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Suspected Craigslist Killer Headed to Court; FBI's Newest 'Most Wanted'; Red Flags on Bailout; Who's Making Money? New Earnings Reports Released Today; A Wish Come True: Disney Crowns Newest Princess, Tiana; Hyundai Capitalizing in Automaker Industry

Aired April 21, 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 21st, and here are the top stories we're following for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A med student with big wedding plans, 22-year-old Philip Markoff, heads to court shortly. Could he be the Craigslist killer? Boston police say yes.

Questions about the federal bailout for big banks. The treasury secretary faces the bailout police. Live coverage for you.

Hyundai revs up on the recession. The South Korean automaker has a strategy to grow during this economic downturn.

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

And at the top this hour, the suspected Craigslist killer headed to court. Twenty-two-year-old medical student Philip Markoff being arraigned this morning in Boston.

Let's get right to our Mary Snow at the Boston Municipal Court.

Mary, if you would, talk us through what we know about this case and what we can expect this morning.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we can expect, Tony, is that the arraignment is going to be held around noontime. And the DA's office said that it may set the time for noon in order that family members of one of the victims could be here for this proceeding.

What we don't know is a motive. And authorities say that we expect to learn a lot of details, of course, at this arraignment.

Twenty-two-year-old Philip Markoff, who was a second year medical student at Boston University Medical School, was taken into custody late yesterday. This, after authorities say they connected him to two attacks on women who had advertised on Craigslist.

Julissa Brisman had been murdered a week ago. She was in a hotel room. She had been shot, and she was 26 years old. Authorities said she had advertised her masseuse services on Craigslist.

And Philip Markoff is being charged with her murder. He is also suspected in an armed robbery and kidnapping of another woman who was attacked here at a Boston hotel earlier this month.

Now, the police commissioner here says that Markoff had no criminal record. As you mentioned, there are some Web sites indicating that he was slated to be married this coming summer. And police say computer technology has really played a key part in this investigation, and that the charges are based on forensic evidence and electronic evidence. And they brought in some computer crime experts.

And Tony, the police do believe that there may be other Craigslist victims out there. And authorities are urging those people to come forward.

We did run into the defense attorney who is going to be representing Philip Markoff. He would not comment until after these proceedings were over.

HARRIS: OK.

Mary Snow following this arraignment for us.

Mary, appreciate it. Thank you.

Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist, will join "AMERICAN MORNING" tomorrow to discuss the arrest, the scandal and much more. That is tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Security watch. The FBI has just added an alleged domestic terrorist to its most wanted terrorist list. Never before has a domestic terrorist been included on that list of global terror suspects.

Live now to CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

Jeanne, good to see you.

Who are we talking about here?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Tony, his name is Daniel Andreas San Diego. At first blush, he would not appear a likely candidate for the FBI's most wanted terrorist list, which is otherwise populated exclusively by operatives of al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups.

San Diego is 31, a computer network specialist, and a strict vegan, according to the FBI. He is wanted for his activities as an animal rights activist.

He is alleged in 2003 to have been involved in pipe bombings of the California corporate offices of two companies which the FBI says he believed had ties to animal testing labs. After the bombings at the Chiron and Shaklee corporations, there were e-mail claims of responsibility by the Revolutionary Cells Liberation Brigade.

These bombings, which caused property damage but no deaths, occurred six years ago, and San Diego has been on the run ever since. The FBI is hoping that a burst of publicity generated by his addition to the most wanted terrorist list will help them track them down. The $250,000 reward for information leading to his arrest probably won't hurt -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. And Jeanne, as we put these pictures up of this suspect again, he looks like a pretty straight arrow. You can always get in trouble when you say that. But does he have any distinguishing features that might be helpful to anyone watching who might have come across this young man?

MESERVE: He has a lot of tattoos on his torso, according to the FBI. He has burning hillsides and planes on his chest with the words "It Only Takes a Spark." There are scenes of burning and collapsing buildings on his abdomen. Also, on his back, more burning buildings, and a single leafless tree, they say, rising from a road.

So with his shirt off, I guess you would be able to recognize this guy.

HARRIS: Yes. OK.

Jeanne Meserve for us.

Jeanne, good to see you. Thank you.

MESERVE: You bet.

