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President Obama Visits Buchenwald; President Obama to Visit Normandy for D-Day Anniversary; Search for Missing Plane off Brazil; Suicide Bombing at Mosque

Aired June 05, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Issue number one, the economy, your jobs. New unemployment numbers out show employers cutting jobs at a lower rate in May. Still, the unemployment rate has jumped. It is now 9.4 percent. That is the worst rate in more than 25 years.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

HARRIS: President Obama says it should be a permanent reminder of humanity's potential for evil. He was referring to the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Germany, where he visited the site today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The perpetrators of such evil were human, as well. And that we have to guard against cruelty in ourselves.

And I want to express particular thanks to Chancellor Merkel and the German people, because it's not easy to look into the past in this way, and acknowledge it and make something of it, make a determination that they will stand guard against acts like this happening again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The president, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, placed roses as a memorial.

President Obama has a personal connection to Buchenwald. His great uncle helped liberate prisoners from a nearby satellite camp during World War II.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen was there for the president's visit.

And Fred, you heard the president's remarks afterwards. Give us your thoughts, your impressions.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seemed as though it was a very moving visit for the president, Tony. It took about one hour, and as you said, he toured the camp, together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Elie Wiesel.

They visited all the major sites that are still inside that former camp at Buchenwald. One of them is actually the crematorium at Buchenwald, where very many horrible things happened. Of course, bodies were burned there for many, many years.

And another place was a place called The Little Camp, and that was actually the place where Elie Wiesel himself was an inmate until he was freed in 1945 by the U.S. Army. And during this time that he was interned there, he was actually interned there with his own father, who died at the camp. And so today, after the tour, Elie Wiesel gave a major -- gave some remarks which really were very, very moving.

Let's listen into what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE WIESEL, BUCHENWALD SURVIVOR: What else can we do except invoke that memory so that people everywhere who say the 21st century is a century of new beginnings filled with promise and infinite hope and, at times, profound gratitude to all those who believe in our task, wishes to improve the human condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And you know, Tony, Elie Wiesel's words there, of course, play into a lot of the theme, if you will, of the president's visit here, not only in Buchenwald, but also in Dresden before that, which is sort of one where we say Europe was a continent that was the site of so many wars, and of course it was a very horrible world, the Second World War. But it was then rebuilt. So certainly one thing that we've seen as a theme from the president throughout all this is that of hope after great pain -- Tony.

HARRIS: Fred, there's a piece, as I'm sure you're aware of, in "The New York Times" this morning talking about tensions between Germany and the U.S.

What's at the root of this?

PLEITGEN: Well, you know, it's not only since "The New York Times" has been reporting on it. We've been hearing that the German government had some issues with the itinerary of the president, if you will.

It was certainly the fact that the German government and, in particular, Angela Merkel, who is running for re-election at this point in time, might have wanted a little more face time with the president. What we see on his visit here to Germany is that he had only about an hour of bilateral talks with her, which covered a lot of ground from the Middle East to Iran, all the way to the financial crisis. So certainly the German government would have liked to have those talks be a little bit longer, so they might have felt a little bit snubbed by the president.

But earlier today, there was a press conference with the president and Chancellor Angela Merkel, where they tried to dispel any of that, and they said it was all just due to scheduling issues. But, you know, what we've been hearing in the past couple of days, the German government might have been a little jealous of the French, where he's going to next, of course, where he'll be spending some time with Nicolas Sarkozy -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Let's leave it there.

Frederik Pleitgen for us.

Fred, appreciate it. Thank you.

And let's get more on the president's overseas trip.

Tomorrow he will take part in the 65th anniversary of World War II's D-Day. Let's get more from our senior international correspondent, Jim Bittermann, on the Normandy coast.

And Jim, if you would -- boy, just take a look at that scene behind you. If you would, describe it for us.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, this is probably one of the most moving parts of the entire D-Day landing beach area, the cemetery you see behind me. This is the Colleville- sur-Mer cemetery, 9,300 graves in this cemetery which was established right after 1944 as the GIs who were killed in the war were buried here. GIs and also all of the naval servicemen and others that were in the service, in the American military.

