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Obama at the Summit of the Americas; Obama Speaks to Chavez
Aired April 18, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The news is unfolding live this Saturday. It's the 18th day of April.
Hello, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you, I'm T.J. Holmes.
18th day of April, 89th day of the Obama administration and the president is in Port of Spain on the island of Trinidad. He's attending the Summit of the Americas. Already met with some of the South American leaders and in attendance of the first full session of the summit. Later this hour, he'll take his place for the official photo with the other heads of state then at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight, there's the official dinner, followed by a cultural show.
Meanwhile, though, two encounters already making headlines, you know, he's shaking a lot of hands. But this handshake is the one that is all the buzz. Both between President Obama and Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. The two men briefly shook hands yesterday before the summit started. Mr. Chavez reportedly told the president, I want to be your friend. Then this morning, we get some video. Another handshake, this one in the middle of a meeting. The Venezuelan leader apparently wanting to make a scene, make sure the camera saw it. He went up to the president and gave him a book. The title of that book "Open Veins of Latin America." And, yes, it takes a look at the region's history and conflicts.
NGUYEN: President Obama has been talking a whole lot about new beginnings on this trip. CNN White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, is traveling with him. And last hour, I asked her if we're starting to see signs of some cooling tensions.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It certainly could. It was very interesting to watch Hugo Chavez basically take the spotlight once again this morning in front of all those cameras.
(On camera): He gave him the book, its 500 pages in Spanish. Already we've managed to ask President Obama what he thought about it and he said he thought perhaps it was like one of Chavez's own books, personal books, that he gave him, and so President Obama says he'll have to return the favor and go ahead and give him one of his books. We think he was kind of joking. But obviously he was also asked, does this pave the way, open up the possibility of these two meeting later down the road? He said there is certainly some progress that is being made here at the summit, and, of course, that is what this is all about. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): A handshake between the leaders of two countries that would have been unthinkable just 100 days ago. President Obama walks over to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and introduces himself. According to Venezuelan officials and not disputed by the White House, Chavez says, "With this same hand I greeted Bush eight years ago. I want to be your friend." This from the man who once called President Bush, the devil. Minutes later, the president of Nicaragua, spent nearly an hour in a tirade against previous U.S. presidents' treatment of Latin America. Mr. Obama made a joke of it to lighten the mood.
OBAMA: I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was 3 months old.
MALVEAUX: President Obama is pledging change with Latin America. And so far, both sides seem to be embracing it.
OBAMA: That's part of the change that has to take place.
MALVEAUX: At a summit in Trinidad with Latin American leaders, Obama also said he wants the cold war between the U.S. and Cuba to end.
OBAMA: The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba.
MALVEAUX: Mr. Obama's message was in direct response to the offer by Cuba's president, Raul Castro, to engage in unconditional talks with the U.S.
RAUL CASTRO, CUBAN LEADER (translator): We are ready when they want to discuss everything, human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners, everything. Everything, everything they want to discuss, but on equal terms.
MALVEAUX: But Mr. Obama also made it clear, he wants to see action on those issues from Cuba, not just talk.
OBAMA: Let me be clear, I'm not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. But I do believe that we can move U.S./Cuban relations in a new direction.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (on camera): Now, this weekend you have 34 leaders of countries, including the United States, gathered here at the Summit of the Americas. The only country in the western hemisphere that is not represented here is Cuba. And that's one of the things that we keep hearing from Latin American leaders, pressing the United States, pressing President Obama, to bring Cuba back into the fold, to be a part of this organization. Obviously, they want a more active role. That is something that they have been lobbying this administration and this president over the last 24 hours or so. Betty, T.J.?
NGUYEN: What do the handshake and all the changes in our policy towards Cuba mean for Latin Americans there? MALVEAUX: Well, certainly, I mean, this really is just the beginning. It's a symbolic gesture, obviously, they're looking for any sign of thawing of relations whether it's with Venezuela, whether it's with Cuba. A lot of the leaders here talking about the economic crisis here, the global recession. They are looking to the United States, looking to President Obama for some leadership here, to show that he is responding, that he is dealing with this. Because a lot of these countries, as you know, Betty, very much affected. Open trade very important, very much impacted by what has happened in the United States. It has spilled over to their own countries. They are looking for some sort of answer, some sort of solution when it comes to dealing with jobs, homes, that kind of thing, because it does impact the people in their own home countries. Betty?
