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Camp Liberty Slayings; Buffalo Plane Crash Hearing; Class of '09 and the Job Market; Florida Governor to Run for Senate; Deficit Growing Even Higher
Aired May 12, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: What went wrong at Camp Liberty? Under investigation five U.S. soldiers killed by a comrade. We'll go straight to Baghdad for the very latest on that. We will also talk about stress and soldiers. A major issue getting much needed attention.
Also looking into some clues now for that plane crash outside of Buffalo. Who's to blame? The training, the pilot, the company? A hearing going on in Washington. You aren't going to want to miss.
Also, the class of '09. Getting an education in the tough job market. What are their real chances of landing a job?
It's Tuesday, May 12th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The president said to be shocked. The defense secretary expressing horror. Those emotions rippling down through the U.S. military's chain of command after officials say a U.S. soldier killed five of his comrades.
Here's what we know. The U.S. command in Baghdad says a suspect in the killings is in custody. Neither the suspect nor the victims have yet been identified but a defense official says the suspect had been a patient at the Camp Liberty Treatment Center where the shootings took place.
For the latest on the shooting investigation now, let's go live to CNN's Cal Perry in Baghdad this morning.
Cal, good morning to you.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. I have fresh details and I'm going to give them to you right as I get them. We have a producer who has just come out of a briefing with the U.S. military.
First, I can give you the name of the shooter. Army Sergeant John Russell. That's the name we're being given by a source out of Washington, D.C. A defense official confirming to CNN the shooter's name is Army Sergeant John Russell.
Now we're hearing from the U.S. military here in Baghdad there are two investigations under way. The first one is an army criminal investigation to look at exactly what happened the shooting itself. The other one is a 15-6 army regulation which is to look at overall problems in the military, whether or not this shooting could have been prevented.
Five were killed. Two, we understand, were from the staff at the clinic. One was from the army. The other one was from the Navy. The unit they we're talking about here at the clinic was the 55th Medical Company. I do not have a location on where they are based out of. I believe it's Indiana but we'll have to double-check that.
The three others that were killed were enlisted soldiers who happened to be at the clinic. Now, again, this shooting happening at a stress clinic. This is a place where people are supposed to feel free to talk about the stressful problems they face in Iraq and a place where they are supposed to be safe.
Obviously, that was not the case. And we will continue to update details as we get them from the military, Heidi.
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Cal, great job on getting us all that new information. So many issues to discuss here. We sure do appreciate it.
Cal Perry coming to us live from Baghdad this morning with the very latest on this shooting.
Now coming up in less than 20 minutes, how it feels to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. We're talking to an Iraq war veteran and our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta about helping vets in need.
The shooting in Iraq will no doubt be discussed at the White House this afternoon. In fact, President Barack Obama is set to meet with General Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Chris Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Later, he'll sit down with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Oval Office.
This morning, though, the president will be talking to business leaders about cost-cutting, specifically employer healthcare costs.
Right now, in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan forces are fighting suicide bombers and militants. There are dead bodies lying in the streets. As many as 30 suicide bombers tried to attack government buildings in Khost, that's east of Kabul.
They also targeted a U.S. military quick strike force. At least nine people are dead in the attacks. No word right now that any U.S. soldiers were among those casualties. Some of the militant fighters may still be holding government workers hostage.
We'll stay on top of that story. In let's do that right now and head to the Pentagon with our correspondent Barbara Starr standing by for the latest.
Barbara, what do we know from this point?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, a U.S. military spokesman says those running gun battles across Khost have been ongoing for at least the last four hours.
Why is the city of Khost so important? Well, not only does it lie close to the Pakistan border and it's a place where there are believed to be insurgents coming across from Pakistan, but this city, for many years, has been a Taliban stronghold. The government there, the Afghan government, really struggling to take hold there and help the people.
These gun battles, apparently, erupted many hours. A series of suicide bomb attacks. U.S. forces were in the city at that time. A small number of U.S. forces. They tried to help, overtaken by the violence going on so a U.S. military quick reaction force, very quickly, called in U.S. ground troops, helicopters overhead, trying to get a handle on this situation.
But we are told still at this hour, this major city in Afghanistan not considered secure. Heidi?
