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Factors Point to Improving Economy; President Obama at CIA Headquarters; Walkout at U.N. Anti-Racism Meeting; President Obama's Summit Outreach; Ten Years Later, Columbine Remembered; Restore Oysters, Restore the Bay; Some Banks Going From Bust to Boom

Aired April 20, 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: Good morning, everyone. It is Monday, April 20th, the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School.

And here are the stories we're following for you this morning in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Bank of America turns a big profit. We've got the surprising numbers and other factors that point to an improving economy.

Iran's president gets stood up. Wow. Diplomats walk out on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he labels Israel "racist."

An archaeologist may have uncovered a pair of ancient lovers. Are these the bodies of Antony and Cleopatra?

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

His 91st day in office, President Obama this hour holds his first full White House cabinet meeting focusing on your money. The president plans to challenge his cabinet to slash $100 million from their budgets over the next 90 days.

New evidence the banking sector may be improving. Bank of America reporting a $4.2 billion profit for the first quarter of this year. That is more than triple what the company made a year ago and well above what analysts expected. Home refinancing and trading credited for the big gains.

A new survey of 100-plus businesses suggest the recession is nearing bottom, but not quite at a turning point. Twenty-one percent of businesses say they will increase capital spending over the next year. That compares to 16 percent in January's survey. Twenty-seven percent report demand for their products increased. That is up seven points from January.

On the downside? Ninety-three percent of business leaders predict gross domestic product will drop this year, and a third of the companies say they still plan layoffs in the coming year.

So is the glass half empty, half full? Let's look behind the numbers.

Gerri Willis is our CNN personal finance editor.

And Gerri, good to see you. Good Monday morning to you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi, Tony. Good Monday morning to you.

HARRIS: Thank you, Gerri.

When you look beyond the numbers in this NABE report, what do you see there, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, it could be the beginning of the end of the bad quarters. But let's take a -- let's drill down here a little bit and show you the important numbers out here.

The report itself from the National Association of Business Economics says that economic conditions are deteriorating at a slower rate. And believe me, that is good news. This is based on a survey of 109 businesses out here, and here's what they found.

Rising demand for products increased to 27 percent in the first quarter from an all-time low of 20 percent in January. That is good news.

The number of firms that increased capital spending last quarter rose to 15 percent from 12 percent. Why is that important? Well, you can't have a recovery unless businesses are spending, right? They have to invest in their equipment. They have to invest in their systems. And that's one of the first things that you're going to see happening.

Let's now also take a look at what's going on with employment, another important of set of numbers.

Thirty-three percent will cut jobs over the next six months, 39 percent will reduce payrolls in the first quarter. But take a look at these little glimmers. Sixteen percent plan to hire more workers, 14 percent added workers in the first quarter. They've already hired somebody. Six percent say they expect to raise capital spending by more than 10 percent over the next 12 months.

Now, those are all glimmers, all good news to see spending going on, especially for workers. You know, I have to tell you, the capital spending plans I mentioned in January, exactly zero percent said that they wanted to invest in their business. So as you can see, we're starting to see some improvements here. You know, you have to lay that foundation before you can actually see an uptick, right, to make that turn?

HARRIS: Absolutely. And at some point this recession -- we're 17, almost 18 months into this now, and at some point it was going to end. And maybe these are a few of the glimmers to point to that suggest that maybe we're starting to bottom out on this thing.

Is that the way to look at it? WILLIS: You've got to see businesses spending. Ultimately, consumers are going to have to spend as well, because they account for two-thirds of the economy. But we're starting to see those employers say, hey, you know, maybe I need to upgrade my systems, maybe I need to reinvest in my business so that I can catch this next turnaround.

HARRIS: Yes. Good stuff.

WILLIS: But we will continue to watch this.

HARRIS: Thank you, Gerri. Appreciate it.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: On Wall Street, investors today see the glass as half empty. After six straight weekly gains, stocks are selling off.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: An e-mail sent to employees at General Motors says about 1,600 salaried workers will be let go in the next few days. GM announced at the end of last year they were planning to cut about 3,400 jobs in an effort to trim costs and stay in business. This cut is part of that announcement.