NGUYEN: And, again, this hour the leaders are getting ready for the official summit photo. And as soon as we get video from that picture session, you will see it right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Meanwhile we have some new saber rattling out of North Korea this morning, including the prospect of using nuclear weapons. The threat followed the United Nations' statement condemning Pyongyang's controversial rocket launch two weeks ago. CNN's John Vause joins us now live by phone from Beijing now with the latest.
John we know that China would have to be a major player in this whole six-party talks. So, have we heard any response yet from the Chinese about this inflammatory statement today by North Korea?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): No, T.J., and we're unlikely to hear anything from China until next week. Essentially the Chinese have taken a very sort of low-key response to the statements coming out of Pyongyang. But as far as those statements are concerned, the bottom line is, really, no one really knows what's going inside North Korea. All of this talk is in keeping with what we've heard from Pyongyang in recent months, which has been particularly harsh, the tone, the threats, the bluster, all much more abrasive than usual.
And one reason for that could be the domestic situation for the leader, Kim Jong-Il, he's reportedly recovering from a stroke. He possibly needs to consolidate his grip on power. Maybe he's allowed military hard-liners to take greater control. There are some reports that regular citizens have had their food rations cut. With the excuse that the military needs more food to fight a war. This is how Kim exerts control through a military. But the bottom line is, looking into North Korea, we just don't know what's going on. T.J.?
HOLMES: Well, how if we don't know what's going on, John, how will governments know how to respond? We talked to some people earlier who -- who are saying this is kind of some of the usual saber rattling from North Korea. But in a way, this one does feel a little different. It seems a little more hard line.
VAUSE: Yeah, look, it's a little nastier. It's a little more bellicose than what we've heard before, but when you hear that expression, an act of war, an act of war against whom? Will they attack South Korea? Do they plan to bomb Tokyo? What are they in a position to do from a military point of view? And the answer is, not much, without guaranteeing mutually destructive -- destruction from the United States or from the allies. So, really, the answer to all of this is that anything that North Korea says cannot be taken at face value.
In the past, it's all been about bargaining ploys. And to be honest, countries like China and South Korea are growing quite tired of these sorts of claims. But then again, on the other hand, you have an unstable, unpredictable regime, possibly with a nuclear weapon. So, you can't totally dismiss it out of hand. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, John Vause for us in Beijing. John, we appreciate your time today.
Meanwhile, we'll turn to Iran now, where an American journalist has been sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage. That information from Roxana Saberi's father who was in Tehran. He told National Public Radio an appeal will be made. Others are calling for her immediate release on bail. She has freelanced for NPR and other news organizations and has been working on a book about Iran's culture.
Meanwhile, Iran celebrating army day, it's a tribute to the nation's military, which according to the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is one of the quote, "Strongest in the region." His comments come as tensions escalate between the Islamic state and Israel, a vocal critic of Tehran's nuclear aspirations.
NGUYEN: Well, a week ago Captain Richard Phillips was in a lifeboat with three pirates and at least one AK-47 pointed at him. Today he woke up in his own house, in his own bed. Thousands of miles away from the pirate ordeal that has made him famous. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in Phillips' hometown of Underhill, Vermont. Susan, when is the community actually going to come together to celebrate? I know they're trying to give him a little time to spend with his family. But when is that celebration going to begin?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the decision has been made not to decide right now and wait to see what the family's wishes are. But to get a -- kind of a feel for what people are thinking right now, now that Captain Richard Phillips is back home, we are joined by a longtime resident here, Charlie Van Winkle. Now, Charlie, this is man that you have seen around town occasionally, not a close friend. But when -- now that he's back home, how would you gauge the town's reaction?
CHARLIE VAN WINKLE: We're all happy that he's home safe. And back with his family, and we're all wishing him well and the best at moving forward. We hope he'll come out and maybe have a party with us at some point in time. Who knows?
CANDIOTTI: Do you have a feel that's what everyone wants to know -- a feel for when the town might have a chance to get together with him and visit a bit? VAN WINKLE: I think we're going to give him time to reconnect with his family. Once you guys clear out of here, the consensus is that something will happen.
CANDIOTTI: Once we leave, huh?
VAN WINKLE: Once the news crews leave, yes.
CANDIOTTI: What a cue. Finally, I wanted to ask you as well, when you initially heard that he had been taken hostage, this is a man that you had known because you sat on one of the town councils and had some occasion to meet with him and chat with him. What was your first thought when you heard about that?
VAN WINKLE: My first thought was I know that guy, I think. And the second thought was, "ooh, this could be bad." So, we're all happy that he's safe.