This land was actually turned over to the French government -- turned over by the French government to the Americans years ago and has been maintained by the American government. It is a little piece of America in France. And it is a place where many presidents and other dignitaries have visited over the years, because it does have such symbolism in terms of the meaning of the connection between France and all the other allied countries.

Now, just to give you an idea what's going to happen here tomorrow, Tony, out here you probably can't see it, but back along that tree line, just beyond that tree line, there are something like 8,000 or 9,000 seats set up for invited guests who are going to come here to hear President Obama's speech, but also a speech by President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Harper of Canada. And there are going to be speeches, as well as some recognition of some of the veterans who are here.

And I must say, we've been here a few days now, and there are veterans all up and down this coast who have come back for the 65th anniversary. It's a really interesting scene. It's a scene of celebration, but also commemoration and memories -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. All right.

Jim Bittermann.

Jim, appreciate it. Thank you.

The Brazilian Air Force says debris found earlier this week is not from Flight 447. Our John Zarrella says the air force tells him another debris field is believed to be from the plane, but that field has not been searched just yet. A report in the French newspaper "Le Monde" says the plane's manufacturer, Airbus, was sending a warning about its jets with new advice on flying in storms.

Two hundred twenty-eight people were aboard that flight.

Let's see what the plans are to search other debris fields far off the Brazilian coast. Our John Zarrella is in Rio de Janeiro.

John, are searchers headed to maybe one or more of those debris fields today?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're trying to get out to those debris areas today, Tony. The problem they're running into is that the weather is not cooperating out there.

Air Force officials are saying that it's very stormy out there, it's very rough in the water, very rainy. So they're having trouble seeing, you know, eyeballing the debris that's out there.

Of course they did say yesterday that a couple of pieces of debris, the first of the pieces of debris that they actually physically plucked out of the water, turned out not to be from Flight 447. One of those pieces was a wooden pallet, something that you would, like, load cargo on. Well, when they hoisted that up, brought it up by helicopter over to the navy ship, they determined it was not from the flight. And also, what they determined to be what they called a flotation device, an orange flotation device, was not from the plane.

But there are a couple of items -- there was a lot of wire strewn across the water, as well as a seat that we've been reporting on earlier in the week. And they still believe that those items and other pieces of metal and plastic out there in the Atlantic are from the flight.

They just have physically not gotten to them yet, Tony, because the priority, as we've been saying earlier in the work, was to first look survivors, then look for human remains. Now they've turned their attention to recovering the debris that they've been spotting on radar and spotting visually for the first few days. But only now are they actually getting to those areas and start picking that debris up -- Tony.

HARRIS: I hesitate to ask the question, but I'll go ahead. Do the searchers expect to recover any bodies?

ZARRELLA: Not at this point, they really don't. At this point they're saying the likelihood is growing less and less every day that they will even recover bodies. And, you know, the fact of the matter is they have not even found the many body of the wreckage, if, in fact, there is a main body of wreckage, because all they've seen on the surface so far are just mostly tiny pieces -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. And you can imagine how difficult that kind of an assessment would be for family members.

John Zarrella for us.

John, appreciate it. Thank you. Earlier, I asked our Paula Newton in London if French officials are unhappy with the way Brazil is handling the search so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly they understand the task at hand and the fact that they had to scramble so many plane, so many ships. I think what they're saying is any information that's being released -- and they warned me of this three or four days ago, Tony, said, look, it's just too early to say. They have so little to go on.

And when we were at a press conference two days ago with the head of the French investigation, you know, he's saying himself, look, we may never know what happened to this flight. And what he was trying to do was really prepare the groundwork so that the families and the friends of those on board could prepare themselves in case that worst-case scenario. That's what happened.

HARRIS: Paula, help us with some information we're still sort of -- I guess sorting out here. What do we know about a bomb threat targeting an Air France flight recently, Argentina to France?

NEWTON: OK. Now, that bomb threat happened last Wednesday. It was on an Air France flight from Buenos Aires to Paris.

It was checked out; it was a Boeing 777, about an hour and a half delay. No bomb, the plane went on its way.

Since then, both Brazilian and French officials say, look, we have no reason to believe there was a bomb on board, we haven't received any threats. And certainly, Tony, I can tell you that there's no one been claiming responsibility or anything like that.