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Barbara, we know you'll stay on top of that as new developments come in, certainly.
Want to talk about this issue, as well, while we have you. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he wants some fresh eyes in Afghanistan. So as we've reported he's replaced Commanding General David McKiernan now with Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal.
It's pretty uncommon for a field commander to be replaced in the middle of a war or not so much?
STARR: This is very uncommon. This is something that, you know, has not really happened in years. And so we really pressed the secretary yesterday when he made the announcement, why are you doing this? What did General McKiernan do wrong?
And Secretary Gates did not come up with a definitive reason. In fact, he said there was no one specific reason. But what appears to have happened is that Gates, Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General David Petraeus, the head of Central command, just felt they wanted new leadership.
But it is odd, Heidi. General McKiernan has only been there 11 months. He had pressed for more troops, they finally agreed to that. The troops are now just beginning to get there and they are going to make the switch. They're going to bring in General Stanley McChrystal who has more expertise, it is said, than McKiernan in counterinsurgency warfare and special ops, and the kind of unconventional warfare that people now feel is the priority in Afghanistan.
Very tough news for General McKiernan. He served more than 30 years but, apparently, they wanted to make a switch. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. We'll be watching that development very closely as well. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
Barbara, thank you. The father of a freed U.S. journalist says she's doing fine and they plan to leave Iran soon. We have these pictures now to show you of Roxana Saberi. Just in to the NEWSROOM, the Iranian American woman was released yesterday from a Tehran jail. Her eight-year sentence on spying overturned by an appeals court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROXANA SABERI, FREED U.S. JOURNALIST: And of course, I'm very happy to be free and to be with my parents again. And I want to thank all the people all over the world, which I'm just finding out about, really, who, whether they knew me or not, helped me and my family during this period.
I don't have any specific plans for the moment. I just want to be with my parents and my friends and to relax. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Two countries besides the U.S. and Iran played roles in the journalist's release.
CNN's Brian Todd has that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 3 1/2 month detention that included a hunger strike, an espionage conviction and an eight- year sentence comes to an end for Iranian American reporter Roxana Saberi.
She is not seen leaving Tehran's notorious Evin prison after her sentence is suspended by Iranian court, but her father talks about her condition.
REZA SABERI, ROXANA SABERI'S FATHER: Roxana is fine and there is no problem and we will be getting ready to leave the country soon.
TODD: Reza Saberi says his daughter will be seeing a psychologist. A journalism advocacy group says she was first arrested for buying a bottle of wine then charged with not having proper journalist credentials, then with spying.
Saberi and U.S. officials still maintain the charges were bogus.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We continue to take issue with the charges against her and the verdicts rendered but we are very heartened that she has been released.
TODD: U.S. official say there were no behind-the-scenes deals made for Saberi's release but they say they did work the case through the Swiss embassy in Tehran and that officials from Japan and Russia played positive roles.
One analyst believes Iran's leaders made this move now to separate the Saberi case from any talks that might occur with the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program.
CLIFF KUPCHAN, EURASIA GROUP: The Iranians don't want their political system, they don't want human rights to be part of the negotiation. They want to deal on the nuclear issue if they can get one on their terms. This release gets the Saberi issue out of the way.
TODD: But if and when any nuclear talks resume, other prominent human rights cases may still hang over them. Former American FBI agent Robert Levinson is still missing in Iran. The regime is still holding CalState grad student Esha Momeni on a traffic charge.
(On camera): And the Americans are still holding some members of Iran's special forces who they captured in Iraq more than two years ago.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Just when we all are starting to plan our summer road trip, gas prices starting to climb back up.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Flood waters finally starting to recede in many areas. The good news is, is that rain is going to be welcomed in other parts of the country.
Your forecast is coming up.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIRGINIA BRITT, RESIDENT: I knew she was out there and all that stuff. And -- and -- and they said she's got some broke bones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Boy oh boy, a heartbreak in North Carolina after severe weather there. Not clear yet if a tornado touched down but obviously there's no denying the destruction.
Jacqui Jeras now on the Severe Weather Center to show us a little bit more.
JERAS: Yes, we've got some more of these pictures here, Heidi. Let's go ahead and roll that and take a look at that. Numerous houses were damaged and destroyed here. I also understand there were several injuries because of these storms as well.