It may be one of the most important archaeological finds of the century.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What we have inside of this tomb does appear to be the mummies of a man and a woman. Now, is it Mark Antony and Cleopatra? It is very difficult to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Two thousand years after their death, archaeologists get ready to dig. Our Ben Wedeman is shovel ready later this hour.

He spoke. They protested and walked out. Hear what Iran's president had to say about Israel at the United Nations anti-racism summit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The president goes to CIA headquarters this afternoon, just days after he released Bush-era memos on terror interrogation techniques.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House for us. And Elaine, is this a meeting designed to boost morale? We know there has been some pretty strong criticism of the president's decision to release those memos.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, Tony, morale, but also likely pushing back again some of that criticism.

President Obama, we should tell you, first of all -- I want to apologize. We've got the (INAUDIBLE) gathering behind me.

HARRIS: OK.

QUIJANO: It's a busy day here at the White House. And they've also got the P.A. system going at this point, too. Let me wait for her for a moment. OK.

So President Obama, basically, is going to be meeting privately with top CIA officials. It's his first visit to Langley, Virginia, CIA headquarters, since he took office.

He'll also, though, be talking publicly, making some public remarks before CIA employees. And as you noted, his visit really, Tony, is coming at a very sensitive time. It's coming in the midst of this uproar, really, over his decision last week to go ahead and release some of those secret interrogation memos.

Now, critics, including the former CIA chief, Michael Hayden, have said, look, this really undermines what the CIA is trying to do here, because now al Qaeda has this valuable information about what lines now the United States is not going to cross. The White House has already pushed back on that, though.

Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff, said, look, a lot of this information was already out in the public domain. And he also said that, look, the United States taking a step back and repudiating some of these methods is a good thing, that it will make America safer, the White House argues, because it will boost America's standing in the world -- T.J.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Tony.

HARRIS: No worries. You've got a lot going on around you.

All right, Elaine.

Elaine Quijano at the White House for us.

Elaine, thank you.

QUIJANO: Sure.

HARRIS: Some hot, inflammatory rhetoric this morning at that United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Dozens of international envoys attending the conference walked out on a speech by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The president had accused Israel of having -- quoting here now -- "a racist government." Our Atika Shubert is following the conference.

Atika, some nations, including the United States, are not at this gathering. I think perhaps we have a better understanding as to why now.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly. I mean, if the U.N. was trying to court controversy, certainly President Ahmadinejad has delivered. He made a very inflammatory speech, blamed the western nations for most of the world's problems. And in particular, singled out Israel.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): And they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: Now, immediately after that, several countries walked out, including France and Britain. The U.K. gave a brief statement afterwards saying that "Ahmadinejad's offensive and inflammatory comments were outrageous and had no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum."

Now, one of the big questions is, how did Ahmadinejad become the main speaker to begin with? And I spoke to one U.N. press person who basically said they were the only delegation to come with their head of state. And by U.N. protocol, that means he becomes the first person to speak at the conference -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, Atika. It feels like a real mistake now.

Atika Shubert for us in Geneva, Switzerland.

Atika, good to see you. Thank you.

Doing community service to pay off a student loan? It's possible. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is back with your "Top Tips" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: After years of legal maneuvering, a lawsuit brought by Hurricane Katrina flooding victims finally goes to trial. A federal judge will decide if the Army Corps of Engineers should be held liable for failed levees that caused catastrophic flooding in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. Billions of dollars in damages are at stake.

Next hour, a full report on the trial from CNN's Sean Callebs, who joins us here from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

College tuition keeps going up. Ditto for the number of grads falling behind on their student loans.

Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis, as promised, is back with ways to ease your student loan debt.

Gerri, look, let's dive into this. Where do we get started? How do we do this?

WILLIS: All right. Well, you know, the price tag for college is out of sight. A private four-year college costs more than $25,000 a year. But there's some programs out there from Uncle Sam that help you manage the burden through loan forgiveness.

Now, to qualify, you have to perform some volunteer work. Perform military service, teach or practice medicine in certain types of communities. But you have to get out there. You have to volunteer.

