Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Alumni Associations Can Be Job Resource; Unemployment is Hazardous to Your Health; Thousands Flee Fighting in Pakistan's Swat Valley; Former Baseball Player Arrested in Child Support Case; California Wildfires Continue to Rage; Obama Urges Extended Unemployment for Students; Wildfire Flares Up Overnight; Investigations, Charges for Voter Registration Group

Aired May 08, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Need a job? Need a skill? Need to learn and look for work without losing benefits? We're pushing forward on a White House plan to turn calamity into opportunity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The taxpayers invested a lot of money in the auto industry. In respect to get that money back, they're not going to get it back unless we're selling vehicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It takes money to make money. GM is almost broke, but it's still spending big bucks to woo big customers. We're pushing forward on a posh pitch.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First up this hour, hopeful news from the labor front. U.S. employers easing up on layoffs but still not much hiring. Five hundred and thirty-nine thousand jobs disappeared last month in America, however, a lot less than economists expected for April. Still, though, the unemployment rate jumped to 8.9 percent, and that's the highest in 25 years.

Unemployment insurance is a safety net, but President Obama says it should be a stepping stone. He's pushing states to let job seekers keep their benefits while they go to school to learn new skills. He also wants colleges to boost financial aid for unemployed students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked my secretary of education, Arte Duncan, and my secretary of labor, Hilda Solis, to work closely with states and our institutions of higher learning and encourage them not only to allow these changes but to inform all workers receiving unemployment benefits of the training programs and financial support open to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, as recessions give way to recovery, employment often is the last thing to bounce back. CNN's Stephanie Elam joining me now from the New York Stock Exchange to push the latest numbers forward.

Stephanie, have we seen the worst of the mass layoffs?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kyra, that's something that we would all love to have happen, have that be the case. And that's what the market seems to think at this point.

You know, you're talking about those April numbers. Well, think about this. In March, the job losses were near 700,000. So the loss of 539,000 jobs in April still a huge number, but it is a step in the right direction.

And this is not the only data that's supporting the theory. If you take a look at the reports that we've gotten this week, we've learned that new unemployment claims have been falling and that the private sector chopped fewer jobs. So the idea here being, Kyra, things are getting better; things seem to be stabilizing. But like you said, jobs is the last thing that rebounds when the economy is taking a hit.

PHILLIPS: All right. So Steph, getting back to what Obama was talking about this morning, about changing the rules for unemployment benefits, how do the states that currently handle benefits for people who go back to school implement this?

ELAM: Yes, it's really interesting here, because Kyra, this is one of those things that you know it happens state by state. They vary by state. And if you call your state and you'll find out there's different things there.

But some, like Arizona, stop benefits when you go back to school. But there are exceptions. In fact, in New York you can still get unemployment benefits if you're taking a training program that's approved by the state. There are certain stipulations to that. You have to attain class -- you have to attend class for a certain number of hours, and it has to be completed in two years. And you might not get unemployment benefits for the entire time that you're in school.

As you were saying, President Obama wants these states to change the rules and make it across the board that you get benefits while you're in school, period.

The final thing does come back to the states, but we're likely to see some changes here. Well, it is the president that is asking. And if you're out of work, then cash is probably tight. So benefits could also prompt more unemployment people -- unemployed people to go back to school.

And for those who are already in school, it's a nice cushion. Many people go back to school to better themselves or make themselves more marketable. That's something that we always see in a recession. The bottom line here, though, is that the unemployment rate actually drops for people who have higher education. The unemployment rate for college-educated people is 4.4 percent. The national unemployment rate, Kyra, 8.9 percent.

So the president is just looking at the numbers here and trying to make it work for everyone who needs to get back out there and get themselves prepared for the market.

PHILLIPS: Stephanie, thanks.

And if you get Social Security, check your mailbox. The government is sending out more than 50 million economic stimulus checks worth $250 a piece. The idea is to boost spending among a group that supposedly is missing out on tax breaks benefiting wage earners.

You remember that $400 for most singles, $800 for couples. But here's the rub: about 17 percent of the 65 and older crowd still hold jobs and will have to pay these bonus checks back next year, by the way.

Reynolds Wolf, keeping track of what's happening right now with this extremely dangerous situation on the weather front.

Reynolds, what do you have?

(WEATHER REPORT)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And that's one thing that we're following. Another big story that we're following, Kyra, of course, is the fires out towards the west. There's a huge mess along the central coast of California, especially near Santa Barbara.