CANDIOTTI: He sounds like a humble guy when you listen to some of the things that he said, thanking the military, thanking the town, thanking his crew for support, and taking the spotlight off himself. What do you think of that?
VAN WINKLE: I think it's very admirable, and I -- you know, he's an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances, and I think he's handling it well.
CANDIOTTI: Are you happy that the spotlight might finally be off your town in the near future?
VAN WINKLE: It gives folks something to talk about and it will all blow down and we'll all get back to normal again.
CANDIOTTI: Charlie Van Winkle, thank you very much for joining us. And, of course, another question a lot of people have is will he go back to sea? I think many people would agree, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he did. In fact, CNN spoke with one of his -- I think his chief engineer the other night, appeared on "Larry King Live," and when asked if he would go back to sea, he said I'm sure I probably will, I'm paraphrasing here. Of course, the Staten Island ferry sounds like it may be a pretty good job right now. Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: Yes, it does. All right, Susan Candiotti, thank you so much for that.
You know we've been getting a whole lot of i-Reports about the attack on the "Maersk Alabama." Many people praising the actions of the captain and offering support for the crew and their families. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IREPORT FROM JIMMY DEOL: Captain Phillips, your courage is why Americans like to say the land of the free and home of the brave. Thank you for your bravery, for risking your own life for your crew. And the courage to stick it out, despite difficult odds. The free world salutes you, sir. Welcome home.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Welcome home, indeed. If you'd like to share your thoughts, send us an i-Report, the address, ireport.com.
HOLMES: We don't quite yet know what's going to happen to the pirate who surrendered to U.S. officials. He actually reportedly is going to be standing trial in New York. He's going to be brought back here to the U.S. He is still in custody on a U.S. navy ship that's headed to Djibouti right now.
NGUYEN: And when he does get there, he will board a helicopter to a U.S. base in France and that's where he's going to be transferred into the custody of the U.S. Justice Department. Of course, we'll keep following that for you.
HOLMES: Yeah, a lot of people still want to know details about this rescue. How did those navy seals --
NGUYEN: How did it go down?
HOLMES: Yes, how did they pull this thing off?
Well CNN's Don Lemon he'll be in the NEWSROOM, he'll take you inside the mission to save Captain Phillips, that will be at 7:00 and 10:00 tonight, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the elite U.S. navy seal training program including the snipers, again 7 and 10 eastern time this evening.
NGUYEN: Old man winter giving Colorado one last blast. At least they hope it's the last one.
HOLMES: Yes, it's supposed to be spring, but three feet of snow, we're not used to that coming in spring. Our Reynolds Wolf is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: President Obama is bringing new help into his administration and he's bringing in a chief performance officer, whose job it will be to find ways to cut government waste. The president talked about that goal in his weekly address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs, shown to be wasteful or ineffective. In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it's time their government did the same. And that's why I've assembled a team of management, technology and budget experts to guide us in this work. Leaders who will help us revamp government operations from top to bottom, and ensure that the federal government is truly working for the American people.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And when it comes to trimming the federal budget, republicans say they couldn't agree more. They just don't believe that the president is really serious about it. California Congressman Kevin McCarthy delivered the weekly republican address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R) CALIFORNIA: The Washington democratic establishment has pushed all year the policies that spend too much, tax too much, and borrow too much from our children and grandchildren. When I think of the future, I think of my 15-year-old son, Conner, and my 12-year-old daughter, Megan. I worry about their future. Because your kids are as important to you as mine are to me. And I am unwilling to leave our children with so much debt.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: McCarthy also announced a new website from house republicans designed to track government waste. It's republicanwhip.house.gov and check out the Washington Watch Report as well.
HOLMES: All right, we're told its springtime, you know, we're in mid- April here. Check out Denver. Let's get this springtime weather they are experiencing there. Oh, is this the right video? Actually, yes, it is, folks. That is springtime in Denver. That's what it looks like. A snowstorm stranded a whole bunch of folks out there on the roads. They had to use some shelters. An 80-mile stretch of interstate 70 between Vail and Golden, Colorado, had to be shut down because of this heavy snow. A lot of accidents as you could imagine were reported. The storm has dumped up to three feet of snow. And the area could see more of it today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Layoffs, plant closings all this in an effort to survive, but can General Motors really pull itself out of its financial free-fall?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the struggling auto giant, GM, expected to announce more layoffs and plant closings as it tries to make that June 1st deadline to prove that it can, in fact, survive.