On the other hand, you know that oil slick that John Zarrella was just talking about? One of the things that led them to believe that there wasn't a catastrophic explosion was looking at things like an oil slick. If that turns out to be from the plane, well, perhaps they begin to rule it in once more. And they at least begin that line of an inquiry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And still to come, tough questioning for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Capitol Hill. But in Oklahoma, people are asking about this political cartoon. Take a look. Outrage of a depiction of Sotomayor in the Hispanic community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court has turned over a questionnaire to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been doing that smile and nod thing with senators this week.

Let's see what we can learn from that questionnaire. CNN's Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill.

And Dana, what are we learning?

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, this is a very dense questionnaire, as you can imagine. I think there were about five boxes of documents delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, but they do tell us a bit about Sonia Sotomayor in terms of her personally and professionally.

Let's just take a look at some of the things that we learned.

First of all, a little bit of intrigue for you here. She was actually approached by the White House on April 27th. That was the first time she spoke to the White House.

Guess what? That was several days before Justice Souter announced publicly that he was retiring. So the White House had a jump on that.

In terms of her personally, she has $1.16 million in assets, $418,350 in debt. And guess what? Fifteen thousand dollars of that is for a dental bill. She's got no stocks, she's got no bonds.

And just one interesting note professionally. She, of course, was a trial attorney for several years. She was asked to name some things that she was most proud of, that she thought she did most successfully. She named the so-called "Tarzan Murder" in New York.

I don't know if you remember that. It was famous because the murderer jumped between buildings. Well, that person was actually convicted by her, sentenced to 62.5 years in prison. Just some of the many, many details we are beginning to learn about this judge.

HARRIS: Dana, help me with this. What about the speeches given to the committee?

BASH: Obviously the most controversial question.

What's interesting about what we learned in some of these speeches is that the "wise Latina" comment that has caused so much controversy, it certainly is not unique. We reported earlier this week that there was a speech that she gave in 1994 where she had a version of that.

Well, it wasn't just that. There were several speeches that she gave to law school graduations, to women's groups, to other organizations where she had the same version of the concept that she, as a woman -- sometimes it was about a woman, sometimes it was about her ethnicity as a Latina -- should give her a better leg up, if you will, than something else.

Senator Susan Collins, yesterday, who met with her, said that she thought that that was more aspirational, but she and other Republicans still do think that is troubling.

HARRIS: Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash for us.

Dana, appreciate it. Thank you. BASH: Thank you.

HARRIS: More racism charges swirling around Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. This time it stems from a cartoon published earlier this week in Oklahoma. It shows Judge Sotomayor strung up like a pinata.

Mary Snow has details.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, some say they were stunned when they saw the cartoon that's drawing fire.

But does it go too far? Take a look You can judge for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): The Oklahoma newspaper published the cartoon titled "Fiesta Time at the Confirmation Hearing." It features Judge Sonia Sotomayor strung up as a pinata, while President Obama wears a sombrero and asks elephants, or Republicans, "Now who wants to be first?"

The cartoon quickly gained attention far beyond Oklahoma.

ROSSANA ROSADO, PUBLISHER, "EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA": I saw a lot of reaction. In our community, people were upset about it and somewhat stunned.

SNOW: Rossana Rosado publishes New York's largest Spanish-language newspaper. She's also friendly with Judge Sotomayor, who is Puerto Rican. Rosado questions why a Mexican sombrero and pinata were used.

ROSADO: I do know that it is offensive. And I think that it reflects a lot of the ignorance that many Americans have about Latinos, that we're kind of -- we're all Mexican or we're all this or we're all that. And in the end, it's just not that funny.

SNOW: The syndicated cartoonist who drew about Sotomayor says stereotyping was his point.

CHIP BOK, SYNDICATED CARTOONIST: Since she emphasized her Latina-ness and that played it up as a virtue, I thought, well, how about a fiesta and a pinata? This is a Mexican thing, but, again, we're dealing with stereotypes that -- that's all kind of a joke, I thought.

MARISA TREVINO, JOURNALIST: Not too many people are laughing in the Latino community.