As you know very well, Kyra, you are from the Golden State. You know it is a Mediterranean south climate, very dry conditions. When you have these fires this time of year, with that dry chaparral, all that dry vegetation, it tends to spread very quickly. Winds expected to accelerate today and into tomorrow. Some gusts topping 50 miles an hour. And it's only 10 percent contained. They really have their work cut out for them.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Yes, they do. Reynolds, you're so right.

Right there in Santa Barbara where Reynolds was talking about, they're actually calling it a blow torch. This wildfire already chasing at least 30,000 people from their homes. And right now, it has scorched nearly 3,000 acres and damaged or destroyed at least 75 homes.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom joins us now live from Santa Barbara with more -- Kara.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, behind me here you can see some of these crews are getting ready to pull out. This is the command center for the firefighters, and they have been busy in and out of here all day.

Overnight, what happened, Kyra, was these winds just fired up once again and sent this fire in a couple new directions, burning up on the hillsides, burning also into neighborhoods that are a little bit more traditional than we've seen in the past.

Yesterday, most of the fires were kind of in those remote canyons where homes are a little bit more scattered. Well, now kind of on these traditional city blocks with houses right next to each other.

So these firefighters have also found themselves facing a different challenge in those areas. They've been very busy. They are hoping, though, Kyra, for a break this weekend, because the winds are supposed to die down. The temperatures are supposed to be a little bit cooler, and hopefully, that will help them gain a little bit of control here.

PHILLIPS: OK. Kara Finnstrom there, live in Santa Barbara. We'll continue to follow up with you and the situation there.

Meanwhile, alleged voter registration fraud, so outrageous, so blatant, almost hard to believe. CNN first revealed the controversy surrounding the activist group ACORN. Now we're following up, and so are federal, state and local authorities.

Plus, if you were almost broke, could you afford to say at this resort? Of course not. Well, GM is almost broke, but it's throwing a bash with all of the options -- oh, and by the way, and the leather seats, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's a story that should outrage anyone who's ever been in a voting booth. Allegations of blatant voter registration fraud against ACORN, the liberal activist group that openly supported Barack Obama's presidential run. You probably remember Drew Griffin from CNN's special investigations unit broke the story, and he hasn't stopped yet, relentlessly pursuing answers, finding examples of alleged fraud that are almost hard to believe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Here's another ACORN-filled-out registration form. It's for Jimmy Johns, 10839 Broadway in Crown Point. Jimmy Johns. We decided to track him down.

Here he is. Is there anybody here that's actually named Jimmy Johns? Nobody registered to vote here named Jimmy Johns?

(voice-over): ACORN's voter registration drives are under investigation or suspicion in several states. Local authorities raided this ACORN office in Las Vegas, where ACORN workers allegedly registered members of the Dallas Cowboys football team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could just look and see a hand. You could see some where they used a phone book, including the apostrophe.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Went down in the phone book and just copied it verbatim, right out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kitchen petition. Sit around the kitchen, fill out the petition.

GRIFFIN: Kitchen petition? Sit around the kitchen, fill out the petition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's happened.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, and that was only the beginning. This story has been developing rapidly since Drew broke it, and he's here now with a follow-up.

Why don't we talk about who else is pursuing ACORN?

GRIFFIN: Yes, it has been a bad week for ACORN. They've been under investigation since the election, since before the election, in many different states. This week charges filed.

You saw the charges in Nevada, but there was charges in Pittsburgh. Seven ACORN workers charged there for voter registration fraud issues, and the prosecutor there, Kyra, said this is not the -- this is only the beginning. They are actually looking at ACORN, the organization.

And out in Nevada, where the Dallas Cowboys football team was registered to vote...

PHILLIPS: Right.

GRIFFIN: ... they are now charging ACORN.

And I want to read you what the attorney general said out there in Nevada. That "the manuals that ACORN had" -- this is the attorney general, said, "clearly detailed, condoned and required illegal acts," in the way ACORN was registering people and encouraging their registrars to go out and make these quotas. Where in Nevada, if you got 21 people to register, you got an extra $5. It was encouraging them to put down any old name, including Mickey Mouse, Dallas Cowboys...

PHILLIPS: That's what we remember.

GRIFFIN: ... just about everybody.

PHILLIPS: And what happened to Jimmy John in Indiana?