Some really wicked weather have moved through here early yesterday morning and that was in Robeson County. The good news is, things are starting to clear out and the weather is getting better across the Carolinas throughout the day today.
(WEATHER REPORT) COLLINS: All right. Jacqui, we'll check back a little bit later on if we still have cameras that are operating. All right, Jacqui. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
JERAS: OK.
COLLINS: Right now, though, we want to tell you a little bit more about what's coming up in the show and we are talking about mental scars and how to cope with them.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta on post-traumatic stress disorder. What is it, how does it start and how can we stop it. We'll also talk with an Iraq war veteran who's living with PTSD for years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly now, we want to update you on a breaking story that we brought you at the top of the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. soldiers accused of opening fire on his fellow troops is now charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. He is identified as Army Sergeant John Russell. The shootings took place yesterday, as you know, at a stress clinic at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.
That disturbing and tragic event has a lot of us thinking now about the stress soldiers face and the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder. While we don't know exactly what may have triggered the attack yesterday, we do know that PTSD is real and many troops suffer with it.
What triggers it and how do we support our troops coping with the scars of war? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us here on set today and also with us, Iraq war veteran Patrick Campbell.
Patrick, thanks so much for being with us. Off the top here, we want to let everybody know that you did serve in Iraq. In fact, you did spend time at Camp Liberty and you do suffer from PTSD yourself.
First off, I just want to get your reaction to the tragic events of yesterday.
PATRICK CAMPBELL, IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: Obviously, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the service members that died. These are horrible events and, thankfully, these have been rare in the last seven years. Previous wars we've seen much more cases of this and due to the all-volunteer force, this has been very rare.
But what this indicates to us is that this is just the tip of the iceberg and what we're going to see if we don't get a handle on this issue.
COLLINS: Very, very true. And I appreciate the perspective very much. I know that you were a combat medic when you were first deployed to Iraq in 2005. Tell us what happened.
CAMPBELL: Well, while I was there, I mean, just like everyone who goes to Iraq and Afghanistan, I saw things that were hard to register and even harder to deal with when I tried to reintegrate to the civilian society. We call it kind of like a psychological (INAUDIBLE) or the protection you put on over there.
You know it's very helpful when you have to deal in war situations, not so helpful when you get home. And about three months after I got back, I started acting out, you know, having nightmare, not being able to sleep, and it took about a year before some of my friends had an intervention with me and got me into counseling.
COLLINS: So what was that intervention like? I mean it sounds like things must have gotten pretty bad.
CAMPBELL: Well, I was -- yes. I mean I was not the person who I was before I left. I mean, for the most part, my deployment made me a stronger person but when I got home I did things that were out of character and a friend of mine sat me down and said you're not a friend I knew before I left.
And I -- you know, we were good enough friends that I don't want to cut you off but if you don't get counseling, I see no other choice.
COLLINS: Wow. Wow.
CAMPBELL: And I was very lucky. Thankfully we've been working hard to help educate friends and family about these types of discussions because they're hard and very uncomfortable.
So we've created a Web site called SupportYourVet.org which is -- helps friends and family begin those type of conversations because it wasn't easy for my friend.
COLLINS: Well, I'm sure and I'm sure it's not been easy for you and the family as well. Let's talk about that culture for a minute, Patrick. I know that there is a very strong culture that exists. It's hard for soldiers to go and, number one, admit they have a problem and, number two, then go and seek treatment.
CAMPBELL: Right. Well, right now, you know, we have a culture that you will adapt, innovate and overcome any problem that you have by yourself and complaining is considered weak. We need to get over that. We need to assume that, you know, combat stress injuries are expected.
They are normal reactions to extraordinary events and we need to start treating them when every service member comes home. We believe that every returning service member should have to be seeing a counselor so it shouldn't take a friend like I had to threaten not be my friend anymore before I even see a counselor a year after getting home.
COLLINS: Sure. Because not everybody has a friend like that, quite frankly. And Patrick, is the military doing enough, the society doing enough with this issue right now? CAMPBELL: No. I mean, the military is making good efforts. And with the rising suicide numbers that we've seen the last couple of years, they are finally awake to the problem but, you know, we need to make sure that every returning service member sees a counselor and in order to make sure that happens we need to dramatically increase the number of mental health professionals we have here in the United States and especially overseas.