NGUYEN: Despite the cost-cutting measure, General Motors' CEO says bankruptcy is looking more likely. Here's our Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A slow as molasses Chevy showroom in Lanham, Maryland. It's almost a given that the $82,000 corvettes aren't moving despite the attractive features.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven-speed manual transmission.
TODD: But the $18,000 cobalt, traditionally one of the most popular models, aren't selling either. Only two or three a month these days at dark car Chevrolet. Tammy who owns this dealership and several others, says reports that GM is working out a bankruptcy plan with the government has prospective customers nervous.
TAMMY DARVISH, OWNER, DARCARS CHEVROLET: It's like buying a house knowing that the builder, the financier and everyone else is going to be gone tomorrow.
TODD: The "New York Times" reports the Obama administration is directing GM to prepare for a bankruptcy filing by June 1st. Possibly a so-called surgical bankruptcy. That would split the company between its so-called good brands like Chevy and Cadillac and its unhealthy divisions like Saturn and Hummer. The good GM would enter and exit bankruptcy in a matter of weeks, sold quickly to a new company backed by the government. The bad GM would be left behind in bankruptcy court possibly for eventual liquidation. Contacted by CNN, a treasury official wouldn't comment on the "Times" report, saying speculation on the end result is premature.
(On camera): But in recent days a GM spokesman said if the company is forced into bankruptcy, it will look at the idea of selling healthy assets to a new company. But he said GM is still trying to reach deals with creditors and unions that will avoid bankruptcy altogether.
(Voice-over): Tammy Darvish is concerned that a bankruptcy deal might allow GM to go around franchise agreements that dealers have with the states, and close dealership en masse.
DARVISH: These are people who are on our payrolls in our own communities. These aren't people that work for the manufacturers. There's absolutely no tie between the businesses that are running a car dealership and the business that's run in the manufacturer.
TODD: Darvish says that's because the individual dealers purchase the cars themselves, make some of the financing arrangements and operate as independent businesses. She says dealerships are waiting to see what comes of this possible bankruptcy deal, but they might have to fight if GM and the government try to go around the dealers' franchise agreements with the state and eliminate some dealerships. Brian Todd, CNN, Lanham, Maryland.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And CNN is doing its part to help you land a job. Today, at 4:00 p.m. eastern, we're going to have an interview with a coach, who is going to advise you on how to handle that face-to-face interview, also representatives from two companies that are hiring right now. They're going to join us to talk about what they're companies are looking for in an employee and hear the interesting way that one woman is going about finding a job.
Listen to this and how it's going to help her out and how it could actually get you paid, so it is our continuing series "Jobless, Not Hopeless." And we want you to be part of it. Send us your questions or for our interview coach and employees. E-mail us at weekend's@cnn.com. Post a message on the discussion board at Fredricka Whitfield.cnn.com or send us an i-Report at ireport.com and be sure to watch us today at 4:00 p.m. eastern.
HOLMES: All right, Cuba could steal the show without even being at the Summit of the Americas. President Obama, for one, talking about new beginnings.
NGUYEN: And are relations thawing between the U.S. and another Latin American country? Note the handshakes with Venezuela's president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, bottom of the hour here and first the handshake and now we got gifts? President Barack Obama getting some mixed messages from Venezuela's controversial leader, Hugo Chavez. Today he's at the summit of the Americas in Trinidad. President Chavez handed President Obama a book. Arguing against U.S. and European interference in Latin America. Lots of smiles there. We'll see if anything comes of this seemingly thawing relationship.
Next, North Korea, firing back at the U.N. today. Not literally. The announcement on North Korean television warns any pressure or sanctions against the communist nation will be considered a, quote, declaration of war. This comes after the security council adopted a declaration condemning the country for its rocket launch earlier this month.
And a huge homecoming for a Vermont hero. There he is. Captain Phillips is his name, Richard Phillips, he arrived yesterday in Vermont. He was held captive for five days after offering himself up as a hostage when Somali pirates attempted to seize a U.S.-flagged cargo ship.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Even though Cuban officials are not attending, the opening up of Cuba, dominated President Obama's speech at the Summit of the Americas. The president promised a new beginning in U.S. relations with Cuba. And it's been a huge week for the communist country. On Monday, Mr. Obama lifted all restrictions on family members visiting relatives in Cuba. The new rules also allow Americans to send money to relatives in the island nation. And until now, U.S. policy had remained mostly unchanged since 1962 when the U.S. government imposed a trade embargo on Havana.
