traditionally, Tony, had very bad relationships with its neighbors to the east. And since Erdogan came into power, he's tried to improve those relationships.

He's reached out to Syria. He's reached out to Iran, to Iraq recently, and even to Armenia. And the two countries, Armenia and Turkey, do not have embassies in each other's countries. So, he has tried to reach out.

And he can help the U.S. by offering to work as a diplomatic bridge between the U.S. and countries like Iran and Syria. That's what Erdogan has been offering to do.

He's also offered to help U.S. troops come out of Iraq through Turkish territory. That's another big area where the Turks can offer some big help.

And as the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, Turkey can offer to be more of a stabilizing force. And we've seen them make some big steps forward, especially improving relations with the Iraqi Kurds of northern Iraq. And if you remember, just a few years ago, Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, they looked like they were going to fight a war -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. You know, but at the end of the day, this is really about tangible results from all of the talking that's going on, and really achieving what the prime minister wants, which is this policy of zero conflict for Turkey's neighbors.

Where could we see some early sort of positive results, Ivan? Are we talking about Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iran?

WATSON: Believe it or not, I think one area where we may be surprised is with Armenia. You've seen some very interesting diplomacy going on between Turkey and its northern neighbor, Armenia. They have a closed border. They do not have embassies in each other's countries.

Last night, President Obama met with the Turkish foreign minister, the Armenian foreign minister. He's trying to push them to normalize relations, and it seems to be optimistic that something could come out, even within the next couple of weeks -- Tony.

HARRIS: That is very interesting.

All right. CNN's Ivan Watson for us in Istanbul, Turkey. Ivan, great to talk to you. Thank you.

An alleged assassination plot against President Obama now being discredited. A senior U.S. official tells CNN Turkish authorities have released the suspect. They do not believe the president's life was ever really in danger.

Initial reports said the suspect was posing as a reporter and planning to stab President Obama. The man was arrested Friday, two days before the president arrived in Turkey.

Chasing a plane in two countries and three states. The security alert behind the drama.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Breaking news just in to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Just moments ago, we just learned that the Vermont Senate has voted to override Governor Jim Douglas' veto of a same-sex marriage bill, leaving the bill's fate in the hands of the House. The House, we understand, votes later today, but it is unclear whether supporters have the votes necessary to override the veto.

Here's the bottom line. If the veto is overridden, Vermont would become the fourth state to legalize marriages of gay and lesbian couples. We should mention the other states here while we have a moment. The others are Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa.

We will, of course, keep you posted on developments on this story.

Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens could leave a Washington courtroom vindicated. A hearing is going on right now. A judge is expected to order that the federal corruption conviction be tossed out. The Alaska Republican was convicted, you may recall, last year of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms, but the Justice Department says it found evidence of misconduct by federal prosecutors in that trial.

Al Franken or Norm Coleman? Yes, we're still talking about this.

Minnesota's Senate race could come down to 387 absentee ballots. A special court is opening them today.

And you're looking at live pictures -- OK, great, great, great, great -- from our affiliate KARE. It's been five months, and there's still no clear winner. Lost, rejected, and damaged ballots put election results in doubt. Right now, Democrat Al Franken leads by 225 votes.

Trimming the Defense Department's budget could put thousands of Americans out of a job. Drawing the line on trimming the fat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Defense Department fighting to cut its budget. Some helicopters and jets out; special ops and speedy ships in.

Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spending as we know it would radically change if Defense Secretary Robert Gates gets his way.

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: An opportunity to truly reform the way we do business.

LAWRENCE: Here's how. He'd terminate the $13 billion new presidential helicopters. He'd end production on the F-22, a jet that's never been used in Iraq or Afghanistan. And he'd cancel the $87 billion vehicle part of the Army's future combat system.

Gates say the budget has to cover conflicts that blur the lines between conventional and irregular warfare.

GATES: We may face at the same time an insurgent with an AK-47 and his supporting element with a highly sophisticated ballistic missile.

LAWRENCE: He won't get these changes without a fight. Joe Lieberman and five other senators wrote a letter to President Obama, saying the cuts "could undermine our emerging missile defense capabilities."