SNOW: Marisa Trevino's Web site is dedicated to news impacting the Latina community. She actually comes to the defense of the cartoonist and says, "Looking at it closely, he's poking fun at Republicans, not ridiculed Sotomayor." But she still calls it insensitive.

BOK: When you tell a cartoonist he's insensitive, it's kind of like telling a basketball player he's tall. I mean, that's our job description. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: The cartoonist says his aim was to poke fun of the situation Republicans are in. Calls to the editor at the Oklahoma newspaper for comment were not returned -- Tony.

HARRIS: Mary, appreciate. Thank you.

The woman at the center of one of the most bitter battles over a Supreme Court nominee is now speaking out about Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Anita Hill talked to "Essence" magazine.

The magazine's editor -- there she is -- she'll join us live next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The changing face of America, it is what we're talking about today in our "What Matters" segment in partnership with "Essence" magazine.

Multiracial people are now the fastest growing group in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of Americans identifying themselves as mixed race rose more than three percent to about 5.2 million in 2008. Some of the highest multiracial populations are in California, Texas, New York and Florida, and almost 20 percent of people in Hawaii are of mixed race.

And many newspapers are stopping the presses for good, but one paper actually has a reason to celebrate. "The Philadelphia Tribune" is marking its 125th anniversary. It is the oldest, continuously run African-American newspaper in the company.

The Tribune is published five days a week and online with a circulation of about 31,000. Tribune president Robert Bogle says the paper's mission has been to give voice to those who were voiceless.

Her explosive testimony at the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas catapulted Anita Hill to the spotlight. In an "Essence" magazine interview, Hill talks about that experience and shares her thoughts about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

"Essence" magazine's editor-in-chief Angela Burt-Murray right here in Atlanta with us in the NEWSROOM.

Angela, great to see you.

ANGELA BURT-MURRAY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you. Thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Can't thank you enough for the work we're doing in partnership with you. It's terrific.

BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely. We're so excited.

HARRIS: Yes. And we are, too. You know, there was a line in the intro to the piece I'd love for to you expand on. It reads, "Hill's testimony forced a generation of women to stand up against sexual harassment."

What was the view of the Thomas confirmation hearings among your editorial staffers, some of whom I'm guessing would have been pretty young back in 1991? Give us a look inside your process, put us in the room there.

BURT-MURRAY: Well, it's really interesting to have this conversation looking back at that explosive testimony in 1991, because this really became a teachable moment between mothers and daughters and women around the country to talk about sexual harassment in a way that had just been kind of put to the side in so many ways. So here was this opportunity because it was right there in your face.

And Anita Hill was giving some incredibly sensitive testimony, and in an environment in which an African-American man is up for the highest seat in the court. And you know, there's that additional layer of controversy. And for the African-American community, it becomes more complicated because it becomes about, does racism trump sexism and things like that? So it was really an interesting and strong teachable moment.

HARRIS: Let's take everyone back to 1991 and share some of the early moments of that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA HILL, CLARENCE THOMAS CONFIRMATION HEARING: It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration and sleepless -- a great number of sleepless nights that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone but my close friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So, Angela, that moment...

BURT-MURRAY: It was amazing.

HARRIS: ... and the testimony that followed, a couple things we need to get to here.

First of all, does she -- what do we know about her as she reflects back on those days? Any regrets at all?

BURT-MURRAY: No, Anita Hill tells Essence.com that she doesn't have any regrets about stepping forward, but as you can see in her testimony, it was incredibly difficult for her to talk about those things that were so personal and so sexual in nature. So it was really difficult to talk about those things, but she knew that she had to do it. And, you know, she's really proud that she was able to step forward in that way and that it did become a teachable moment for so many women.

HARRIS: I remember folks saying to me that women are not going to come forward with claims of sexual harassment as a result of that testimony. Anita Hill has a different view of it.

BURT-MURRAY: No, definitely. I mean, she gave women the courage to really speak up and defend themselves.

HARRIS: Yes. That's what she says, yes.

BURT-MURRAY: Exactly. And this is something that she deals with every day. I mean, as soon as she introduces herself or people see her, you know, they certainly remember that 1991 testimony. So it lives with her every day, but she's incredibly proud of what she did.