HARRIS: Big banks reporting big profits over the last few days, one sign the $700 billion federal bailout may be working. But six months later, the program to save stressed out banks is still stirring a lot of tough questions for one of its architects, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Live pictures now of the congressional oversight panel. And there is the treasury secretary.

CNN's Gerri Willis watching from New York this morning for us.

And Gerri, look, the treasury secretary is facing a lot of criticism over his management of the TARP program not only from this Congressional Oversight Committee led by Elizabeth Warren, who, as you know, has been a guest on this program, but also from the Office of the Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. So a lot of criticism for this man today.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. And from the top cop, the inspector general, even, we've had some suggestions here that there can be criminal activity that's gone on. That's what is so astonishing about that.

But let me tell you about the theme that we heard in this hearing this morning. It's all about accountability.

What did you do with the money? Where did it go? What has it been used for? And why can these banks report such incredible profits and, at the same time, be using all of our tax dollars because they're having such a hard time? I think people are really focused on that. The questions, in many ways, were more interesting than the answers -- Tony.

HARRIS: There you go.

WILLIS: You know, Elizabeth Warren had something very -- a couple of very interesting questions. One was this: Why have the banks gotten 10 times more money than the auto industry and fewer strings attached? Also, she said she was also interested in providing accountability, obviously. She says these banks are reporting great profits and, at the same time, raising interest rates on their credit cards to consumers.

HARRIS: All kinds of bank fees. All kinds of bank fees, as you remind us every day.

WILLIS: All kinds of bank fees. So how can you on the one hand be getting taxpayer dollars and on the other handing be charging those very taxpayers more for your services? That's one of the big questions being asked. Now, she didn't really get a good answer to that, and she said she would press later on that question yet again.

Geithner has been very moderated in his tone today. He knows he's under pressure. He says that they are stepping up what they're doing to try to watch this money, where it goes. He says that they're providing, you know, more requirements for disclosure.

And if you watch the earnings report this week, in every earnings report there is a disclosure about how many loans are being made, how many loans are being made to low and moderate income mortgage holders, that kind of thing. So you're seeing more of that.

But I know that there are still big questions about, you know, can we be sure that our taxpayer dollars are being used wisely here? And he is really on the hot seat today.

Tony, I don't know if you saw the protesters in the room before the hearing even started but, you know, people are really on fire about this.

HARRIS: Well, look, we've had a couple conversations this morning, your team and our team here in Atlanta. I really believe this is a very, very important hearing.

Now, there have been other hearings when the treasury secretary has acquitted himself quite well in front of other Senate panels and congressional -- and House panels. But this one, with this particular watchdog organization, is really about the accountability. Where has the money gone? And what have the firms been doing with the money?

So if you would, Gerri, would you just sort of -- when you get some of the moments, when you get these exchanges, will you sort of highlight them for us? And we'll treat it as a bit of breaking news, if that's OK for you.

I've got another question for you. What about the report from -- you mentioned the TARP watchdog.

WILLIS: Right.

HARRIS: Neil Barofsky.

WILLIS: Well, yes, Neil Barofsky, inspector general, he's really the top cop on TARP. So he's been poring through data, looking at how this money is being used.

He says he's launched 20 criminal investigations -- astonishing -- six audits. He's really on the case here, really looking at what's going on. And here are his areas of concern.

A, number one, are we fair valuing? Are we giving fair value to the government's share in these financial institutions, the shares they got for investing money in these companies?

What about the fraud risk in these consumer lending and mortgage rescue programs? He's really worried that the government could end up with the short end of the stick in some of this.

And he's also concerned about conflict of interest when it comes to what they call the PPIP. This is public and private investment in some of these toxic assets, getting those off the books of the banks who were suffering so much with this. How does that work? You know, he thinks some of the banks and private investors are possibly too close, have relationship that's are far too chummy for the kind of business they're supposed to be doing.

HARRIS: Well, I tell you what, Gerri, important stuff today. Thank you for your help on this. We appreciate it.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: The man watching the TARP money tells CNN that he has opened 20 criminal investigations -- again, we're talking about Neil Barofsky -- and six audits into whether tax dollars are being wasted.

Read more about Neil Barofsky by clicking on to CNNMoney.com.