HARRIS: Volunteering -- how can volunteering, Gerri, make your student loan go away?

WILLIS: Well, OK. So, for example, here's some programs you can sign up for.

AmeriCorps: If you serve for 12 months, you'll receive up to $7,400 in stipends, plus over $4,000 towards your loan. Now, if you join the Peace Corps, you cancel 15 percent of your Federal Perkins Loan per year. Volunteers in Service to America, provide 1,700 hours of service and you get $4,700. And students who are in the Army National Guard may be eligible for their student loan repayment program which offers up to $10,000.

So you can get some of these loans forgiven.

HARRIS: What, if anything, is available for teachers, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, OK. So, if you're a teacher in elementary or high school, with students from low-income families, you can have a portion of your Perkins Loan forgiven.

Each year you get a portion of that loan forgiven, up to five years. Math and science teachers who work in high-need schools can also get up to $17,500 forgiven from their Stafford Loan. Now, the American Federation of Teachers maintains a list of other loan forgiveness programs. You should go to AFC.org out there if you're looking for some help.

HARRIS: Nice.

And if you're a doctor, say a lawyer in training, you think about it, tuition really adds up fast.

WILLIS: Right. Well, you know, Tony, what's interesting here, many law schools forgive the loans of students who serve in public interest or nonprofit positions. So, go to the American Bar Association for a summary of loan repayment and assistance programs.

Here's a sampling of some student loan forgiveness programs in health care.

The National Health Service Corps, Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program, these programs offer loan forgiveness to doctors and nurses who agree to practice for a set number of years in areas that lack medical care. The American Association of Medical Colleges has a database of state and other loan repayment programs for medical students. Go to AAMC.org for more information. I have to repeat these -- AAMC, if you missed it.

And of course, if you have any questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. We love hearing from you, and we answer those questions right here every Friday.

HARRIS: Awesome tips, as always. Gerri, good to see you. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: So, do you want to save $2,000 a year? Of course you do. It's possible. Just log on to our special report, "America's Money Crisis." There you see it at CNNMoney.com.

Day 91 for President Barack Obama, and he is getting plenty of criticism for his actions at the Summit of the Americas. Shaking hands and accepting gifts?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama says the 34-nation Summit of the Americas that ended yesterday was, in his words, "very productive."

Our Dan Lothian was there and wraps it up for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Summit of the Americas closed, President Obama painted a picture of progress on all fronts, including a new attitude toward Cuba and possibly Venezuela.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do believe that the signals sent so far provide at least an opportunity for frank dialogue on a range of issues, including critical areas of democracy and human rights.

LOTHIAN: At a 45-minute press conference, Mr. Obama also seemed unconcerned about his friendly interaction at the summit with America's chief antagonist, Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez.

OBAMA: It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez, that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States.

LOTHIAN: But one Republican critic on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" had a different take.

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: I think it was irresponsible for the president to be seen kind of laughing and joking with Hugo Chavez.

LOTHIAN: Again, Mr. Obama brushed off the criticism.

OBAMA: If the question, Dan, is how does this play politically, I don't know. I don't worry about the politics. I try to figure out what's right in terms of American interests, and on this one I think I'm right.

LOTHIAN: Leaders from across Latin America and the Western Hemisphere are seeking a new relationship with the U.S. And on the global economic crisis, they welcome investments, too. But Mr. Obama said what they think will help them most is for his domestic economic recovery plan to work.

OBAMA: People are rooting for America's success.

LOTHIAN (on camera): This is President Obama's second overseas trip. As he works to build a better relationship with many of these world leaders, he says it should now be based on a partnership, not on America's military might.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So why don't we do this -- let's take a closer look at the president's trip, the progress, the problem he may have created.

Joining me now from New York, PBS senior correspondent and former CNN urban affairs correspondent Maria Hinojosa.

Maria, good to see you.

MARIA HINOJOSA, PBS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: How you doing, Tony?

HARRIS: I am awesome.

Let me start with this question. How significant, in your view, is it that Chavez of Venezuela and Raul Castro of Cuba are signaling a willingness to, in Castro's case, put everything on the table for discussion? In Chavez's case, him saying to President Obama, I want to be your friend?