GRIFFIN: Jimmy John in Indiana, that is still under investigation. The feds and the state still investigating there. There's investigations and some charges filed already in Wisconsin, and on and on and on.

ACORN continues to deny that they're the problem. They said that they were following the procedures, and trying to blame individual ACORN workers as being the problem. The attorney general in Nevada said, "Unh-uh. This is the organization."

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, we're doing a two-fer with Drew today. You probably won't forget the investigation he did about the terrorist watch list. Have you been flying lately?

GRIFFIN: I fly all the time, Kyra, as you know.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, I do. And we can't forget what happened to you this day at the airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch list.

GRIFFIN: A watch list?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. So how exactly did you end up on the FBI watch list?

GRIFFIN: You know, it was shortly after we did a series of very negative reports on the federal air marshal service. And suddenly, we -- I found myself labeled as a terrorist when I went to go check in at -- at the airports. And it created a lot of hassle. Lots and lots of hassle in my life. But we did a lot of stories on it, too.

PHILLIPS: And the update, coming up at 2 p.m. is that that old watch list hasn't been...

GRIFFIN: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: ... FBI agents haven't been doing such a good job.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Yes.

PHILLIPS: Bottom line?

GRIFFIN: The bottom line is we've got some -- some very interesting news there and a little bit of, well, "I told you so" coming up.

PHILLIPS: All right. Sounds good. We'll see you at 2. Thanks, Drew.

Well, GM says that it's scaling back. Do you call this scaling back? If you'd lost 6 billion in six months, you'd probably say at a Motel 6, right? So why is GM doing this in a swanky resort?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, Ed Montgomery. You may not recognize his name, but thousands of people are looking to him to save their jobs.

The White House appointed Montgomery to help communities that depend on the struggling auto industry. In short, he's President Obama's car czar, and today, he's in the heart of car country, touring a GM plant in Flint, Michigan. He's also visiting other Michigan cities hit hard by plunging car sales.

Now, one question our car czar might want to ask: if GM is almost broke, why is it wining and dining hundreds of high-end clients? Jared Dillingham from our Phoenix affiliate, KTVK, looks into a luxury pit stop on the road to bankruptcy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JARED DILLINGHAM, KTVK REPORTER (voice-over): General Motors has lost $6 billion so far this year. So some are questioning why the company paid to send 500 top customers to this high-end hotel, the Wildhourse Pass Resort, in Chandler.

Jim Campbell is GM's man in charge of the event, which she says is not a free vacation but a crucial business meeting.

JIM CAMPBELL, GM FLEET SALES MANAGER: The reality of what we're doing here is about products. It's about business. It's about our customers.

DILLINGHAM: Their very best customers. The people here represent governments, corporations, even the Mormon Church, all looking to buy in bulk. GM officials say, with the company in financial turmoil, this annual event is needed now more than ever.

CAMPBELL: This is the year to really get in front of your customers.

DILLINGHAM: GM says the customers here typically end up buying 800,000 vehicles, a quarter of the company's annual sales.

Still, critics say it just looks bad, especially in light of the taxpayer bailout.

(on camera) But is GM paying to wine and dine these people?

CAMPBELL: We do pay for their room and board.

DILLINGHAM (voice-over): Rooms at the resort run around $250 a night. Despite the lavish location, GM has scaled back this year. The company is not paying for any extras.

JOHN FISCHER, ATTENDING: Golf outings are pay your own way. We have hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch.

DILLINGHAM: John Fischer came in from Atlanta for the event.

(on camera) Do you understand at all why people are questioning or criticizing the event?

FISCHER: Sure.

DILLINGHAM (voice-over): But he says the product previews and test drives offered here are important to the big buyers.

FISCHER: We as taxpayers invested a lot of money in the auto, industry and we expect to get that money back, and you're not going to get it back unless we're selling vehicles.

DILLINGHAM: GM officials won't say how much the whole thing costs, but at this point they need it to pay off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Jared Dillingham from our Phoenix affiliate KTVK did that report. And by the way, GM is reporting a $6 billion loss for the first three months of this year.

More than six million people in the United States are looking for work, and we recently found one of them at a bilingual job fair. His name is Rafael Ubeda, but his friends call him Alex. He's a computer animator, and he's our 30-second pitch.

Let's get the clock ready. And roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three. Go.

ALEX UBEDA, JOB SEEKER: I'm a graduate of Ringling (ph) College of Art and Design, computer animation BFA. I used to work for EA Company, EA Tigran (ph) in Orlando, Florida. And now I'm looking for either an art teaching job or another computer animation job.