HARRIS: Was she surprised by some of the reaction she got from the African-American community to her testimony?

BURT-MURRAY: She was a little bit surprised, but it wasn't the entire community. But there were definitely certain factions that felt like, look, here's an opportunity to get an African-American, another African-American man on the court, and you should you just go sit on the sidelines. But luckily she did not feel that way herself.

HARRIS: Hey, let me just ask this. There's so much in this interview, I want to ask you about her views on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. What does she feel about this pick from the president?

ANGELA BURT-MURRAY, EDITOR-IN-CHEF, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: Well, she's really excited about it. She attended Yale Law School with Sotomayor and feels like that she has an incredible breadth of experience. She's certainly well qualified and thinks that she would make a great addition to the court.

HARRIS: I'm going to ask you one more quick question here. One of the things that Anita Hill likes about this pick is that the judge is really recognizing her ethnic identity. And that seems to me to be a pretty powerful message statement that we find in the pages of "Essence," as well.

BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely. I mean your personal . . .

HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE). Who you are.

BURT-MURRAY: Exactly. Your personal ethnic experience and identity is always going to come into play in your life. And this is an exciting time certainly to be a woman of color, to see someone like Michelle Obama be the biggest star in the world, and the opportunity to see someone like Sonia Sotomayor come to the forefront to be on the highest court in the land. It's a really exciting time to have extraordinary dialogue.

HARRIS: And it must be an exciting time to be leading this magazine.

BURT-MURRAY: It is an incredible time.

HARRIS: Angela Burt-Murray, great to see you.

BURT-MURRAY: Thank you.

HARRIS: Right here in Atlanta.

BURT-MURRAY: Thanks so much.

HARRIS: We have a little more news to get to here, but it's great visiting with you.

BURT-MURRAY: Thank you.

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a visit to a mosque turns in to an absolute blood bath. Dozens dead and wounded. We will bring and you live report from Pakistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Dozens of worshipers killed and wounded during prayer. The work of a suspected suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan. Our Reza Sayah following developments from Islamabad.

And, Reza, the last time I checked, the death toll was up to 30. What's the latest on the number of dead and wounded in the attack?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it's gone up. Now it's between 40 and 45 dead according to a police official. This is one of the deadliest suicide attacks we've seen in Pakistan over the past couple of months. The target was a mosque in Pakistan's northwestern frontier province.

Whoever carried about this attack wanted to inflict maximum damage because he targeted this mosque during Friday prayer. And it's often during Friday prayer when mosques are packed. A police official telling CNN that the suicide bomber tried to enter the mosque from an outside gate, but the local worshipers sensed that something was not right.

They didn't recognize him. They tried to stop him. And that's when police officials say he blew himself up. When the body count was over, police say about 40 to 45 people killed, 80 injured. Ten of them critically.

We should note that this attack took place in the Swat Valley. That, of course, is the battle zone where, for the past month, Pakistani security forces have been taking on the Taliban. But one police official says its particular location hadn't seen much fighting because locals were very successful in keeping the Taliban out. And this officials speculate that this may have been retribution by militants to the locals who weren't very hospitable to them.

Tony.

HARRIS: Oh, boy. Reza, one more quick one here. Tell us about the visit of the U.S. envoy there, Richard Holbrooke. SAYAH: Yes, Mr. Holbrooke was in Pakistan basically trying to do with U.S. President Barack Obama was trying to do yesterday, and that's repair America's image and to reach out with support. He visited some of the refugee camps, the internally displaced people, millions of them who have left the battle zone in the Swat Valley, delivering a reminder that nobody's helping these refugees more than the U.S.

And he also praised the Pakistani military for the offensive. During the past couple of year, we've seen the relationship between Islamabad and Washington go up and down, up and down. The downs have been criticism coming from Washington. But now, based on what we've seen, the relationship is on an upswing with Richard Holbrooke praising the military offensive and the government here in Islamabad.

Tony.

HARRIS: Our Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reza, thank you.