Saving money by saving the environment. Are green cars the answer?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFORD, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: When I got involved in the environment -- it was like 35 years ago -- there was always this separation between economics and environmental protection or preservation. It made me crazy because I thought, can't people see that they're connected? Can't people see that the environment is good economics?

And now I think that's beginning to happen. People are beginning to join and they're beginning to cross-pollinate between -- economics is in everything, and it's certainly in the environment.

And when they talk about the environment not being an economic driver, what have you, I mean, what nonsense is that? Because the fact is, is that if you commit to renewable energy sources and you create new innovations tied to new energy sources, you create new industries, and that gets you new jobs. And it's about tomorrow where, yes...

VAN JONES, WHITE HOUSE "GREEN CZAR": Yes. Everything that is good for the environment is a job. Solar panels don't put themselves up.

REDFORD: Yes.

JONES: Wind turbines don't manufacture themselves. Trees don't even plant themselves in our industrial society. Everything that's good for the environment is a job. It's the contracts...

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Then why if that seems so logical has it never been....

JONES: Well, because we never had -- well, first of all, we never had a grassroots movement that finally has come together thanks to people like Robert Redford and others. And that creates the opportunity for a president to step forward and finally end this silly war.

We're going to have to do right by our children economically by creating more jobs. We have to do right by our grandchildren ecologically and not leave them a dead planet. That's what we're trying to get done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So Larry King keeps that Earth Day theme going. Tonight, at 9:00 Eastern, Ford chairman Bill Ford explains why he turned down all that government money and how leaner and greener cars are key to his company's recovery.

Here's an idea -- a car that will take you 100 miles on a gallon of gas. Right now, a couple of automakers are showing off their earth-friendly vehicles at the Eco Road Show in Washington. And our Brianna Keilar is there live.

Brianna, good to see you.

I'm sort of curious, as we steady the shot -- steady, steady -- which automakers are participating? And what are they showing off today?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a whole lot of automakers here, Tony. And it's not just the big ones. There are some small ones, arguably startups that are trying to get some attention here today, trying to get some federal money for the technology they're using for these fuel-efficient vehicles.

But just to give you a sampling of some of the ones here, this is arguably a pretty hot car, I think you would say. Right, Tony?

HARRIS: All right.

KEILAR: This is the Dodge Circuit, beautiful competition yellow. And this is a fully electric vehicle.

And it's not just cars, either two-seaters or four-seaters, that we're seeing here today, but also vehicles like this one that, I have to tell you, Tony, I'm being pretty brave because I'm not a great (ph) driver.

HARRIS: Oh, look at this. Look at you. What is that?

KEILAR: Yes. This is called -- this is by T3 Motion. It's a personal mobility device. It's actually used by police officers, I'm sure you can see. It sort of is an alternative to, say, riding on a horse or patrolling a beat on foot.

This is the no-emission, no-noise vehicle, 300miles on a charge. You can see it's really an around town vehicle.

And over here, of course, Tony, a car that you've probably have seen before. OK, I've got to be careful.

HARRIS: Look at you on the suped-up Segway. That is crazy.

KEILAR: It's pretty scary. It's pretty scary.

HARRIS: OK. Take your time.

KEILAR: Like I said, they set it down to 5 miles per hour for me so I can't do too much damage.

But this here, Tony, this is the Tesla, which is arguably another -- not maybe the most practical car, but the point of this car, as well as the Dodge Circuit, is just to show that you can have an electric vehicle...

HARRIS: That's pretty smooth there.

KEILAR: ... that is also a luxury sport vehicle. And let's see if I'm doing this right.

HARRIS: Can you crank it?

KEILAR: You hear that beep?

HARRIS: Yes.

KEILAR: It's on. It's actually on.

HARRIS: It's on?

KEILAR: I know you can't really hear it. It's on.

But like I said, the whole point, Tony, here is just to get some attention. We've seen members of Congress coming out. We actually saw one senator cruise by in his own hybrid SUV, trying to get some of that attention, trying to show them what they are doing with this technology.

Some of the cars here even plug in to solar chargers so that when you go to the grocery store, you can stick it out on your car and, you know, charge your car up while you're inside.

HARRIS: That's right. Sure. I love it. OK.

Brianna, you know, on the suped-up -- back to the suped-up Segway, I know that you're an outstanding golfer and I know that you've got a pending wedding. And the reports are all -- the e-mail have been sent. That would make a wonderful gift for you.