I'm funny. I'm nice. I'm personable. And I love to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, obviously, that was about five seconds to spare. If you've got a job for him, e-mail him right now at rafael.ubeda@gmail.com.

Well, want to polish your pitch? In just a few minutes, career counselor Maggie Mistal joins us with advice for job seekers in general and one in particular.

Well, times are tough. You've got to sell your strengths. One furniture store found its strength in diversity and put it on YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm black, and I love the Red House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm white, and I love the Red House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a black woman, and I love the Red House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am white, and the Red House is for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): At the Red House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the sofa. It's perfect for a black person or a white person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This mattress is perfect for a white person. Or a black person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): At the Red House, where black people and white people buy furniture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Hispanic people, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, our first reaction was, hey, that couch looks pretty comfy. The second was this cannot be for real. But guess what? It is. And it's got people from California to Norway talking.

What do you think? Great idea? Bad taste? Awkward? Train wreck? Send me a tweet or an e-mail with your opinions. I'm going to actually talk to the guy who made the ad and also the store owner, too, to let you know if sales have gone up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, fewer of us are getting laid off, but after 17 months of recession, the unemployment rate is still rising.

The Labor Department says in April that employers cut 539,000 jobs, the smallest number in six months. And at the same time, the jobless rate jumped from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent.

Seizing on the layoff numbers, President Obama says, quote, "The gears of our economic engine do seem to be slowly turning once again."

Well, with so many people looking for work, we're reaching out to some of them in our 30-second pitch. Robert Ryan needs a job. And he's with us here today. And we've actually asked a career coach, Maggie Mistal, to give us her best advice on what Robert and other job seekers can do to get hired.

So Maggie, we're going to get to you in just a second. I know you've looked at Robert's resume for us.

So Robert, let's start with you. And tell me what kind of work you were doing and what happened.

ROBERT RYAN, JOB SEEKER: I'm a project manager by trade. I work and develop Web sites. The last two companies I worked for kind of downsized. We got caught up in the downturn of the economy, so I was let go, unfortunately.

PHILLIPS: Did you see it coming?

RYAN: The second one, yes. The first one, no.

PHILIPS: Wow. So -- so is it right when things were getting pretty bad, because I'm surprised you were -- maybe I shouldn't be surprised that you landed a second job pretty quickly after losing the first one in bad time, or was it just kind of starting to roll that way?

RYAN: No, it was a pretty bad time. I started in December. And I thought it would be a good full-time gig, but unfortunately, it just didn't work out.

PHILLIPS: So when they came to you, how did they approach it with you? What did they tell you? What were the reasoning? Were they just straight up and direct about what was going on? Did they talk to you about work performance?

RYAN: It was -- it was mainly about what was going on in the economy; lack of -- lack of work, unfortunately.

PHILLIPS: Any other skills that you have or anything that you might be interested in besides that type of work? Have you even thought about it? I mean, has a plan B even entered your mind?

RYAN: I would like -- I would like to be a software trainer. I've done software training in the past, and I love it. I like to see the light bulb go off in somebody's head when they kind of get it.

PHILLIPS: Well, we love that. I think we all love that.

All right. So Maggie, you've taken -- you've looked at Robert's resume. What do you think? What's your advice, considering the position that he's been in? Because look, he lost one job but didn't have a problem getting a second one. But, you know, it's a tough time, but still, he was getting a job in a tough time.

MAGGIE MISTAL, CAREER COACH/XM-SIRIUS RADIO HOST: Yes, and Kyra, you make good points.

And actually, Robert, one thing -- one thing to remember, from the statistics I've seen, that IT spending should increase in the fourth quarter of this year. So I think you'll have more job opportunities.

The other thing to remember, though, in checking out your resume is that your -- your education was close towards the top, and you've been working for quite a few years. Don't want to make you too old.

But you can put that towards the bottom, because what you want at the top of your resume are things like core competencies or skills, which I know you've listed later in your resume: things like the different software packages that you're experienced in and the different project management certifications. You want that to be at the top. Because what happens, when you submit your resume, you're doing it through an online system for most jobs, and they're using technology to actually sort through that information. So you want to make sure those core competencies are listed very clearly at the top.

PHILLIPS: Anything you want to ask her, specifically? I mean, here we go. We've got a career counselor. You been struggling with anything specifically, or do you have other questions about your resume or how you should be going forward from this point on?