HINOJOSA: It's huge. What's happening right now is a very big deal.

Everyone in Latin America and the rest of the Americas are watching very closely, because when you hear someone like Raul Castro saying everything is on the table, the people of Cuba, their ears are perked at that moment. When you see what happened between President Chavez and President Obama, where it was a man-to-man handshake of hello, and he walks over, presents the Eduardo Galeano book, the "Open Veins of Latin America"...

HARRIS: He walks over. He walks over. This wasn't a case where President Obama walked over to President Chavez. It was the other way around.

HINOJOSA: But here's the thing that's happened, Tony, is that with this dynamic -- you know, the United States and Latin America, the Americas, there's often a north-south polarization. The United States is always on that big foot.

Right now, this is a time when being anti-Obama is not in the best interest of President Chavez, nor of Raul Castro at this point. This is not where they want to make Obama into an enemy. Obama has become something of a hero to people around the world, and certainly to Latin America.

HARRIS: Yes.

HINOJOSA: So, at this point, the politics, the geopolitical frame work, north-south, has changed.

HARRIS: Maria, I want to talk about getting some stuff done.

Do you believe Raul Castro plans to bring about any real changes? All right, everything's on the table for discussion, but what about releasing political prisoners? What about limiting the taxes on money sent from the United States? Come on. Something real and something tangible.

HINOJOSA: Well, you know what? It took many, many decades for Cuba to get to where it is right now. So it's not going to change overnight. But the fact that there's an opening, that these things are being named, that they're being talked about - the political prisoners are being talked about, that it is an issue right there in front -- that's huge progress.

You know, I was in Cuba about two years ago. And still in Havana, and I still remember this strange thing that happens in Cuba, where everything feels like it's moving at lightning speed and at the same time you're going at a snail's pace.

So, that's the same thing that's going to happen. There's going to be little openings, little cracks. And I'm sure that Raul Castro has seen that there's a new geopolitical dynamic - north/south, U.S./Cuba - is going to make some openings.

HARRIS: OK, Maria, let me get back to Chavez for a moment.

You know, he's built a lot of his reputation on chiding the United States and the leaders of the country. The right, many people on the right want to suggest that the president diminished himself by shaking Chavez's hand. You know, what do you make of that argument?

And by that same logic, I'm wondering, could you suggest that Chavez diminished himself by -- again, the point I was making earlier -- getting up and walking over to President Obama, extending his hand and offering a gift? HINOJOSA: Well, here's the question that I'd like to ask, and I know that for all kinds of reasons there's an interest of making everything a huge political debate -- politicians have their own reasons, the media has their own reasons.

But here's the thing, at the moment when Hugo Chavez walks over to President Obama, clearly with a gift in hand, which happened to be an amazing book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," at that point is President Obama -- what do we as a country get if President Obama turns away from him? Doesn't offer his hand? Or, takes the book and then scolds him? What exactly, politically, is the benefit of that?

At this time you have two men - this handshake in particular is extraordinarily important. The fact that they are doing not just a regular handshake, but, if you will, a "brother handshake"...

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

HINOJOSA: ... that says to -- not only between President Chavez and President Obama, there's an understanding here. We have -- we come from a similar generation of how we see the world. That's also saying to all of the young people around Latin America, Obama gets it. There's a handshake. I mean, one little handshake like that one that we saw can be so powerful.

Look, obviously President Chavez is a very complicated political character.

HARRIS: Right.

HINOJOSA: Who knows what he has up his sleeves? But I'll tell you this, between Chavez and what's happening in Cuba with Raul Castro and the United States, this triangle here can shift in amazing ways. We're in a very important historical moment.

HARRIS: That's pretty astute.

Before I lose you, the Obama visit to Mexico. How disappointed are you, if you are at all, as someone who has covered the immigration story in this country as extensively as you have, including a remarkable documentary that you actually were a part of for us, how disappointed are you that a real discussion on immigration wasn't on the table for the meeting with President Calderon?