Congratulations, first of all, Brianna.

KEILAR: I know. I think I need that to get around the house.

HARRIS: To get around the house.

All right, Brianna. Good to see you.

KEILAR: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: Thanks.

So, cars like the Chevy Volt are still just a concept. But one green solution is already on the road.

Watch as photojournalist Bob Crowley revs up the battery-powered Vectrix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE SHAPIRO, VECTRIX OWNER: Wherever you are, you can just plug into the closest socket. It's the equivalent of driving a motorcycle, which is just a lot of fun.

This is a Vectrix. It's 100 percent electric vehicle.

I was surprised by how powerful it was. It really has a lot of pop.

People who are motorcycle people and most surprised about it is no noise. It's truly silent.

I use it for getting around town, commuting to work, because I purchased this right around the time when gas was $4. And I looked at this as maybe one solution to getting off our dependence on gas. In my opinion, it's very cool. We're at the Vectrix product development center. Everything new and exciting that gets developed for this bike come out of this facility.

PETER HUGHES, CHIEF TECH OFFICER, VECTRIX: Top speed at the moment is 62 miles an hour. This vehicle will do 35 to 55 miles on a single charge. It takes about three to five hours to charge the vehicle. So if you're looking at using a gas scooter, its carbon footprint will be four to 10 times greater than this vehicle is and about 10 times better than a car.

MIKE BOYLE, PRESIDENT & CEO, VECTRIX: It probably is not the end all, but it's one of the building blocks that really will create energy independence over the next 10 years. We're doing something that nobody's ever done before.

It has power. I has acceleration. It has ease of driving. And it's just a fun vehicle to ride with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Something, huh?

All right. Take a ride in a Korean car that's getting a lot of attention. That is later this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The only surviving pirate of the four accused of hijacking a U.S. cargo ship is preparing to face a judge. The Somali teen was all smiles as he arrived in New York overnight. Take a look at this.

He will be the first person tried in the U.S. on piracy charges in more than a century. If convicted, he could face a life sentence.

In most cases, pirates are simply set free, even when they're caught red-handed by NATO ships.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence explains a loophole for the lawless on the high seas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When pirates attacked a Norwegian tanker this weekend, a Canadian ship raced to the rescue, forcing the pirates to back down and sail away. A NATO crew boarded the pirates' boat. It tossed guns, ladders and scaling equipment overboard.

Did they arrest them? No. Hand them over for trial? No. They let the pirates go, because NATO crews have no power to hold them.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The minister and I agreed that we will take this matter to NATO. LAWRENCE: The U.S. has an agreement with Kenya to turn over pirates for prosecution, but NATO leaves it up to each nation's own laws, which sometimes don't even allow crews to detain pirates they catch.

CLINTON: NATO has not provided that authority, so we need to coordinate this, we need to move very quickly to do so.

LAWRENCE: Not fast enough for a Dutch NATO crew which rescued 13 hostages Saturday, then let every pirate go free.

SEAN CONNAUGHTON, FORMER U.S. MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR: The pirate are going to quickly realize that most of the navies out there will not take action against them. And so they're just going to continue doing this until things escalate even further.

LAWRENCE: Sean Connaught on was President Bush's top maritime official. He says navies are catching pirates red-handed, then looking back to their home countries for guidance on what to do next. Too often the answer is nothing.

CONNAUGHTON: You can't all of a sudden take nice, neat laws that are perfect for dealing with criminal situations in the streets of Washington or the streets of Ottawa and apply them off the coast of Somalia.

LAWRENCE (on camera): What secretary Clinton and others are pushing for are universal rules of engagement, meaning, every ship no matter if it's sailing under the EU, NATO, a task force, would have the authority to arrest pirates and hand them over for prosecution.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And checking the markets now, the Dow is in positive territory after yesterday's steep selloff as some of the top U.S. businesses released their first quarter earnings. The Dow up 54 points.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, over the past few weeks, several signs suggest the recession may be hitting bottom, but Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says things may not be back to normal anytime soon. He told CNN's Lou Dobbs, our recovery may be painfully slow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROF. JOSEPH STIGLITZ, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: We may have bottomed out. The real question is what kind of recovery are we going to have? Are we going to have a Japanese-style malaise, sort of - you know, sort going along? Or will we have a robust recovery? And I think there's every reason to believe, unless we get things going a lot better than we have, that we are more likely than not in line for a extended period of slow growth. LOU DOBBS, CNN HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": All right. Let's talk about that, if we may, Professor. A couple things; one is there is no comparison between this economy and Japan whatsoever. Japan's economy is absolutely export driven; our economy trade is negligible. We can offset trade, both exports and imports, by substitution within this country for manufacturing and replace all of the jobs. Right?