RYAN: I just wanted to ask her, I just joined a bunch of groups on LinkedIn to try to network. And I'm starting to get some feedback from those groups. I was wondering if there are any other avenues I should investigate or try?

MISTAL: Well, absolutely, Ryan. One of the best is actually your alumni network. You know, LinkedIn is a great source, because LinkedIn.com, great for researching. I'm glad you're joining groups. Make sure people know specifically what kind of jobs you're looking for. You can actually list that as your status.

And then also, like I said, go back to any of your alumni associations from college. Right now I've been doing, actually, a lot of workshops for alumni associations, because they're reaching out to their alums, making sure they're employed. So maybe people that you haven't tapped into, if you haven't checked out that network as well.

PHILLIPS: Where did you go to school?

RYAN: Up in New York.

PHILLIPS: Up in New York?

RYAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. Is there a good alumni association?

RYAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: OK, there you go.

RYAN: It's pretty good down here in Atlanta, too, so it's great.

PHILLIPS: OK. What school?

RYAN: SUNY Plattsburgh.

PHILLIPS: Oh, OK. There you go. It's a great school.

RYAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: There should be alums out there ready to help you out. Well, are you ready to do a 30-second pitch?

RYAN: Yes, definitely.

PHILLIPS: OK, I'll tell you what. Otis, let's go ahead and get that clock ready. I'm going to have you look directly into this camera right here. We're going to have your e-mail there on the bottom of the screen. I'm going to have you go for it, all right?

RYAN: All right.

PHILLIPS: All right, Robert Ryan, take it away.

RYAN: I have previous experience as a project manager and business analyst, creating and implementing Web sites and Web forms. I have experience in PHP, ColdFusion, .NET, and I'm studying for my PnP certification right now. So, I'll be PnP-certified in the next week or two.

PHILLIPS: All right, you still got 15 seconds. Give me something.

RYAN: Wow.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

RYAN: Well, I also have done a lot of software training in the past. I love to do software training. I love to make that connection with people, love to make it more personal than just somebody speaking esoterically over their head.

PHILLIPS: Outstanding. Two seconds to go. Now, we didn't get your e-mail put up there. I don't know why that happened. So, give me your e-mail right now. I'm just going to say it live on the air.

RYAN: It's HireRobertRyan...

PHILLIPS: OK, so higher, h-i-g-h-e-r? Have we got it up there now?

RYAN: Hire.

PHILLIPS: OK. Oh, here we go. Hire as in h-i-r-e. HireRobertRyan@gmail.com.

RYAN: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let us know what happens, OK?

RYAN: I will. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Robert. All right.

"Well, I'm sorry. We're going to have to let you go." Those are words that's going to start your stomach churning, no doubt, when you hear them. Well, coming up, we're going to talk about evidence that layoffs are harmful to your long-term health as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, in southern Missouri, reports of widespread damage as powerful storms are pounding that area. Reynolds Wolf tracking the dangerous storm system.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Hey, have you seen this sinkhole? It's one of the most popular videos on CNN.com.

WOLF: Yes, it seems to happen quite a bit in parts of Florida, no question about it.

PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. It's just swallowing this home north of Tampa Bay. I'm told it's in Hernando County. Never good to see your house going down like this. But unfortunately, we're told, the homeowner just renewed the insurance policy on that house. Well, there's some luck. And again, you can check it out on CNN.com.

WOLF: My goodness.

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy. All right.

WOLF: Take a look at that.

PHILLIPS: I know, so you're -- OK, you've got it there up as well.

WOLF: Absolutely. And you know how these form is that you have underwater aquifers in Florida. If you were to dig down in Florida, you're going to run into limestone, and you have underwater rivers there, refer to them as aquifers. What happens is, when you have these aquifers when the water is drained out, you have almost like a really hollow mass. And when you have a hollow mass, think of it like this.

I'm going to actually do a little drawing here. You have your house right here, so to speak.

PHILLIPS: Right.

WOLF: You have your ground. You have your aquifer. When the water is out, you don't have much that's supporting that house, and of course, everything breaks.

PHILLIPS: But shouldn't you know when you buy the house if it's sitting on top of an aquifer?

WOLF: Yes. You should.

PHILLIPS: Hello?

WOLF: Probably helpful information.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.

WOLF: I would think so.

PHILLIPS: I'm going to check a little deeper into that. No pun intended. WOLF: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Thank you very much, Reynolds.