HINOJOSA: I'm beyond disappointed. I think every American should be angry about the fact that immigration is not being talked about in open, honest ways. And if there's a president that can do it, it will be hard.

But let's remember, Obama is the son of an African immigrant and he is the son of a woman from Kansas. If somebody can bridge the divided country that people like Lou Dobbs have helped to create, because let's name it as it is -- if there's anybody who can bridge this divide -- and I believe it's a false divide, because more than half of this country, three quarters of this country understand that the only way that you can move forward is by legalizing these people. There's no way to process the deportation of 12 million undocumented immigrants.

So, at this point, we have to name it. President Obama can name it, can say it's going to be difficult. But in the end, we have to talk about this in realistic ways. Not in ways that are just a lot of brouhaha that ends up dividing us.

HARRIS: Why did you mention Lou? Because you believe he's been divisive?

HINOJOSA: Of course I believe that Lou Dobbs has been divisive.

Tony, if you go into the Latino community, everybody is talking about how divisive they believe Lou Dobbs has been, in general. And the fact that in the Latino community they name it as something called "Hate Speech." Because while Lou Dobbs can say, and I believe that perhaps genuinely in his heart he believes that he cares for the Mexican people, when you have this kind of image that he has created of the undocumented Mexican immigrant who is here to destroy everything in the United States that you hold dear -- your country, your culture, your language -- when he creates that image of the undocumented Mexican immigrant, it means so much work to say, actually, that's not what happened here.

People don't want to cross breaking the laws. If they give them a chance, they will come here happily without breaking any laws. It's a misdemeanor to cross the border without papers, it's not a felony. And yet, people like Lou Dobbs and others across this country -- and don't misunderstand me. I understand the anger. I profoundly understand the anger. And this is why I believe the president must act. Because without action, what ends up happening is anger and fear fill that void. And we need to go beyond it, absolutely.

HARRIS: So, Maria, I gave you a clear run there. Because you know, Lou is going to call you. He's going to call you. I gave you a clear run so that you could clearly make your statement on the record and you answer the call today and you go on with Lou later this evening, OK?

HINOJOSA: Sure. If he calls, sure.

HARRIS: You know he's going to call.

HINOJOSA: I'm dressed for it. No problem.

HARRIS: Maria, it's good to see you.

HINOJOSA: Good to see you, too, Tony.

HARRIS: We'll do this again soon.

Let's go to weather. Rob Marciano in the Severe Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Marking a day many of us won't, can't forget -- Columbine. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Ten years later, a Colorado community remembers the victims of the Columbine High School massacre. Sunday at sunset, mourners held candles and laid flowers at a memorial at a park next to the school. It was ten years ago today, two students armed with guns and bombs killed 12 students and a teacher. They wounded 23 of their classmates before killing themselves. It was one of the deadliest shootings in school history.

Columbine High School is closed today. A private service with families of victims will be held this evening.

Our iReporters are remembering the Columbine tragedy, and Tyson Wheatley is here from our iReport operation.

And Tyson, what are we getting in terms of iReports?

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: Hey, Tony.

Well, we're getting actually some pretty amazing iReports, ten years after this horrific Columbine High School massacre.

And I want to start with some photos from Russ Green. And these are some photos that he shot last night at a Columbine memorial in Littleton, Colorado.

Let's go ahead and take a look at some of these photos.

These are pretty powerful. Russ, he's a photographer. He lives in Littleton. He says about 200 people there took part in a candlelight vigil there last night. He said the spirits were high and that there was a mood of real healing there as community members there shared stories of what they were doing there that day.

Powerful photos.

I want to show - you know, we reached out to iReporters and we asked them, you know, how did Columbine affect you? And it affected, of course, people from all across the nation. I want to share one compelling story. This from Jennifer Muzquez (ph).

She - this is a photo of her ten years ago and when she was a high school senior in the Los Angeles area. Now Jennifer, she was a Goth girl, so she dressed all in black. She had colored hair, multiple face piercings. And in the days following Columbine, she tells us that students like her were actually shunned by the community. Parents lobbied to get trench coats and all-black attire banned from local schools. School administrators started keeping tabs on her and her friends, the friends that she hung out with. And so that they were targeted with backpack searches. People would cross the street to avoid her and her friends, she says. She began basically feeling fear going to school and eventually started doing home study.