The number of people in theater in Iraq and Afghanistan has dropped dramatically. Was one for every 400 soldiers and our service members now it's one for every 800.
COLLINS: Wow.
CAMPBELL: So these type of things are going to keep happening until we get the resources available.
COLLINS: All right. But we are watching this story very closely here.
Patrick Campbell, sure do appreciate your time today, your story and, most importantly, your service to our country.
CAMPBELL: Thank you.
COLLINS: Thank you so very much.
I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta now, our chief medical correspondent, to talk a little bit more about this.
So Sanjay, I know you've done a lot of work on it and it is really an issue that is going to be talked about for many years to come. Do you ever get over PTSD?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are some people who have higher risk factors for it and make it so that they are unlikely to ever get over it completely. And certain risk factors are exactly how much in danger they were if they got hurt themselves, for example.
And really, the key sign, the cardinal sign seems to be if there was a feeling of helplessness. Not able to do anything for themselves or for somebody else. But there are resilience factors as well. Getting support early as Patrick was very well-spoken, by the way.
COLLINS: Yes.
GUPTA: As he was talking about, seems to make a big difference. What I think is interesting, as well, is we've talked a lot about the signature injury of this war being head injuries.
COLLINS: Sure.
GUPTA: People who have concussions are much more likely to have PTSD and have that PTSD linger as well. COLLINS: Yes. That's really interesting to me. And I also wonder does it hit some people harder than others? I mean obviously it does. You can have the same experience with a fellow soldier and one person be affected so much differently and for so much longer than the other.
GUPTA: No question about it. And that's one of the big goals here. Patrick talked a lot about counseling after people return. A lot of the doctors we've talked is saying trying to identify those people who might be most at risk before they ever go in.
COLLINS: Yes. And that's where the stress clinic came from, correct?
GUPTA: Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, is there some other underlying mental illness? Has there been an episode of PTSD before? Had there been situations where someone had PTSD, was not adequately or fully treated and is now back in the war zone again? So those are some risk factors, if you will, even ahead of time.
COLLINS: And you guys are actually hoping to go and visit one of these stress clinics, correct?
GUPTA: That is right. We're hoping to see -- we're going to be going in, I think, into Afghanistan, probably in the early part of July. I saw a lot of this in Iraq right at the time of -- you know right near the forward lines. They call them the FRSSS. We may see the same sort of thing.
And again trying to get some of the counseling ahead of time as well. This is what you may see. This is how you may react to it. So I think that's going to be very interesting.
COLLINS: Is there anything that we could do for these men and women who are going to deploy before they even go? I mean, because now it's great. I mean there has been some progress by way of, as you say, treating in theater as opposed to just after the fact. What about before?
GUPTA: You know, what's so interesting to me is people who go, come back and then go again.
COLLINS: Yes.
GUPTA: What I have seen as we did this documentary about the VA is there's often not enough time, and you know, obviously, people talk about...
COLLINS: Down time.
GUPTA: Down time and adequate treatment. So people are not being thoroughly treated for their PTSD and right back into theater.
Before they ever go in the first place, are there certain triggers or certain things that you can sort of find ahead of time, that's harder to say. You know doctors will debate that point just to whether or not you can pinpoint who is not likely to be a good candidate to go into a war zone because of the likelihood of a PTSD but it's challenging.
COLLINS: Sure. Sure. All right. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta following this story for us and also we want to thank Patrick Campbell as well one more time for sharing his story with us.
Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate it very much.
I want to let you know about this, too. Soldiers showing signs of psychological health issues will soon have a place to seek treatment in the United States.
The National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda, Maryland. This facility is dedicated to the research, diagnosis and treatment of troops and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.
Troops with mental health issues also, as we say, will be able to get help there. The facility is scheduled to open next May. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is financing the construction of the new $60 million facility.