Well, peace, loveseats and harmony, a furniture store tried to make race as comfortable as its couches, and they're selling it in an ad that you'll swear is a joke, but it's not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A couple weeks ago, we told you about a British study that found that a job promotion can be harmful to your health. Well, you can't win. Now, according to another study, losing your job can also make you sick. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with that.

You know, on a serious note, it's true. I mean, you just -- people are stressed out, and it's causing all kinds of ailments.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, and stress affects your whole body. It doesn't just affect you in the head. It affects the whole body. So, let's take a look at this most recent study. It's, well, it's pretty depressing. I'll just put it out there.

It looked at folks who had been laid off, folks who'd been laid off were 83 percent more likely to develop new health conditions. In other words, they didn't have these health problems while they were employed.

What kinds of conditions are we talking about? Stroke, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. So, again, bottom line is that when people get laid off, they are more likely to get these diseases than folks who maintain their jobs.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about exactly that stress affects the body.

COHEN: What happens is, when you're under stress, there are certain hormones that start to circulate in your body. Now, let's say you're under stress because you're in traffic and you're mad, and those stress hormones go up. Well, when you get to where you're going, those hormones will go down.

The problem with getting laid off is that you may not have a job for a long time, and so that stress just accumulates day after day after day. And those stress hormones are particularly bad for things like heart disease.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Not only that, but I mean, stress contributes to anxiety as well.

COHEN: Oh, sure.

PHILLIPS: I think we've all experienced that in one way or another.

COHEN: Oh, yes, absolutely, absolutely.

PHILLIPS: So, when folks found work, do they get better?

COHEN: You know what, in this study, they actually didn't, which was sort of interesting. What they found was that people were still having more of these new health conditions, and they think part of it is it was just sort of residual stress from getting laid off in the first place, but also perhaps they didn't like this new job as much as they liked the first one.

Now, I think what would be interesting is if they followed these people for a number of years. Because I would hope that after a certain period of time, there's no more residual stress. They've sort of forgotten about that layoff, and they've moved on in life. So, hopefully, after a period of time, things do get better.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll follow up then.

COHEN: OK. Sounds good.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.

Well, we're just getting started here in the NEWSROOM. Week after week after week, another child murdered. A major city turns into a crime scene and a war zone for our kids. When will it end?

Plus, you've seen him accused, arrested, rearrested, in and out of the news. Now prosecutors are going after Drew Peterson again, but this time they mean it.

Locals count 147 dead, but today the U.S. military in Afghanistan called that number of civilian deaths in attacks on Taliban fighters extremely exaggerated. A source now with direct knowledge of this investigation tells CNN as many as 50 people were killed in U.S. bombing runs on Tuesday. Investigators concede that women and children are among the dead, but they believe the civilians were forced to be human shields for Taliban fighters, the targets of the American air strikes.

Taliban militants on one side, Pakistani troops on the other, Hundreds of thousands of terrified civilians in the middle. As Pakistan turns up the heat on the Taliban, more and more villagers are turning into refugees.

Here's CNN's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Civilians continue to flee the Swat Valley. The United Nations estimating that already, 150 to 2,000 have escaped the conflict zone, and another 300,000 people are on the move or expected to get moving soon. From some of these civilians, harrowing stories of a trip out of the Swat Valley past roadside bombs and land mines buried in the asphalt to be used, presumably, as a defense against the Pakistani army if and when it does move in to try to retake this territory from Taliban militants. Descriptions of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people, many of them jumping in any kind of vehicle available -- rickshaws, tractors, cars and trucks, some of them walking barefoot. Children, senior citizens, as well, walking out yesterday from the Swat Valley after the curfew was relaxed for several hours to help the civilian population to escape.

One doctor from a neighboring district, the Mardan District, which borders Buner District, where the fighting has been taking place for more than a week, says that more than 2,000 civilians have arrived and been treated at his hospital since May 5th. Treated with wounds as a result of the fighting that has been going on in this area.

And mostly what we've heard so far coming from the Pakistani military is that they are using long-distance weapons such as air strikes from fighter jets, from helicopters, artillery as well, mortars, lobbing those weapons into what are settled areas against suspected Taliban targets. Meanwhile, the Taliban has fought back, ambushing police installations, police outposts in the northwest of Pakistan and also ambushing convoys of Pakistani military vehicles. Not yet a full-scale ground battle taking place. We do not see street-to-street fighting, but we expect that probably in the days to come.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Building better relations with Muslims and Jews, that's Pope Benedict XVI's goal as he starts his first trip to the Middle East. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church is now in Jordan's capital city of Amman. Other stops include Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Now, since becoming pope, Benedict has made both Muslims and Jews angry with some controversial comments. In one case, he quoted a Byzantine emperor who called the prophet Mohammad's teachings evil and inhumane. We'll follow his trip.