And republican Senator James Inhofe went to YouTube to protest the cuts.

SEN. JAMES INAHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: I would gutting the Department of Military. I - you know, I've never seen a budget like this.

LAWRENCE: Some analysts applauded Gates when he stopped buying the DDG-1000, a new Navy destroyer that costs $3 billion to $5 billion each.

WILLIAM HARTUNG, NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION: Basically, other than having a few guns that can reach shore, there's no way we need to spend that money just for a kind of a modest increment of support for our ground troops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right, let's drill down a little deeper on this. Live now to CNN Pentagon correspondent - there he is - our Chris Lawrence.

And Chris, we heard all about the cuts. Where is the money going?

LAWRENCE: Yes, good question, Tony, because the cuts only tell half the story. Secretary Gates, while he's cutting some areas, he wants to add money to buy more of those small, speedy ships that can do close-water combat. He wants to add nearly 3,000 special ops fighters. And while he's cutting the F-22, he wants to build a lot more of that F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, up to 2,000 more in the long run, because he wants weapons that can be used by multiple branches of the service in multiple areas of combat.

HARRIS: Are we on safe ground here in suggesting, Chris, that these cuts seem to indicate a fundamental shift in how the Pentagon views threats from around the world?

LAWRENCE: Well, it's interesting in that, you know, you look at the fact that just a day or two after North Korea test fires this missile that he cuts the spending for missile defense by about $1.4 billion. But he's moving that money to defend more against, you know, shorter-range missiles fired from smaller areas, because he believes, you know, that's where the combat is. That, you know, there's got to be a seat at the table for these unconventional wars, not just the big-ticket items as well.

HARRIS: All right. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence, thank you.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Chris just mentioned North Korea. Take a look at this.

A satellite image here seems to show a North Korean rocket in flight moving away from the Korean peninsula.

Take a look here. The flame from the propeller shows up as that white line you see.

The North claims the rocket carried a satellite into orbit, but the U.S. says it was a test of a long-range missile, one that could perhaps reach Alaska.

At least 207 people have died in Italy's devastating quake. Officials say they don't know how many people are still trapped, but they say the likelihood of finding them alive is fading fast.

CNN's Paula Newton is at the epicenter. That's about 75 miles from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, painstaking rescue efforts continue here. You can see all the heavy machinery.

I mean, this student dormitory has just been smashed like a pancake. It's been agonizing for the families to stay here over so many hours. Just moments ago another body being pulled out, that of a male student. The family was here, and of course, very distraught. They don't want to speak to the media, but the vigil that they've been holding here now is really excruciating. They want to believe that this is still a rescue effort, but it's been many hours since students have been pulled out of here alive. They are still searching for two others.

You know, hampering a lot of these rescue efforts are the very strong aftershocks. We've had more throughout the day today, some very strong ones throughout the day yesterday. Every time you get one of those aftershocks, debris continues to fly off some of these buildings.

And of course, families wondering how long can their loved ones hang on. That's why we've seen the death toll steadily climb here, although there could be more than a dozen people still missing.

Paula Newton, CNN, L'Aquila, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: There's this - another massive quake struck today, this one rattled the pacific islands near Russia. It measured 6.9 in magnitude. Officials are closely monitoring activity but say they do not expect a major tsunami from the quake.

Breach of security, a joy ride or death wish? What are we talking about here? Lots of questions for and about a Canadian pilot who flew a stolen plane across the border, alerting NORAD, ignoring fighter jets hot on his tail, and buzzing the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. He meandered across Illinois. Then after nearly seven hours, finally brought it down on a dirt road in southeast Missouri.

Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is all over this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: His name is Adam Leon. He is a 31-year-old citizen of Canada. He was born in Turkey. His name was Yabud Burke, but he emigrated to Canada, changed his name and citizenship.

Authorities say that he walked into this flight school, stole the plane and headed south into the United States. F-16s were dispatched, as was a customs and border protection citation jet. They tailed him, tried to make contact with him. Air traffic control also tried to communicate with him from the ground. He refused to heed their instructions to put the plane down. At one point, NORAD believes he did look at the planes, was aware they were there, but still refused to get into communication with them.