Joining us to talk more about what the Cuban people think about these changes, CNN's Havana bureau chief, Morgan Neill on the phone. Ok, so you know travel has been lifted and people can send money to their relatives in Cuba. This obviously has to be welcome news.
MORGAN NEILL, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (via telephone): Yes, it is, absolutely overall. There have been a lot of developments this week honestly and a lot of people here are still taking it in all in, trying to figure what they think about it all.
NGUYEN: Are they kind of surprised by it, Morgan?
NEILL: Absolutely. Absolutely. They think that it's come in quick succession here and unusually the Cuban media has reflected a lot of this more quickly than we've seen in the past. It's not at all common for new U.S. policies to be reflected on that evening's newscast, but that's just what we saw with this announcement from President Obama. And then we saw Cuban president, Raul Castro, saying he's open to the talks with the U.S. on any subject, including -- and he said this -- human rights, press freedom, and political prisoners, as long as those talks are on equal terms. So that's something we -- definitely a new point to hear from the Cuban president. And those remarks went out on state media as well. So, we went out to get an idea of how people are reacting to it all here in Havana.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): While the problem of the relations between the U.S. and Cuba doesn't depend on Cuba, it depends on the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): The way it's developing with Obama seems maybe we won't find a definitive solution, but at least we'll see an improvement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): I think that's a sign he's open to dialogue. The restrictions of Bush, it's been shown they didn't do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translator): It seems to me that the disposition to talk is the most important thing.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NEILL: So, as you can hear, there's a real mix of reactions there and a bit of a generational difference as well. Some older Cubans that we talked to said, they've gotten their hopes up before about improved relations, only to have them dashed. So, they're not jumping into this just yet. While the younger people we talked to tended to be more optimistic in general. But overall there is kind of a common feeling here now that this is something new. That there's a real possibility now for change.
NGUYEN: Morgan, as you mentioned, there is a lot of talk, too, the president focusing on discussing many issues, including human rights, and also democratic reform. And he says, and I'm quoting here, "I'm interested in talking. I'm not interested in just talking for the sake of talking." So, do you believe there's going to be some substance on the table?
NEILL: Well, it's going to be very difficult, I think, for both sides, because they've both got very entrenched positions. I don't think this is something we should expect to move quickly. On the Cuban side here, you've got years and years of talking about, for example, this mention of political prisoners. I told you that's unusual, because in the past whenever another country's brought that up, Fidel Castro always said, there are no political prisoners in Cuba. These are mercenaries who were paid by the empire, so you've got to overcome decades of that kind of language in order to be able to sit down and try to work out what can be done. NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Havana bureau chief, Morgan Neill, joining us by phone, giving us some insight there. Thank you, Morgan. We do appreciate it.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, we were talking a lot about the president and relationship with Cuba also with Venezuela. But he's facing a whole lot of major issues at the summit, and all of them directly affect our economy, from the price of gasoline to the cost of groceries.
NGUYEN: Yes, our Josh Levs joins us to look at some of those top concerns on the president's agenda. So, what are you finding, Josh?
JOSH LEVS: Yeah you know it's really interesting that we were just hearing Morgan talking about some of the specifics used there involving Cuba. What you look at, when you see what's at the top of the president's agenda, as T.J. was just saying, really does directly affect our economy. Let's start zooming in. I want to show you some key issues involving some key countries and what it's all about. We're going to start off with Mexico. Now one of the top issues we've been hearing about lately, drug violence. Also one of the biggest concerns a lot of Americans have, immigration. Every time we ask people, viewers, what's their biggest concern, immigration is one of the top issues.
We're going to go back over to Cuba for just a second. The embargo, this could seriously affect the price of goods at the grocery store. Some Latin American leaders are going to encourage President Obama to lift that embargo altogether. I want to take you over to South America now, the three countries I want to show you there with some major issues. Start off with Venezuela, as we know, a back-and-forth with Venezuela over oil, can affect world oil prices even on a regular basis. We're going to see if anything develops there.
Now we're going to shoot over to Colombia, a little bit west here, I want you to see Colombia, because one of the biggest issues there narco terrorism. What you look at there is narco terrorists having waged a substantial amount of control in that country. To some extent running rampant, some of that works its way into the United States. That is a problem, some of those drugs.
Finally, I want to bring you over to Brazil, because Brazil is a very large country and trade issues with Brazil can have a serious impact on the U.S. economy. But it's not just Brazil. As we zoom back out, I'll show you this. You have two major agreements we're talking about, there's the CAFTA, which is the Central American Free Trade Agreement, there's also NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Obama slammed NAFTA to some extent during the campaign.