Ten years and almost $800,000 later, they got him. Not a top tax evader, but a pro baseball player turned deadbeat dad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, there is indeed a red house over yonder in High Point, North Carolina, furniture capital of the world. A store there has an online ad that's gone viral on YouTube. See if you can figure out why it's such a talker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- TV AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't we all just get along?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the Red House Furniture...

UNIDENTIFIED MALES: ... we can! (MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Richard, aka Big Head. I work at the Red House, and I'm black. I like pumping iron and pumping furniture into people's homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Johnny, aka Ten Gauge. I work at the Red House, and I'm white. I like deer hunting, bass fishing and extending credit to all people.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Comfy couches and comfy race relations. The ad is for real, folks. Big Head and Johnny Ten Gauge really work there. And the ad's gotten more than half a million views on YouTube. And the store manager told us the phone's been ringing off the hook.

The two guys singing, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neil (ph), they created that ad. Brett's actually on the phone with me from the airport in Cincinnati.

So, Rhett, tell me why you thought that something as delicate as race relations would actually be a good selling point?

RHETT MCLAUGHLIN, COMMERCIAL PRODUCER: Well, you know, Kyra, the idea when you're making a commercial, especially something that's going to go online, is to get as many views as possible. We wanted to help these guys at the Red House Furniture out as much as we could. So we knew if we talked about race relations in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, we would probably tap into something. And it looks like it worked.

PHILLIPS: Well, and even the manager and the V.P. of the store, Steve Patalano, said that he considers everybody that works there sort of the rainbow coalition of staff and clientele. But looking at just the background of that area, I mean, the KKK being so prominent there at a certain point, that's where the Woolworth sit-in was, I mean, were you scared to take this risk?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, you know, we knew it definitely was a risk, and any time you're going to talk about race, you're going to -- it's going to incite controversy. We actually made a response video to that video to kind of explain, you know, there's a difference between something that's racial and something that's racist. We thought this was comedy. It was racial.

Actually, if you think about it, it's a great message. It's an ironic message because people don't discriminate in furniture stores based on race. Maybe they did at some point in the past, but they don't now. So, yes, we anticipated the controversy, but everybody on board was really comfortable with it, and we, you know, we wanted to get the word out about the Red House.

PHILLIPS: Well, and also I hear the phone's been ringing off the hook, but it's been more buzz than business. Do you think that it's going to have an effect on business? Have you been receiving any calls or inquiries about that?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, we're getting a lot of contacts about making potential commercials for people. I think that the great news about doing something and releasing it on the Web is that there's a -- it's there up, you know, it's on the line indefinitely. So, you can never really gauge the impact. It's not like buying a commercial for TV, where there's a limited amount of broadcast time.

And this thing's going to live on indefinitely, and I think it will translate into some business. But even if it doesn't, these guys are really enjoying the attention.

PHILLIPS: Yes, the owner of the store actually said in the 50 years that he's been in business, this is the first time his name has gotten out to this extent. So, it definitely works, I guess, as a PR tool, which makes you a very successful advertiser. So, let me ask you, are you going to do more of these commercials for this company?

And I understand you're on your way to Cincinnati. Is this for a new job because of what you've been doing?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, actually, we're coming back from Cincinnati, heading back home to Raleigh, North Carolina. And we're full-time Web comedians, and we do a little music, so we've been up here doing a concert.

But, yes, as far as more commercials, you know, these were actually part of a big campaign for microbuilt.com, a credit protection company that all these -- you know, Red House is a customer of them, and they actually decided to provide a free commercial for them just as a nice gesture because they're a Microbuilt customer. So, we're actually working up, you know, probably a new series of more commercials. So, I think sometime in 2009 you can see another set of three or five local commercials from Red Link, yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, final question: How expensive was this. I mean, ads can be extremely expensive. How much did it cost to put together? Will you tell me?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I can tell you the production costs are really, really low. We're talking hundreds of dollars. And really what Microbuilt was paying for the Red House was just the potential of it getting views, you know, through just redlink.com (ph) and YouTube and those kinds of things. So, very, very affordable when you compare it to traditional TV broadcasts, I'll tell you that much.