Leaving college with nothing but a diploma. Our Josh Levs is taking a look and, boy, oh, boy, there's a lot to talk about here.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, I'll tell you something. Even with all the reporting we've done in the economy, I was stunned by these new numbers. How many graduating seniors this year have jobs and which majors are doing the best? Answers are right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: On Wall Street now, a two-month rally lost some steam yesterday. So can stocks get back on track today as the opening sounds now this morning?
Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with a look at what to expect.
Hi there, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, we're expecting a modestly higher open even though the trade deficit rose in March for the first time since July. The deficit hit more than $27.5 billion since the global recession cut into sales of American exports.
Ford Motor making a push to raise extra cash. The automaker plans to sell 300 million common shares to raise as much as $2 billion but Ford shares are down 4 percent because the stock sell would dilute the stakes of existing shareholders.
Bank of America raising cash as well. It's selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank for more than $7 billion. The government's stress test shows BofA faces a $34 billion shortfall. The biggest among the 19 banks tested. And over at Citigroup. The bank is using nearly all of its $45 billion in taxpayer loans to make new loans. It says those loans would not have been made without TARP money. And that's what you want to see to get this economy back on track. You want to see banks start lending again.
And we're seeing the three major averages higher in the first minute of trading, Heidi.
The Dow is up 50 percent. So is the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.
Not a bad start.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Very good. Let's keep it that way.
Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: See you shortly.
COLLINS: We want to get to some breaking news now out of the Florida. Governor Charlie Crist announced he will not run for re-election next year. Instead, he will seek the Senate seat being vacated by retiring senator Mel Martinez.
So, we, of course, will be following this story for you coming to us out of Tallahassee, Florida. And, of course, the Best Political Team in Television.
Meanwhile, paying more at the gas pump. AAA says the average price went up almost 10 percent in the past two weeks. But $2.25 a gallon still way better than we were paying a year ago. Analysts say we shouldn't worry about hitting the $4 mark like last summer.
And we are also following this story for you online. So make sure you check out cnn.com's homepage.
It's a number that seems to get bigger every time we look at it -- the 2009 budget deficit. The government is adding another $89 billion to it, which makes those 17 billion in cuts announced last week seem small time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The 121 budget cuts we are announcing today will save taxpayers nearly $17 billion next year alone. And even by Washington's standards, that should be considered real money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Christine Romans joining us now live from New York on this.
So, Christine, what does this mean for the national budget?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it means, frankly, is that a sick economy is undoing any of the budget cuts the president try to do, or at least negating the budget cuts the president was talking about last week. A sick economy is hurting what's coming into the government's coffers, the very time we're spending more and more and more to try to get ourselves out of this mess with stimulus, with bank bailouts, with, you know, loans to the auto industry and the like.
So what it means is this deficit $1.8 trillion is the big sea of red ink between what we bring in and what we spend and the hope is, of course, over the next few years that this administration is going to be able to cut that down, but you're still looking at, frankly, Heidi, numbers even if you cut this thing in half, it would still be a record compared to what we had last year.
COLLINS: Yes. So, you're going to be talking a lot more about this. What's the "Romans' Numeral" today?
ROMANS: Well, how do we pay for this, right?
COLLINS: Right.
ROMANS: If we're spending so much more than we bring in, you know, where you make up the difference? Well, you borrow that money. And so, this is the "Romans' Numeral," Heidi, for you this morning.
46 cents for every dollar we spend -- the government spends, we have to borrow 46 cents from somewhere to keep the government running, to keep the country running.
So all of this politically important, all of this incredibly important for this administration, especially, because later today, we're going to get reports from the trustees for social security and Medicare.
You know, with fewer people paying into those programs, that means less money going into those programs at a time when they are already on the -- running a risk of running dry in decades to come. So those are the two time bombs that were ticking before this current financial crisis blew up in our faces. A lot of big choices we're going to be hearing. More about social security and Medicare later today.
Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. Very good. "Romans' Numeral," love it.
Working well.
ROMANS: Yes.
COLLINS: Christine Romans, thank you.
We want to give you this now. Graduating from college with no job in hand. That's the situation for millions of people every year, but not quite like this.
Brand-new numbers show just how few graduates have jobs and which majors may be a little bit more promising than others. In fact, our Josh Levs has been working on this and joins us now.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to have some kind of numeral. It doesn't work with Levs, does it?
COLLINS: We'll think of something.