He flew the plane for several hours. The Department of Homeland Security was in contact with state authorities as he traveled, alerting them to his presence. In Madison, Wisconsin, they were so alarmed that they briefly evacuated the state capitol, but he flew on past Madison, past St. Louis, finally putting down on a dirt road near Highway 60 in the state of Missouri. According to one law enforcement source, he tried to park the plane under a bridge or a culvert and then took off on foot, went to a grocery and hardware store, where he ordered a Gatorade and a beef jerky. It's there where authorities found him and took him into custody.

He is still in custody without bond, held until immigration and customs enforcement interviews him later today to determine whether there are any immigration violations. They are almost certain to find some.

As to what might have inspired him, we still don't know, but authorities say they did do a check on his name. They found absolutely no nexus to terrorism, but there are a lot of questions still outstanding.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, the prediction is out and people living along the Atlantic coastline will see if it comes true. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is up next with the hurricane season forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We just received word that a judge has dismissed hearing the appeal, the request from the Justice Department, that charges against former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct. That's the setup.

The news is that the judge has granted the request of the Justice Department. It has dismissed the charges against Ted Stevens. So, all of those charges dismissed.

You recall that the Alaska republican was convicted last year of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms, but the Justice Department said it found evidence of misconduct by federal prosecutors in the trial. So, reading this from the "Associated Press," the judge has dismissed the charges against former Senator Ted Stevens because of prosecutorial misconduct.

We're expecting to hear from the former senator in just a few minutes after he leaves the courtroom, and of course, we'll bring you those comments live when they begin right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You know, he used a wind-up - kind of a wind mill wind- up with his right hand - see that right there? There you go. That's just to loosen it up a little bit. And then, how about that? A perfect strike. Former President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers opening day game, his first local appearance since moving to Dallas. He was part owner of the team in the early '90s. You know, we've been following the developments on the unannounced trip by President Obama into Baghdad, into Iraq after wrapping up his visit - here we go - after wrapping up his trip to Turkey, the last stop on his European tour.

There is the president. I can hear him speaking. Let me just sort of dip in here to see what we can hear.

OBAMA: (OFF-MIKE) (INAUDIBLE)

HARRIS: I apologize for that. The audio is not great. We will see if there is a cleaner feed available of the audio.

And the president, obviously, meeting with the troops to thank them for their hard work and to continue to show support to the troops and the mission in Iraq, because as you know, so much of the focus recently has been on the effort to redefine the mission in Afghanistan.

We will try to find a cleaner feed of this and bring you the president's comments to the troops in Iraq as soon as we can.

But still ahead in the NEWSROOM, the tax deadline is nearing, and you want to make sure you get the biggest refund possible, right? Our Susan Lisovicz has details about one particular deduction. She's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I want to show you again this latest video coming in of the president in Iraq. A visit to U.S. troops in Iraq by the commander in chief. President Obama is in Baghdad making an unannounced stop after his five-nation trip to Europe. Can literally say, he was in the neighborhood after wrapping up this trip to Turkey.

The idea here is to get a briefing on the fight in Iraq so the president planning to meet with the civilian and military personnel. There were initial plans for the president to meet with Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. We'll get an update on that part of the story from Fred Pleitgen in Baghdad in just couple of minutes.

The president making the point that we are still focused on Iraq despite all of the recent attention being focused on Afghanistan. The president essentially saying thank you to the troops.

This is day 78 for Obama, so how is it going? Pastor Rick warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," tackled that question on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": What's your thoughts about how he is doing?

PASTOR RICK WARREN, SADDLEBACK CHURCH: I think he's doing as best as he can. I think he is a -- he's a good leader. Every leader makes mistakes. So what? But he's doing the best he can and I think that the deck of cards he was given, no president has been given this in a long, long time in terms of the crises that he's having to deal with. It is so complex and it's not going to be solved overnight and American has a very short attention span.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: President Obama's message to Muslim, some say he is being too apologetic during his first overseas visit as president. I will discuss that with republican strategist Sherri Jacobus and democratic political consultant Peter Finn. That's the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, in the wake of a deadly shooting sprees across the country, you may think that new gun control laws will be rushed through Congress. Our report shoots down that expectation.