You can read about her story on CNN.com today. And Tony, just one last one I want to share with you...

HARRIS: Sure, sure.

WHEATLEY: ... because, of course, teachers were obviously affected as well, and this one real quick.

This is from Barbara Rademacher, she's a veteran teacher from Arkansas. She said, for teachers Columbine was a real game changer. Let's listen to her words ten years later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA RADEMACHER, CNN IREPORTER: Columbine was to education what 9/11 was to this country. It was a shattering wake-up call, a devastating experience. What Columbine said to me as an educator and said to other educators was that we in the education community hold people's lives in our hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: All right, Tony. So we want to know, how did Columbine affect you and your life? You know where to go -- iReport.com -- and weigh in today.

HARRIS: That's strong. Tyson, appreciate it. Thank you.

It is a love affair we heard about and even seen on the silver screen. Mark Antony and Cleopatra making news in the 21st Century.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: An eight-hour hostage standoff ends without injuries. Just hours ago in Jamaica, police and soldiers stormed that Canadian jet near Montego Bay capturing the armed hijacker. He had been holding six crew members and demanding to be flown to Cuba. Earlier, the hijacker released all 174 passengers and two crewmembers.

Officials describe the hijacker as a mentally challenged man in his 20s. He apparently forced his way through airport security to board the plane.

The hostage crisis still on many of your minds is the Somali pirate attack on the Maersk Alabama. This afternoon our Kyra Phillips will talk to Ken Quinn, the second mate from that ship. Don't miss it, 1:30 p.m. Eastern time right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Archaeologists say they may have found the lost tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The 2,000-year-old mystery is one of the most popular stories right now at CNN.com.

Here's our Ben Wedeman from the dig site.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Skulls and bones, the latest discoveries in a land blessed with an embarrassment of archaeological riches.

ZAHI HAWASS, EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES: There is hundreds of tombs near the temple and also there are tombs in the west side of the temple.

WEDEMAN: These recently uncovered tombs west of Alexandria date back more than 2000 years. And at this site, around an ancient Egyptian temple -- or rather, underneath it -- archaeologists believe underneath it could be the bodies of star-crossed, lovers Mark Antony and Cleopatra, most memorably portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Antony and Cleopatra took their lives in 30 B.C. after a power struggle with Antony's main rival, Octavian.

(on camera): According to the Roman historian Plutarch, Octavian, who later became the first emperor of Rome, gave orders that Cleopatra be buried in a splendid and regal fashion along with Mark Antony. The question is where.

(voice-over): It was thought they were buried in Cleopatra's palace in Alexandria, now under water.

But Dominican archaeologist Kathleen Martinez says the old theory doesn't make sense.

KATHLEEN MARTINEZ, ARCHEOLOGIST: I believe it was not possible for her to buried there because of her political situation. It was the end of the Ptolemys (ph). It was the end of Egypt as a free country. And she could not use the same cemetery. She need a special place.

WEDEMAN: And this could be that special place. So far, they've uncovered a variety of likenesses of Cleopatra and possibly Antony.

HAWASS: We discovered, inside the temple, a head of Cleopatra. It's a beautiful head made of alabaster. And 22 coins had the face of Cleopatra.

WEDEMAN: They've also found these two, as yet, unidentified mummies. Underneath the crumbling cloth, the mummies are covered in gold, or so we're told.

(on camera): What we have inside this tomb does appear to be the mummies of a man and a woman. Now, is it Mark Antony and Cleopatra? It is very difficult to say. But certainly does make one think and wonder.

(voice-over): Using ground-penetrating radar, archeologists detected three underground cavities within the temple compound that could be tombs or burial shafts. One of which might contain the remains of Antony and Cleopatra, or might just contain more anonymous skulls and bones.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, west of Alexandria, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Pretty fascinating, huh?

Next hour, a new fallout from Hurricane Katrina. Is the Army Corps of Engineers libel for all that flooding? The trial starting today, billions of dollars at stake and we will take you live to New Orleans.