STIGLITZ: There are many differences between the U.S. and Japan. But the fundamental problem is that what had kept the American economy going in the years prior to the crisis -- 2003, '04, '05 and '06 -- was a bubble.

DOBBS: A housing bubble.

STIGLITZ: A housing bubble. And that housing bubble sustained a consumption boom all based on debt. People living beyond their means.

DOBBS: Right.

STIGLITZ: And in fact, it sustained the global economy. That particular model is broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Stiglitz says the federal bailout is not big enough to recapitalize banks. And he complains President Obama's economic advisors are too cozy with Wall Street.

And some are good, some not so good. New earnings reports out today. Let's take a look.

Drug maker Merck said it made $1.4 billion for the first quarter. That is down 57 percent from the same period in 2008. A profit nonetheless.

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola made $1.3 billion in the first quarter. Profit slipped 10 percent from this time last year.

Caterpillar couldn't dig itself out of a hole, sorry. The heavy machinery manufacturer lost $112 million in the first quarter. Sales were off by 22 percent.

And Delta Airlines says it was $794 million in the red for the January-through-March period. That is a much better showing than first quarter '08 when the carrier lost five - make that $6 billion.

So what do all those numbers mean and how is Wall Street reacting to them? Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange to break it all down for us.

Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony.

And you know, It's quite obvious that the recession is bad for most businesses. Take Merck. It's drugs aren't selling. Why? Because folks aren't going to the doctor's. They're not - and they're certainly not getting prescriptions, they're trying to save money.

United Technology, which makes Otis elevators and Carrier heating and cooling units, well, they're not selling. Why? Because residential and office buildings is down, which also hurts Caterpillar, right? It's reporting the first quarterly loss in 17 years.

So you're seeing this prolonged recession. It's hitting just about every sector in some sort of way. But guess what? Tony, the markets turned around.

HARRIS: I know. I don't get it. I don't understand it. From day-to-day, I just can't figure it out.

LISOVICZ: We'll just accept it in the meantime, right?

HARRIS: Exactly.

LISOVICZ: United Technology shares are up 4.5 percent and the Dow is positive, up half a percent. The Nasdaq is up 1.25 percent, for now, Tony.

HARRIS: Wow. Let's drill down a little bit here, Susan. Some economists, as you know, have been saying there may be a light at the end of the tunnel here. Does that really seem likely?

LISOVICZ: Well, it's a very long tunnel, Tony.

HARRIS: There you go.

LISOVICZ: I think everybody pretty much agrees about that. And these quarterly earnings are probably more important about what companies are saying about the future, not so much the bottom line for the first quarter. We all knew it was going to be lousy. Merck, DuPont and Caterpillar, for instance, cutting their outlook for the year.

And catch this, more job cuts are possible. United Technologies cutting production, that could lead to more job cuts. Delta is going to stick it to us. It's adding a $50.00 fee for most passengers to check a second bag on international flights.

And you know, you were talking about Joseph Stiglitz.

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: I wanted to add, very quickly, well known economist Nouriel Roubini was one of the few experts to really foresee the current global crisis.

HARRIS: Dr. Doom, I think? Is that the moniker?

LISOVICZ: Yes, yes. And for good reason. He said - he's quoted today in Hong Kong at some conference there that the recent "suckers rally," as he called it, in stock markets will fade because the U.S. economy will continue to wither, the financial system will continue to suffer unexpected shocks. And here's your Dr. Doom quote, "For people who say there are green shoots, I see only yellow weeds, frankly."

There you go.

HARRIS: Oh, man.

LISOVICZ: But there are others who see green shoots, and you know...

HARRIS: Yes, but that guy - that guys was pretty accurate though, wasn't he? He was in forecasting this, yes?

LISOVICZ: He was. He was. And I do think that, you know, the pace of bad news has slowed. And that is encouraging, but doesn't mean an elimination of bad news, Tony.