LEVS: We'll get on that on the break.
COLLINS: But back to you.
LEVS: Back to me. These numbers are stunning. They really are.
COLLINS: I know it.
LEVS: I got to show you this. It's a brand-new survey that just came out. And I'll tell you what. What I want to do -- let's just go to this graphic so you can see these numbers, and you're going to see how much it's changed. I'm going to start off with what it was like two years ago. All right?
Two years ago, of those college graduates applied for jobs, half of them had jobs - 51 percent. Now look at what's happened in just the last two years on this next screen. Number for 2009 has gone all the way down to 20 percent.
COLLINS: Wow.
LEVS: So that's an even bigger jump than we have seen in employment changes in America. That is a massive, massive drop from what we've seen there.
And one more thing on this next screen. I was wondering how many young people are choosing not to go out into the work force. It stayed about the same from 2007. About one in four are going to grad school. Most of the rest are trying to go into the work force. So you have about as many people going into the work force, a lot fewer jobs, Heidi.
Really rough.
COLLINS: Yes. No kidding.
And you actually have a little bit more information on which majors specifically do better than others?
LEVS: Yes. I was surprised by this. I guess if I thought about it more, maybe I wouldn't have been. But take a look here. We've got another graphic for you here. It's engineering and accounting are, by far, doing the best.
Those people who are in those majors are more likely to have searched, and they're also more likely to have found jobs. In the same survey from The National Association of Colleges and Employers -- this last graphic -- check this out. This is the average salary they get when they enter the work force there. So engineers on average are starting off with about $58,000 a year. People who major on accounting are getting about $48,000 a year. And, right now, according to this, by far, Heidi, those are the two hottest majors. Those young people doing the best in the job world.
COLLINS: Yes. As the daughter of an engineer, I think that's great.
LEVS: Oh, yes?
COLLINS: Yes.
LEVS: Cool.
COLLINS: We're also asking a little bit more about this on our blog today?
Right?
LEVS: Yes, we are. Check this out.
Let's zoom in on the board over here.
Here it is. The CNN NEWSROOM blog. The Heidi page!
Click on Heidi at the top!
COLLINS: It's huge!
LEVS: It's huge! And you'll see her photo. But I went straight to the question.
Got jobs? We want to hear from you. Also, if you're in the social networking sites, over here. I'm asking this at Facebook.
Just post it. It says four seconds ago.
There you go. We're asking on my Facebook page, Josh Levs CNN. And on Twitter, if you're a big twitterer, there is my page, Josh Levs CNN. But, of course, the best place in the world to weigh in on this is definitely the CNN NEWSROOM blog. Click on Heidi.
We do want to hear from you. We want to share your stories.
COLLINS: Yes. No question.
All right. Josh, thank you.
Appreciate it.
LEVS: Thanks, Heidi.
Got it.
COLLINS: And during the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, we are giving you more snapshots across America. Our "Class of '09" segment examined students graduating during this recession. In the spotlight today, community college.
We'll be talking to people who now feel it is the best option. Interesting discussion there.
Happening this hour, though. The National Transportation Safety Board begins a three-day hearing into the crash of a regional carrier outside of Buffalo. 50 people were killed when the flight from Newark went down. A report out just before the Capitol Hill hearing, questions the pilot's training.
CNN's Allan Chernoff joining us now live from New York with more on that.
Allan, good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And remember, we have a three-day hearing beginning this morning. The FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, is likely to get some serious criticism here. Why? Well, it turns out the pilot, Marvin Renslow had actually not trained for the specific emergency he confronted that day. He had not trained for it in a flight simulator. Had only trained in a classroom.
Specifically here, we're talking about the stick pushers. Something that triggers the control column in an aircraft to go forward, pushing the nose of the aircraft down and, apparently, what happened that night is that Captain Renslow or the co-pilot pulled back on the control column, sticking the nose up and that, apparently, is what led to the tragic crash of the aircraft.
Now, what's especially shocking here is that the fact that he did not have the training in the flight simulator was OK with the FAA. The FAA standards, apparently, are not specific enough to require that type of flight simulator training. So that certainly is going to be one of the issues explored in this hearing.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. There are so many issues to explore here, and really surprising what some of them are.