Plus, Congress heads back to work on the agenda scrutinizing some of the president's nominees. We'll have a live report.

And stay right there, Poppy Harlow is going to show you a motorcycle that runs on batteries and it is quiet.

And talk about saving money, how does L.A. to New York on 30 bucks sound?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: This just in, Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most famous physicists, is said to be very ill. Hawking a professor at Cambridge University of England, has suffered from ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease for much of his life. A statement from the university says the 67-year-old scientist was taken to a hospital in London today. In addition to being a noted physicist, Hawking an astronomer, mathematician and author.

Protecting the planet. Earth Day is on Wednesday. Today, we are talking about how severe pollution can affect oyster harvests, and we are going to the Chesapeake Bay. Photojournalist Jeremy Moorehead (ph) looks into new eco-friendly approaches certain foundations are taking to create a cleaner and greener bay.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got the best raw bar in Washington. Everything we carry is northern coldwater source. They're farm- raised, cultivated in the ocean in protected coves, again, from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, two Taylor bays from Cape Cod. Even from the Chesapeake we get them.

TOMMY LEGGETT, VIRGINIA OYSTER RESTORATION AND HISTORY SCIENTIST, CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION: Oysters are a keystone species. They're one of the most important species in the Chesapeake Bay. They're filtering the water, they're providing habitat. There's so many other food webs that depend and reply on oysters.

My name is Tommy Leggett. I've been working on the water since 1982.

My day job is working with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as the Virginia oyster restoration and history scientist.

We grow about 50,000 a year for restoration. We're going to go out and pressure wash a few cages.

Each oyster cage has about 2,000 oysters in it.

Each one of these oysters, in those bags, can filter about 50 gallons of water per day.

All we're doing here is making moms and dads to serve as a baby- making machine for more oysters to help jump start reefs throughout the Chesapeake Bay.

At one time, it's estimated that the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay could filter the volume of water in the bay in a matter of days.

Check them out and see how they're doing.

All the critters in these bags would not be here if it weren't for the oyster bags.

These fish provide food for bigger food. It is all a giant food web.

No oyster left behind.

If we don't restore oysters, we're not going to restore the bay.

I think people are more and more becoming aware of their surroundings and what they have to do to make it better for everybody and future generations as well.

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HARRIS: So what do we have here? Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citi - today, Bank of America joined the list of big banks making big money in the first quarter. Now, does that mean that the TARP program, the troubled assets relief program, is actually working?

Senior correspondent Allen Chernoff takes a look.

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ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bankers are back in the black after taking billions in taxpayer bailout. Profits of $1.6 billion at Citigroup, slightly more at Goldman Sachs, and better than $2 billion for JPMorgan Chase. Is TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, working? You bet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TARP is a success relatively speaking because it kept the banking system afloat. Without TARP, I don't think the banking system could have kept afloat.

CHERNOFF: Bank profits are coming not just from TARP. The Federal Reserve is letting banks borrow at very low interest rates, and low rates have fueled a boom in profitable mortgage refinancing. While banks are booking profits, they're paying dividends back to taxpayers as well, more than $2.5 billion so far. Remember, the government got preferred stock in each bank that received TARP money. On top of the dividends, banks eventually are supposed to repay their bailout loans. Experts say most banks should be able to pay Washington back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've put money in as an investment and we're getting dividends back out. Now in the end, we'll probably lose some money total. But that's worth it for avoiding the absolute disaster we could have had. Bad as things are, they could have been far worse.

CHERNOFF: Some big banks want to give the money back now, squirming under new TARP restrictions like limits on executive pay. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has even labeled TARP money a scarlet letter.

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CHERNOFF: TARP may be annoying to some bankers, but the fact is the economy remains in deep trouble. And that means that bankers are going to have to be dealing with severe loan losses down the road.

And in fact, today, Bank of America in reporting that better than $4 billion profit says that its credit quality is declining across business lines.

Tony, the Treasury says that there are hundreds of banks still lining up to get TARP money.

HARRIS: OK. Allan Chernoff for us. Allan, appreciate it, thank you, sir.