Have questions about your mortgage? Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is next with help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Fighting fraud charges, the former CEO of Countrywide Financial, Angelo Mozilo, a major player in the high risk subprime mortgage meltdown. Federal regulators have charged Mozilo and two other former Countrywide execs, they're accused of deliberately misleading investors about their company's risky lending practices. Mozilo was also charged with insider trading for selling his Countrywide stock for almost $140 million while the company was on shaky ground. Mozilo's attorney calls the allegations baseless.

It will cost you a little more to fill up at the gas station today. AAA says the average price for a gallon of regular gas is $2.59. That is two cents higher than yesterday's price of $2.57 and 12 cents higher than the week ago price of $2.47.

You know, the United States hasn't built a nuclear power plant in 30 years, but the industry says a new generation of reactors will create thousands of green jobs. Let's check that claim. Does that outweigh other concerns? Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Good to see you, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Tony.

Well, you know, McCain talked about this a lot on the campaign trail.

HARRIS: That's right.

HARLOW: He was very pro nuclear and right now, even though we haven't seen a new reactor in decades, about 20 percent of our electricity comes from nuclear power. But, of course, it is controversial. And what's interesting is, even some clean energy advocates aren't for nuclear power.

What we have in this country right now are applications for 30 new nuclear reactors. They're all pending. And advocates say, listen, this could create 21,000 new permanent jobs in this country. A big advocate of nuclear, she's very outspoken, former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. She also co-chairs the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. She spoke with us. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, CASENERGY COALITION: Maybe get upwards of 2,500 job, construction job, on the site. And then anywhere from 200, 500, to 700 workers full-time running a nuclear reactor. And the jobs that they have, the paying of those jobs, the salaries are on an average 30 percent higher than the community in which they're located.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. So that's a big deal. She's talking about how the salaries are much higher than in some other green jobs. Take a look there because she said that those workers at nuclear plants can make between $85,000 and $66,000 a year. A lot more than some other jobs, Tony, when you look at someone making electric batteries or solar panel component. They're going to make about $25,000 a year. So a big difference there.

Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Poppy, but nuclear power has a lot of obstacles to overcome, namely safety concerns.

HARLOW: You're exactly right. We've come a long way in terms of educating people about nuclear, but everyone thinks of three mile island 30 years ago.

HARRIS: Yes.

HARLOW: And, you know, there are safer designs now. That's what advocates say. Better warning system. But green peace still says that nuclear power is just -- it has an unacceptable risk to the environment and to humanity. So you're combating that side, as well.

Nuclear waste, storing that, a huge, huge problem. For decades they've been working to get that stored in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The Obama administration has said that's just not an option any more.

And, of course cost, Tony. It's going to cost between $6 billion and $8 billion to build one new nuclear reactor. Hard to get the loans, the financing for that right now.

And what was interesting that we learned is, there was no money for nuclear energy in the stimulus bill because even though it doesn't have carbon emission, it's not considered renewable, Tony. It might be green, but it's not renewable because it comes from uranium and that's a finite resource. HARRIS: Nice. All right, Poppy, good information. Thank you. Have a great weekend, Poppy.

HARLOW: You, too, Tony.

HARRIS: How do you refinance an adjustable rate mortgage and when will interest rates actually start going up again? We're not rooting for that, obviously. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis and her team of experts at The Help Desk take on your money questions.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We want to get you answers to your financial questions. Let's get straight to The Help Desk. Jack Otter is a financial journalist and Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management.

OK, guys, let's get right to the questions. The first one comes from Cori in Chicago who asks, "my husband and I owe about 105 percent on our home and we're about three years into a 10 year interest only ARM at 6 percent. We're doing OK in that we can make our mortgage payments every months, but we want to get into a fixed rate mortgage. Can we take advantage of the current low rates?"

Jack, help these people out because there's trouble a coming if they don't make a change.

JACK OTTER, FINANCIAL JOURNALIST: Absolutely. I mean go to the (INAUDIBLE), the guy who sold them that mortgage, tell him to come on your show and defend himself. If they're doing so OK financially, they can actually take a lump sum and pay down the principal. I would love that they go to the bank and say, look, here's what we're willing to do, now we want a fixed rate and we want you to give us no fees or something. Really drive a hard bargain.