So Allan Chernoff, we sure do appreciate that.
And also, we want to let our viewers know that a former NTSB investigator says the problem with the flight goes way beyond the pilot. He says equipment could have prevented the crush. We'll tell you all about it, and hear from him coming up next hour.
And chasing storms in tornado alley. Rob Marciano getting a firsthand look at the effort to understand these powerful and deadly storms.
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COLLINS: In California now, a wildfire near Santa Barbara has burned thousands of acres. It's now 80 percent contained. Firefighters are racing against winds that might whip the blaze back up again, though. Investigators believed someone using a power tool to clear brush may have accidentally started the fire.
Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is keeping an eye on fire danger in California.
This is a tough one, because they tell you, you know, it's your responsibility to clear the brush, to keep fires like this under control and then look what happens sometimes.
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COLLINS: All right. We're watching all of the weather closely, and that sounds really good. (INAUDIBLE)
Thank you, Jacqui.
We want to get back to this breaking news out of the Baghdad now regarding that shooting at Camp Liberty that we've been telling you about.
We want to get straight to CNN's Cal Perry standing by live in Baghdad.
Cal, what more do we know now?
CAL PERRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, we know quite a bit more. We just come out of a briefing with the U.S. military Gen. Perkins, who is the top spokesman for Iraq here. The shooter, Sgt. John Russell, is from the 54th engineering battalion, which is attached to Multinational Force South based out of Germany. That is his home station.
They believe this was the end of his third tour. That he was entering the end of his third tour. We heard from Admiral Mullen yesterday talking about these guys doing multiple tours, the length of their tours, this being a major concern.
The weapons in exact details of his mental state are still unknown. His weapon was taken by his commander a week earlier and he had been referred to this clinic for some kind of treatment. Now after the shooting was completed, after he had shot these other five U.S. soldiers that was when the military police took him into custody. He has officially been charged with five counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault. The U.S. military is launching two simultaneous investigations.
One, that is a criminal investigation, obviously, to do with the shooting. The other one is a 15-6 investigation. An investigation to assess what can be done in the future to prevent such incidents and they are using this as a tool to look at if they are doing enough with their mental health services.
So all of the concerns that we heard yesterday from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seem to be playing out here on the ground in Baghdad as we get more and more information on the shooter and the version of events. I want to add that Gen. Perkins said there are a variety of different versions of events. They are still unsure where he got that weapon, and he could not confirm to us the type of the weapon or where he got it.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. I just want to reiterate here. You said that his own weapon that was actually taken from him by his commander a week earlier?
PERRY: That's right. We understand that his weapon was taken from him a week earlier, because they were concerned about his mental status, things that he had said and some actions that he had done.
So his weapon was taken from him a week earlier. So it's unclear how he got his hands on the second weapon, and how he was then able to get into this clinic and carry out that shooting.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Wow.
All right, Cal Perry, doing some great work for us there in Baghdad on this story.
Cal, thank you.
Passengers heading to Japan got an unexpected jolt. Look at this. Their plane taking on more luggage than the baggage handlers planned for. Now investigators are trying to figure this one out.
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JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The rumor is Miss California could lose her crown tomorrow. But the good news, you don't need a crown to work at Hooters!
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COLLINS: Donald Trump expected to decide her fate later today. He owns the Miss U.S.A. pageant. Miss California, Carrie Prejean, is in trouble over a pair of topless photos and an authorized commercial for a group opposed to same-sex marriage. Her opinion on marriage came in response to a question from one of the pageant judges. The question was actually asked by celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton.
Three years ago, Donald Trump let Miss U.S.A. winner Tara Connor, as you may remember, keep her crown after a very public underage drinking scandal.
A strange incident at L.A.X. yesterday. Check it out.
It happened when a Japan Airline 747 crossed paths with one of those big metal baggage containers.
Yes, that's it.
The 747 actually sucked it up into one of the engines. An airport worker was towing baggage container along the tarmac when the plane backed away from the gate. The 245 passengers had to go back to the terminal to wait for another flight to Japan. Not a good idea to fly with something like that in the engine. Federal investigators are now taking a closer look at the plane.