HARRIS: There you go. Thank you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

HARRIS: See you next hour.

Let's get a check of weather now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: So Rob, watch along with me, if you will here. We've got a piece of surveillance tape from - hey, did you see the guy that just ran by?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HARRIS: Suspected bank robber. And the red stuff, the big puff -- here we go, slowed it down for you. Yes, yes, yes, you know what that is. That's the old dye pack exploding. The suspect arrested just a short time later. A UPS driver saw the explosion.

MARCIANO: So within the money bag there is a dye pack that explodes?

HARRIS: It - that explodes. Come on.

MARCIANO: Good thing I saw that video cause I was going to rob a bank tomorrow. Now that I know that - God, I would have been caught just like this sucker.

HARRIS: Sucker, indeed. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, man.

HARRIS: Thank you, sir.

Moving now to a story that has feel good written all over it. An unemployed, struggling, single mother of three wins the lottery, takes home a huge prize. How about $1.9 million?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANTAY BRITMAN, LOTTERY WINNER: I know I'm going to finish school. And after that, you know, it's back to regular life. We'll have jobs just like everybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Shantay Britman is currently pursuing a nursing degree at Indiana University South Bend.

Protecting the environment while enhancing the economy, it can be done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: One billion people, that's how many participants Earth Day organizers say will take part in tomorrow's global event. That includes many of you, and we are hearing from you today. Our Josh Levs is here with what our iReporters, all of you, are saying about the environment.

Good to see you, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too.

Check this out. Look at these great pictures behind me. This is on iReport.com from Luli Freeal (ph). She's one of our frequent iReporters. She sent photos that she's taken around the country. Some of these are pretty amazing, Tony. She talks about how there many so many beauties to save in this country. That she's concerned about the environment in the future.

It's interesting. We're having people - right here, it's one of main topics right now at iReport.com celebrating the Earth. Lots of discussions going on. And we're hearing from people. One video I'm going to show you now is Kyle Aevermann giving everybody some tips on how can you help protect the planet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE AEVERMANN, CNN IREPORTER: And check these out. They're made out of old yogurt containers. So, they recycle them, made them into a toothbrush. Not only are recycling that way, when you're done, you go back to these stores, you drop it off in a compartment box that they have for you. They'll ship it back to the company and they will do what they need to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: What do you think, Tony? You want to start brushing your teeth with recycled yogurt containers?

HARRIS: Well, I would never have thought of it, right?

LEVS: I know...

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: ... may be to the point, right?

LEVS: Yes.

HARRIS: That's the point. These people come up with these great ideas that we don't think about and they can really make a difference, right?

LEVS: I think of the great examples of how we learn from our iReporters. I mean, I never heard of it before. It's preserveproducts.com. That's the information on that thing.

But not everybody is speaking so optimistically or positively. I want to give you the other side, too. We heard from John Becker who says, you know what? No matter how much is done, the Earth, pretty much, cannot be saved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BECKER, CNN IREPORTER: Imagine every person in Africa, India, China and South America now having all the same garbage that we have. Where are e going to put all this stuff? You must be kidding me. It's mathematical impossibility that we could possibly keep this planet alive and us alive on it with the amount of trash we are throwing out every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So, Tony, that debate raging on iReport.com right now. Can the Earth be protected? Does it need to be? What should happen?

HARRIS: Well, if you think that way, you don't do anything. That doesn't seem acceptable as an option.

But I'm wondering, the iReporters get us thinking. How can people find out about the Earth Day activities, Josh?

LEVS: Yes, I want to show everybody for that. Earthday.net, check it out. It's right behind me right here. And it hooks you up with all sorts of situations all over the world that you can take part in. I typed in, for example, right here, I typed in "San Francisco." And it just shoots down, it gives you tons of example right there of things going on tomorrow in San Francisco.

All you got to do is type in your city. You can find out about the programs that are a t earthday.net. You can also click on different countries. You can even test how well your city is doing compared to everybody else.

And if you're on Facebook, let us know. My page here, JoshLevsCNN. We're inviting you to tell us, what are you up to tomorrow on Earth Day? If anything, we'd love to hear from you. So Tony, we'll be talking about it all day tomorrow, too. Oh, and next hour.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: You and I are going to talk green cars, right?