So what we're seeing with his relations with all these countries, is that trade issues, plus that host of other things, guys, really can affect your wallet, the price of things we buy right here along with top concerns of America, things like drugs and immigration. All things to look out for in the coming days of the summit.
NGUYEN: All right, Josh, we do appreciate it. LEVS: You bet.
NGUYEN: So, we are rolling out a new series called "my city, my secret." It's an opportunity for you to share some of your town's best-kept secret stops. We'll tell you how right after you see our first stop which is, of course, here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEELA STARK, ATLANTA NATIVE (on camera): Hi, my name is Keela. My city is Atlanta. I'm going to show you some of my best-kept secrets. We are at the Atlanta cupcake factory, has the best cupcakes in town. My favorite is the red velvet. It's small but it's cute and I love the decor. It's a great atmosphere. Not very well known yet. But it's going to get on the map quickly. We are now at Agatha's, the Taste of Mystery. It's the most entertaining spot here in Atlanta. Agatha's is a dinner mystery theater. You come in, you eat. And there's a murder mystery going on at the same time. Very interactive. During the show you'll have a few people that will have speaking roles. There's people that will join in, in choruses. It's a lot of fun. This is Anis. It's a French restaurant. This Tuscan Buckhead which is a part of Atlanta, but it's on a residential-type street where there's old, converted houses that are now businesses. It has a euro feel to it. The bar area is very dark and it's dim. It's very quaint. You'll see a lot of locals and regulars that hang out there. I've shown you my city. Now show me yours.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So there now it is your turn to share your town's best-kept secret. Grab your camera and send us your video or photos to ireport.com/mycitymysecret. Who knows, maybe your story could end up right here on CNN.
HOLMES: And Anis, not necessarily a secret to us, a nice spot here in Atlanta.
NGUYEN: Good place, yeah, that's a good suggestion.
HOLMES: All right, Betty and I are on Twitter just about like everybody else out there, however we are a little disturbed about some new developments in the Twitter front.
NGUYEN: Yes, there is a new Twitter king, a newly crowned king. So how did he beat out CNN, the power of the most trusted name in news for that title? Well, we'll show you.
HOLMES: One guy beat us out. We should be embarrassed.
And also, you know about Wii, Nintendo's Wii, it sounds like a kid's game, it's a video game. Grown folks are playing this thing and with some good results. It's helping some of the disabled in their physical therapy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A lot of times we talk about video games and how sometimes kids won't get off the couch and stay inside.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Well, now, those video games are really being put to good use.
HOLMES: Some good use, a lot of people thought the Nintendo Wii. It was different, has kids up and active from the boxing to the surfing.
NGUYEN: To the tennis.
HOLMES: All that, people are using them to work out. And also they are helping some army veterans with their physical therapy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): They arrive one after another. America's retired warriors, veterans from World War II, Korea, the Vietnam War, they all want to see one of their own take on the boss in a showdown of sorts. Atlanta's Veterans affairs administrator James Clark oversees the medical care and rehabilitation of more than 70,000 veterans, but today he's taking on the challenge of this 76-year-old resident in a bowling match. But why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brings life to those who have lost their limbs. It has brought equality to their life that they could never have done before this technology.
HOLMES: The technology is Wii. Yes, that one, Nintendo Wii. And Wii games are now being used by therapists everywhere.
CHAUNCEY ROZIER, V.A. RECREATIONAL THERAPIST: Around the world recreation therapists have all gotten on board with knowing that a Wii game is one of the greatest therapeutic activities right now that's going on in community living centers.
HOLMES: The boss warms up for his big game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a long game ladies and gentlemen.
HOLMES: Yeah, you see the challenger, Nathaniel Phillips, he's bowled 7 perfect games. That's 300 points, all strikes, in every frame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey champ, give me five? All right. Nice pick-up there, champ.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Now we're running neck and neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh, oh, you got robbed!
HOLMES: Mr. Phillips' game is a little off. The big crowd, TV camera, the photographers, all has him a bit nervous. And another perfect throw. And another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's that towel, I think I need that towel? Oh, bow to the champion.
HOLMES: After a slow start, Phillips threw seven strikes in a row to win, 221 to 138.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, how do you throw a perfect game with the hand that shakes?
MIZANUEL PHILLIPS, ARMY VETERAN: I control it in my upper body. Relax the body, relax the mind.
JAMES CLARK, DIR., ATLANTA V.A. MEDICAL CENTER: As you have just seen, you can take a veteran who has lost both of his limbs, who is confined to a wheelchair, get up to the line and bowl a beautiful game.