Trying to unravel the mysteries behind twisters. The team of scientists and storm chasers are working out what could be the most ambitious weather project ever.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, the Vortex 2 project aims to provide better insight into one of nature's deadliest phenomenon.
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ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The plan is to attack these storms from every angle starting at the ground up. This is called a tornado pod. Weather instruments at the lowest level of the atmosphere. They will hand take these out of pickup trucks for the most part and drop them off out ahead of the storm, trying to line them up so they can intercept the storms at the lowest levels of the atmosphere.
Slightly higher, a little bit more mobile, these are called Mobile Mesonets. Similar instruments, a little bit higher up to gather information, a little bit higher up into the atmosphere.
Check out this. Looks like an ambulance, right? Well, it was. It was an ambulance, now it's been modified. That's actually the mobile command center. They're going to use that mostly for communication.
As we get a little bit louder here, you hear the hum of the diesel. This is the Dow. It's not a Dow Industrial, it's Doppler on wheels. The workhorse of storm research for tornadoes. That Doppler radar can work while stationary and stand the storm or it can work when it's on the run at 80 or 90s miles an hour. Forty research vehicles, 100 scientists looking to find out why tornadoes do what they do.
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COLLINS: Pope Benedict holding mass this hour outside Jerusalem. A crowd of about 5,000 is there for the two-hour event. Earlier in the day, the Pope visited some of the Jerusalem's holiest sites. He prayed at the Western Wall, part of an ancient chapel, and he visited the Dome of the Rock, a holy place for Muslims.
A lot going on this morning. Let's check in now with some of our correspondents to see what they're working on.
First you, Cal, in Baghdad.
PERRY: Heidi, we are tracking two U.S. military investigations that have been launched simultaneously into that violent attack yesterday that killed five U.S. soldiers all at the hands of another U.S. soldier. We'll have all the details at the top of the hour. Heidi?
LEVS: I'm Josh Levs. We've got the three best Web sites to find scholarships for colleges and which ones to avoid.
All that in the next hour.
LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where an early rally has faded, but lending over at Citigroup is rising. The bank using nearly $45 billion in government loans to make new loans.
Heidi, more on that in the next hour.
COLLINS: All right. Very good.
Thanks so much, guys.
Also today marks three months since a plane plunged from the sky near Buffalo, New York. We're going to be looking at the issues federal investigators are looking at.
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COLLINS: John Demjanjuk is back in Germany for the first time in 57 years. He's expected to be formally charged now with Nazi war crimes sometime today. The retired Ohio automaker was deported from the United States late yesterday after decades of legal battles. German prosecutors say he was a guard at a Nazi death camp in 1943. The Ukrainian-born, Demjanjuk says, he was a prisoner of war.
A day of mourning in China. Remembering the nearly 90,000 people killed or missing in an earthquake one year ago today.
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There were memorial services in several cities badly damaged by the quake. Five million were left homeless. Some of the devastated areas still sit in ruins and may never be rebuilt.
Our John Vause in Beichuan now with more on anniversary and the memorial services.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There was no national memorial today for the quake victims, but there were services and ceremonies in a number of towns and cities across Sichuan. In the city of Yingxiu, which is the closest city to the epicenter, China's president Hu Jintao laid a wreath in memorial for all of those who have died, and then he spoke of his government's reconstruction effort.
PRES. HU JINTAO, CHINA (through translator): We should firstly rebuild basic living facilities and public service facilities, and make sure that quake survivors live in permanent housing soon. We should fully restore and improve public service facilities for education, health care, culture and physical exercise and massively improve the capacity to ensure infrastructure services.
VAUSE: Tens of thousands of people were allowed into Beichuan today. This city has been mostly off limits since the earthquake. Some have come to mourn, but most have come to look at the destruction. Like this building which lurks forward with the earthquake and through the shattered window, you can see the furniture, which is still there. This is just how it was in the moment after the earthquake. In many ways, Beichuan, is frozen in time at 2:28 local time when the earthquake happened.
The government has deliberately left this city in this condition. It wants to turn Beichuan into a national memorial. An earthquake museum. But it will also be a mass grave. 16,000 people died here, half the city's population. One of the highest death tolls from the quake and many of those bodies were never recovered.
John Vause, CNN, Beichuan, China.
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