HARRIS: Yes, that's right.

LEVS: No gas cars, zero gas, due on the market in a few years, according to an expert.

HARRIS: Pretty hot topic in our meeting this morning.

All right, Josh, can't wait for that. Thank you.

LEVS: Bye, Tony.

HARRIS: And happening now at the White House, President Obama hosting one of Washington's most important Middle East allies, Jordan's King Abdullah. The two leaders are expected to focus on the stalled Mideast peace process. They held one-on-one talks in the president's personal dining room. Then followed up with an expanded meeting in the Oval Office.

A new princess reigns at Disney this season. Her name is Tiana. And for many little girls, she is a wish come true.

Our Alina Cho takes a look.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony, you know, this isn't the first time that Disney has broken the color barrier. Remember, Pocahontas? Maybe Mulan? But Tiana, well she's a first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW WHITE: We'll clean the house and surprise them.

CHO (voice-over): Move over, Snow White. There's a new princess in town, Tiana. She's the new "fairest of them all," and she's making history as Disney's first black princess.

CORI MURRAY, ESSENCE MAGAZINE: Finally, here is something that all little girls, especially young black girls, can embrace. And that is huge.

CHO: Tiana's timing couldn't be better, the fairytale princess falling on the heels of what some call a real life fairytale, the Obamas.

MURRAY: This is a message that, you know what, no matter what you look like, you are beautiful. That one day you can be a princess. One day, you're going to be first lady.

CHO: And Tiana is a modern princess, shapely with her own career. Far different from cartoons of years past.

CARTOON CHARACTER: Listen, mommy.

CHO: Racial stereotypes used to be everywhere, even in some Disney productions. There are reels on YouTube. But times have changed, says marketing guru Linda Kaplan Thaler.

LINDA KAPLAN THALER, CEO, KAPLAN THALER GROUP: It used to be that we would see people in black face. We would see minstrel shows. We would see black people portrayed in subservient positions. And it is so wonderful that we have finally moved past these stereotypes.

CHO: Pocahontas, Mulan and now Tiana. Disney's marketing machine is in high gear. The doll was unveiled last month and her movie will be out soon, too, "The Princess and the Frog." Set in New Orleans, Tiana is a waitress, a budding chef. She kisses a frog who, no surprise, turns out to be a prince.

Kaplan Thaler says that's where the story still needs some work.

KAPLAN THALER: There's a lot of girls, even 5 or 6 years old, who might scratch their head and go, I don't know, I don't know if it's going to be solved by a prince, I don't know if a frog is going to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Ain't that the truth?

Now, what about the prince? Now the blogs have been on fire lately asking, if the princess is black, why isn't the prince? Well, his name is Prince Naveen. He's said to be olive skinned and a Brazilian actor is the man behind the voice. As some point out, he's not black, but he's not white either. And perhaps a sign, Tony that, Disney is venturing into another realm, multicultural relationships, another sign of the times.

HARRIS: Oh, wow. Alina, appreciate it, thank you.

While American automakers are struggling to get people inside the showrooms, one Korean car company is making sales around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And happening now, tough questions about the $700 billion federal bailout. Live pictures of the Capitol right now. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner just wrapped up testimony before the panel overseeing the Trouble Assets Relief Program, or TARP. CNN Radio's Lisa Desjardins now on the phone from the Capitol.

Lisa, what came out of this? My understanding is that the hearing just wrapped up just a couple of minutes ago. Was it the sort of grilling that we expected of the treasury secretary by this panel?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, it depends on your perspective. This wasn't kind of the heated, sound-bite driven, kind of hearing that you get when a lot of members of Congress are involved. Instead, it was five members, you know, including Harvard economists, that kind of thing.

Very thoughtful committee, but their questions were very serious, as I know you and Gerri Willis talked about. They talked about why do auto companies have one tougher standard than banks. That was one big question.

Another big question, how come the stock that U.S. taxpayers are getting is common stock and not preferred stock. Why does that help U.S. taxpayers? Those kinds of questions and also, is this going to grow? How far is this going to go and what strings will you attach in the future?

HARRIS: Well, wait, wait, but Lisa, was the question asked by the panel, look, what's happened with the money? What's happening with the reporting from firms of what they've done with TARP money they've received? There's about $106 billion left in this program.