HOLMES: With his victory comes a steak dinner for all 90 residents of the Eagle's Nest Community Center, and now there's a new boss in town.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: I love that story. He was tearing it up.
HOLMES: He's focused.
NGUYEN: Seven strikes.
HOLMES: He was focused. And again a perfect game. And I have a Wii at home, we've played this thing before, we all have. It's not easy to do.
NGUYEN: No, I've played tennis on it and that's a little difficult.
HOLMES: It's not easy to get all those strikes. But you saw his hands shaking there. He says he doesn't have Parkinson's or anything, it's not really explained, don't know why it's like that. He lost both of his legs actually to diabetes and a bone infection. But he's a vet, spent 15 years in the army. Grew up in Philly. They're enjoying the Wii, but it's therapeutic. And a lot of therapists are using it.
NGUYEN: What a fun way to have physical therapy, you know.
HOLMES: Yes, of course.
NGUYEN: Like it.
HOLMES: Let's turn to something you probably don't like a whole lot, but you have probably been noticing. Credit card rates, bank fees going up a bit.
NGUYEN: Yeah, if you are noticing that, you're not alone. We're going to look at why this is happening and if help is on the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, a lot of people rethinking using their plastic these days even though many interest rates are down and mortgage rates are at record lows. Many banks, they are raising fees and credit card rates. Here's CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brian and Shawna Boone are reminded of the bailout each time they pay their credit card bill. Despite paying on time, they see their interest rate double and so did their monthly bill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's anger, fear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel as those these financial companies that got us into this situation, with all these companies getting this bailout money and everything else, why aren't they the ones -- why don't they help? Instead, they're putting more of a burden on us by raising the interest rates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
SNOW: The congressional oversight panel that overseas the federal bailout is looking into that question. A spokesman says the panel may issue a report examining whether there should be restrictions on rates and fees for banks that receive taxpayer money that was intended to make it easier for people to borrow money. The American Bankers Association responded in a statement saying, "The competitive market dictates fees and interest rates for banks, adding the downward turn in the economy has increased the risk associated with all types of lending and the secondary market is still frozen, making funding of credit cards and other loans more expensive." Some analysts say they're observing across the board hikes.
GREG MCBRIDE, BANKRATE.COM: We are seeing more and more card issuers raising interest rates, raising fees, changing terms and that this is also something that's being applied to consumers that typically would have a little bit more immunity to consumers that have very good credit and would otherwise qualify for the best rates.
SNOW (on camera): Many banking fees have also gone up. An independent economic research firm Mode Services estimates that fees on overdrafts and insufficient funds will bring in about $40 billion for banks and credit unions this year. That's up about $4 billion from a year ago. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: The NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with the lovely Fredricka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, and how are you lovely couple of people doing?
HOLMES: We are well as well. A busy morning so I'm sure --
NGUYEN: I know, lots of news popping.
WHITFIELD: That's right, we have a lot we're going to take the baton that you all are going to hand us and run with it and we also have a few other segments we want to delve into. Lots of interesting legal battles out there. How about divorce court? It's always interesting, but especially when you have Hulk Hogan most recently being quoted as saying I totally understand O.J., I get it. Well now of course he says his words are taken out of context. Our legal eagles, Richard Herman and Avery Friedman who's in the house, here in Atlanta, usually he's from Cleveland, today he's here in Atlanta, they will be joining us to talk about how this has evolved.
And then, in our continuing series, jobless, not hopeless, we want people to get work. So today in our 4:00 p.m. eastern hour we're going to be joined by an interview coach and two employers looking for some candidates and we're going to have some jobless candidates here also in the studio. But beginning that series in the noon eastern hour, have you guys heard of job training boot camp?
NGUYEN: No I haven't.
HOLMES: Not a boot camp, no.
WHITFIELD: You get laid off, say, within the past year you can go to this job boot camp in a city -- a major city near you and they, the organizers will pay for free training for you.
NGUYEN: Really?
WHITFIELD: Yeah. To help you land a job and they're very proud of their job placement rates. So we're going to be joined by the CEO who's going to talk about how you sign up, if you've lost your job over the last year.
HOLMES: I bet a lot of people fight to get into those.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, that's right.
NGUYEN: Yeah, the waiting list on that is too long.
WHITFIELD: So that begins our jobless not hopeless series in the noon eastern hour.
NGUYEN: It's a good outlet especially to provide them with some of those services free of charge.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, we want people to get some work.