So tax deadline day is next week and if you're procrastinating, here is a reason to get moving: your tax refund check will likely be bigger this year. Hello!

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details I need.

That's all I need. I'm going to visit the accountant today. Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we can give you numbers attached to that, Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

LISOVICZ: The average tax refund so far this year $2,740, and that is up 10 percent...

HARRIS: Man!

LISOVICZ: ... or $250 from next year.

Why is that? Well, new tax breaks due to stimulus. Also, inflation adjustments could put some folks in a lower tax bracket and that would be beneficial right around this time of year.

And, by the way, you must file, unless you're filing for an extension, by next Wednesday. And then, of course, you do have to file for an extension.

Anyway, stocks? Well, they're a little bit taxing today, Mr. Harris. We did have those four weeks of gains, but gravity and concerns about the quarterly earnings season about to begin are taking their toll. Right now, the blue chip is down 163 point points or two percent. The Nasdaq is down by about a similar percentage - Tony.

HARRIS: Well, I got to tell you something, that new higher- average refund, now that is stimulus I can absolutely believe in, Susan. And I'm telling you something, and I think I'm right in suggesting it, that if you get a higher refund than you expect, that's not something you're necessarily are going to go and put down on bills. That's something you're going to spend.

But I've got to ask you about some of the new deductions. Run it down for us, if you would, please.

LISOVICZ: Well, there's a whole lot in real estate, Tony. And, you know, you can spend it exactly the way...

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: ... you wish, including on your home. Some homeowners will get a bigger standard deduction.

For instance, you can deduct the amount paid in real estate taxes up to $1,000 for joint filers.

First-time home buyer credits, $7500 if you bought between last April and December.

The recovery rebate credit - this is a first time benefit for some folks who weren't eligible for last year's $600 stimulus check but whose circumstances have since changed. And a lot of people have fallen into that category.

And another factor, fewer capital gains because, well, because the stock market slide.

Anyway, irs.gov has a lot of information for those of us confused and with some of us we also go to an accountant. Like I did last night, as a matter of fact, to work on my taxes.

HARRIS: And like I'm going to do as soon as I wrap up these two hours.

We have a couple of seconds here. Now we can see that the Dow is down 159 points. We're talking about nice gains over the last four weeks. And very quickly, what's leading to this selloff here? We had a slight selloff - not a huge one yesterday, but this is possibly for a second day of selloffs.

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, Tony, this is typically a nervous time on Wall Street. Because, you know, you're about to get a deluge of information. And no one, not even Warren Buffett, can say what you're going to hear.

We know that the first three months of the year were tough. But, basically, what investors want to hear is what companies - from the tax sector, the retail sector, manufacturing - what they're saying going forward. What are they hearing from their customers? What are they seeing in terms of sales and profits? Is it different in March than it was in January? That kind of thing will give us a fuller picture of this recession and whether we've really been through the worst of it. That's the hope.

HARRIS: OK. Susan, appreciate it. Thank you. See you next hour.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

HARRIS: And for those of you looking for a job, click on CNNMoney.com. Get details on - listen to this, Iowa, Nebraska, or Kansas. That's at CNNMoney.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, a quick update to tell you about on the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President Bush. It happened in Baghdad in December. Now, an Iraqi appeals court has cut the man's prison sentence from three years to one, that's because he had no criminal record.

Throwing your shoe is an insult in Arab culture. The act made the man something of a folk hero in the region.

It seems the insult is spreading beyond the Arab world. India's version of homeland security secretary - look at this! - got a sneaker tossed at him in New Delhi today. The journalist who threw the shoe apparently felt the official wasn't giving him a straight answer to his question. That man was taken into custody, but was released without charges. Boy!

It's great to see the troops. That comment from President Obama just after he landed in Baghdad on an unannounced visit today. The president is in Iraq right now arriving there from Turkey....

It's great to see the troops.