PHILLIPS: No doubt, and quite a talker. Rhett McLaughlin, congratulations. We'll be following your work.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, here's what some of you have tweeted me about that ad. Trevor Woods (ph) writes, "I think it's an off the wall and kind of ad that is extremely cheesy, but they're obviously trying to get people to lighten up and shop."

Jason B. (ph) says, "People take offense to this, I think they need to chill. Seeing the race card pulled more each day, well, we need some enlightenment."

And then Urban (ph) writes, "The Red Barn commercial is a great idea. Everyone needs and deserves affordable furniture. Corporate America should take note."

And then Egberto (ph) writes, "I think the video is funny. Humoring race could be a good anecdote. Maybe we should all be growing up at last."

Thanks to all of you for writing in. We sure appreciate it.

Well, they say that everything's bigger in Texas. And clearly, deadbeat dads are no exception. You might know Troy Neel as an ex- first baseman with the Oakland A's. Well, authorities know him as the most egregious child support evader in Texas history.

They say that over ten years, he's accumulated $760,000 in back support and interest. And get this, Neel's been living on a South Pacific island at a $1.5 million resort that he bought. He was arrested in December at the Los Angeles airport and just pleaded guilty to fleeing the country to avoid supporting his two kids. But Neel disputes the total old -- or the total that he owes, and he says, I'm broke.

Be on the lookout for one sweet ride. All right, this '92 Mercury Marquis might not be your dream car, but whoever stole it, you just ripped off a bunch of kids. The car was going to be raffled off to benefit some Little Leaguers in California. The money would have helped families on a tight budget pay league fees and buy uniforms. Hey car thief, do the right thing.

All right, we're not only live pictures of the wildfires in California, but our Reynolds Wolf has been tracking all the severe weather for us, keeping an eye on the fires, among other things right now --Reynolds.

WOLF: That's right, 2,335 firefighters battling this blaze up in the hills not far from Santa Barbara. You can see it right now. Smoke billowing everywhere. This live video compliments of KABC. You can see the flames, also the smoke just passing thousands of feet into the area.

Some of the temperatures exceeding 14,000 -- or rather 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. And with the dry chaparral that you have in this area, it is going to be just going up like a tinderbox. Something else that's going to be going up is the intensity of the winds, the winds going up possibly to 60 miles an hour as we get into the weekend. We've got 246 engines that are out here, 62 hand crews, 13 bulldozers trying to make firebreaks right here through the forest so that the fire can't jump from one point to another. And that's the big struggle, trying to contain this when you have the dry foliage, you've got the strong winds, you've got the flames going everywhere. It is just a huge undertaking. And unfortunately, there's really not going to be a tremendous help in terms of a weather changer until we get into maybe early next week.

Through the weekend certainly, the winds are going to be strong, very dry conditions. What you normally see along this part of the world this time of the year would be something else. I'm going to move this box a little bit more to this side and show you the setup over here with this image. Now, this image shows you the California coast. Normally this time of year, you sometimes get what we refer to as the marine layer, an inversion layer of very humid air, maybe about 3 or 4,000 feet thick. It sits right along the coast, keeps everything nice and moist.

Well, they don't have that situation, certainly right where these fires are popping out. As this chopper begins to move up a little bit farther up the slope, you can see the top of the hill, lot of the flames, everything going up. Heat rises, and as those flames continue to burn, more of that chaparral, more of those grasses, some of that California oak, that dry wood is going to create more smoke, tougher visibility for the aircraft to get in and fight this.

Certainly, tougher observations along the ground trying to go from those staging areas and conduct where crews should be headed. You know, this is very similar to a military operation, Kyra, the way that they conduct this in the skies above and on the grounds below. It's a very, very muddled mess. There have been widespread evacuations.

Only 10 percent contained at this time, and it's certainly going to be a rough time for these guys. Take a look at those flames. You can't really describe that other than just seeing it. I mean, just an amazing thing to see. And keep in mind this is a Mediterranean-style climate. I mean, this kind of stuff has been happening in part of the world for millions of years.

So, certainly, when you have people that live in this area, certainly rough times, and people are terrified of what's going to happen to their homes, what's going to happen to their neighborhoods, certainly much concern along the West Coast at this time -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Reynolds, thanks.

WOLF: You bet.