NGUYEN: Yeah, ok.
HOLMES: We will see you here in a matter of minutes.
WHITFIELD: All right, good to see you.
HOLMES: Ashton Kutcher, we still think he's a lovely person after what he did to us?
NGUYEN: Oh yeah, of course.
HOLMES: He embarrassed us is what he did.
NGUYEN: It was all for a good cause so it's fine.
HOLMES: Ok, but still, we like to win around here.
NGUYEN: Yes we do, that's true.
HOLMES: CNN was challenged to a duel by the guy who has been punking people for years now. He punked us in a way. We'll tell you what he told Larry King about the Twitter throw down.
NGUYEN: Yeah, he's the new Twitter king.
And the image that could signal a drastic change in the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, the handshake, the book, what it all means.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, the big challenge this week, who could attract a million followers on Twitter first? This was a competition between us. We have about seven people following us right now collectively. But this is the challenge Ashton Kutcher put out there with CNN, so who won?
NGUYEN: Well, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: Today we have done something extraordinarily special. We have shown the world that the new wave is here, it is present and it is ready to explode. You guys are all of it because I can't follow me.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Nice hat, Ashton, and a little dramatic there with his little speech.
NGUYEN: He had a watching party for the moment when he got a million followers.
HOLMES: And when was that?
NGUYEN: At 2:13 a.m. eastern time Friday morning and he let us know.
HOLMES: Yeah.
He won the challenge, so now he's going to donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity for world malaria day, that's next Saturday. CNN donating mosquito nets as well. So a lot of good came out of it, it's just all in good fun.
NGUYEN: Exactly. And just so you know CNN came into that million follower mark just about 30 minutes after Ashton. So it is very close. The question is, how much time does Ashton Kutcher devote to Twittering? He appeared on CNN's Larry King last night to talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING: Are you twittering all the time, Ashton?
KUTCHER: I don't twitter all the time. I twitter probably more than I should. It is a little addicting after a while.
KING: That's what I'm going to get at, is it addicting?
KUTCHER: Yeah.
KING: You actually get up in the middle of the night, go to bed, twitter someone? Come on. Do you do that?
KUTCHER: I don't sleep that much so I try not to interrupt it with a twitter like I'm dreaming about right now. I try not to do that, but, you know, I really -- what I like to do is I like to infuse entertainment, a news story, some entertaining anecdote. My friend, Yahuda Berg is on there and that's my spiritual teacher so sometimes he'll send me a tweet and then I can post it to other people and maybe make their day a little bit better.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right, we'll get back to the tweets and the twittering and all of that in just a second. But if you'd like to follow efforts to prevent malaria and learn how you can send a mosquito net to help protect those at risk, visit our impact your world page at cnn.com/impact. All right, back to the twittering.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: We do a little -- I think you do more twittering than I do.
HOLMES: Maybe, but I don't do that much.
NGUYEN: In the middle of the night when you're dreaming like Ashton Kutcher.
HOLMES: Not quite.
NGUYEN: Who does that?
HOLMES: Take a look here though, we can show you at least our twitter pages. This is Betty's. We've been getting a lot of responses to a lot of questions we've asked today.
NGUYEN: We put a lot of questions up here so that we can share your responses on the air. This one saying, "I just saw the piece you did on this, talking about United Airlines possibly charging overweight people for that extra seat, it says it makes sense, but at the same time it's unfair to those overweight. No one wins." So this from my site and you know a lot of information can be really gathered from this. What I love about Twitter is it's short and to the point.
HOLMES: Sweet to the point.
We -- I mean, in the day to day life we don't use them as much, probably should use them more because a lot of people are interested and curious and want to follow, but we like them and to use them that we can interact with the audience.
NGUYEN: Do we have your page, your twitter page available?
HOLMES: A lot of folks are talking about the gift, the book with Hugo Chavez that he gave the president, President Obama, talking about it being a gift and a lot of people think he's just putting on for the cameras there. But we like to use it and get our viewers involved in the show, we appreciate it, Facebook, Twitter, both of us, also weekends@cnn.com.
NGUYEN: It's your way to talk to us and we do read them for sure. So thanks for all your comments and keep them coming. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield.
WHITFIELD: You all are so busy. You know what kills me on that with Ashton Kutcher. I don't need much sleep or I don't get much sleep? Man!
NGUYEN: I'm one of those that needs at least six, seven hours.
WHITFIELD: Give me eight hours, please! You all have a great day. Thanks so much.
HOLMES: All right.