DESJARDINS: I know that's your number one question, where exactly...

HARRIS: Where did the money go?

DESJARDINS: To be honest, I did not hear that question asked directly at this hearing. And I think the panel was looking more toward where are we with results, where are we with other measures of accountability.

And to be honest, considering the fact this was a panel looking at billions and billions in spending, this was not a very long hearing. Really, just over an hour and a half, almost two hours long, to go through all of this. All of these people very busy, including the treasury secretary. They did not get into that specifically. But I'll tell you...

HARRIS: Wait a minute, Lisa, who was driving this hearing? Did the treasury secretary take questions off the table? Or was this clearly driven by the panel, where the panel could have asked anything it wanted?

DESJARDINS: The panel was clearly steering the ship here today, Tony. But the treasury secretary did not give specific answers, and as Gerri Willis told you, there were some times when they were frustrated a little bit. They were trying to get him to give more specifics.

But the treasury secretary said, in his defense, each program is unique, each decision is unique. He defended the spending, saying it's critical. He did say that, so far, results are mixed on some of these programs, but that they're watching and they do see some signs, as we've heard from President Obama, of hope.

HARRIS: Wow. All right, CNN Radio's Lisa Desjardins with us. Lisa, appreciate it. Thank you.

DEJARDINS: Oh, sure thing. HARRIS: Wow. The man policing the billions of bailout dollars is raising a red flag about waste and mismanagement. We will bring you a live report next hour on criminal investigations underway right now.

Plus, millions of voters going to the polls in South Africa. We will take you there live.

And check out our Josh Levs, he is working on a story about cars requiring no gas. You don't want to miss that live next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: With the U.S. car business in trouble, carmakers all over the world are looking to China to help rev up sales. After all, China is now the world's biggest car market, recently passing the United States recently. More than 6,000 people expected to attend this week's auto show in Shanghai; 1,500 car makers present.

Other countries are trying to move on what used to be Detroit's territory. CNN's Eunice Yoon reports on South Korea's Hyundai and how it plans to out run the competition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: May I hitch a ride?

H.S. LEE, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, HYUNDAI MOTORS: Oh, yes, sure. Welcome.

YOON: Thank you very much.

(voice-over): The chief technology officer of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor spends a lot of time on this car course. Every Thursday, H.S. Lee test drives one of hundreds of new vehicles made by Hyundai or its rivals. Sometimes a sedan, an SUV, a bus or even a dump truck.

LEE: Just like a sports car. You know, scary thing.

YOON: But he does it to keep track of the competition helping Hyundai make inroads in the worst car market in decades.

LEE: We are determined to become global leader in the car industry.

YOON: While American and Japanese carmakers scale back production and staff, Hyundai is on a roll. The company, known for its smaller, cheaper, yet reliable models, is revving up sales benefiting further from a weak Korean currency.

ETHAN KIM, ANALYST, CITI INVESTMENT RESEARCH: This may be one of the lifetime opportunities for Hyundai company to improve their market share. YOON: Key to that goal is building its brands. Once mocked in the industry as a laughing stock, Hyundai launched a ten-year warranty program a decade ago to improve its image. Now it's introduced a plan to assure would-be customers if they lose their jobs, they can return their cars no questions asked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, HYUNDAI CAR ADVERTISEMENT)

HYUNDAI ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCER: If you lose your income, we'll make your payments for three months while you get back on your feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HYUN-JONG JU, NORTH AMERICAN SALES, HYUNDAI MOTOR: They have no confidence in the future. But through the assurance program, we could help them to get back their confidence.

YOON (on camera): Hyundai Motor and other South Korean carmakers have a secret weapon for the future, some of the advanced car batteries are made in their own backyard.

(voice-over): LG Chem is making the battery that will power General Motors plug-in electric car, the Volt. The Korean chemicals form also powers Hyundai's very first hybrid car.

PETER KIM, CEO LG CHEM: We have high skills in the mass production. So we - mass production experience and higher end competency (ph), we can be al leader in this area.

YOON: Some auto analysts fear rising protectionism could hamper Hyundai's path. But for now, Lee is focused on testing Hyundai's new hybrid.

LEE: This is the future of car industry.

YOON: Hoping to steer the company through the twist and turns of the global economic crisis.

Eunice Yoon, CNN, Namyang, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)