If they can't do that, I'd try to pay off every month a little bit of the principal. Eventually they're going to get down. They're going to get their head above water. Prices might rise a little bit in the next few years, not a lot, but a little bit. They'll be in a better financial situation, they can refi the normal way.

WILLIS: They need a new loan that's for sure because that one's going to create some problems down the road.

Will asks, "my fiance and I are going to close on our new house in October." Very exciting. "We're worried about the interest rates rising. Can you give us an idea as to whether the ratings will jump higher than they are now by the time we can lock in our rates in late August?"

Ryan, if we could answer this question, we wouldn't be here that's for sure.

RYAN MACK, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, I actually think that rates -- they're going to be -- they are rising, they have been rising, and they're going to slowly be rising. As we turn from an economy that's low interest rates and a lot of government expenditure to gradually increasing interest rates and less government expenditure, one of the things that comes with that is gradually increasing interest rates.

But we have to look at the variables that we can control as opposed to the variables that can't control. What is your FICO score? Is it 720 or higher to get your interest rate payments down lower. Do you have at least 20 percent down to avoid PMI payments and making sure that you can avoid that secondary loan. Maybe you can put an additional piece of money down on points so you can lower your score that way -- lower your interest rates that way. So rates may be higher, but make sure that you're in the best position to put money down on that piece of property.

WILLIS: Yes, it's really hard to time these rates here.

So, great answers to difficult questions. Guys, thanks for the help today.

The Help Desk is all about getting you answers. Send me an e-mail to Gerri@cnn.com or log on to cnn.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions.

And The Help Desk is everywhere. Make sure to check out the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.

HARRIS: He was heading overseas to commemorate D-day but lost his passport. How the people of Chicago rallied to get this veteran to France.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Tomorrow observances for a critical moment in history. The 65th anniversary of D-day. Marking the allied invasion of France to fight Nazi Germany during World War II. Tomorrow the president and first family will be in Normandy for D-day observances.

A D-day veteran's dream to go back to Normandy has been saved. Antwan Lewis of CNN affiliate WGN in Chicago has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARMEN MICELI, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: They call it a passport, please. Passport. Thank this guy.

ANTWAN LEWIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With his replacement passport in hand, 87-year-old Carmen Miceli will get to the D-day anniversary in France after nearly being MIA to this weekend's celebration. Miceli became separated from his original passport on Monday when the cab he was riding in drove off with his bags still in the trunk. Inside one of those bags was his passport.

MICELI: I paid him. A $29 tab. I gave him $35 and he pulled away with my -- with my -- with our things in the trunk.

LEWIS: Miceli notified the Chicago Carriage Cab Company who frantically tried find the driver. He never got his bags and then contacted Chicago Police, some local friends and WGN TV. Enter alderman Bob Fioretti, who made a few calls of his own. BOB FIORETTI, CHICAGO 2ND WARD ALDERMAN: Congressman Davis, because he rolled up his sleeves right away to get -- he got on the phone with me very early this morning. Senator Durbin's office was on top of it. They all coordinated things.

LEWIS: That coordination paid off with the expedited passport Carmen is now holding. He says the whole thing would have been avoided if the cab had only popped the trunk. A criticism that he can fairly make because Carmen Miceli is a former cab driver himself.

MICELI: After the war, 1945, I got a job driving a cab here. I was a good cab driver.

LEWIS (on camera): Did you always open the trunk for your customers?

MICELI: Always.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: How good is that?

All right, this program note. Morton Brooks, a Nazi slave camp survivor, will be a guest this afternoon in the CNN NEWSROOM at 1:00 Eastern with Kyra Phillips. And we will also hear from Congressman Spencer Bachus, who helped push for these vets to be recognized.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: His lawyer says the young man accused of killing a soldier outside a recruiting center in Arkansas was tortured and brainwashed in Yemen. Jim Hensley was formerly appointed to Abdulhakim Muhammad's case today. CNN's David Mattingly is covering the story for us in Little Rock, Arkansas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How could an American 20 something man leave home for less than two years and allegedly return a dangerous radical?

MATTINGLY (on camera): Is your client a terrorist?

JAMES HENSLEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: My client is a young man I think brainwashed.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Defense Attorney James Hensley says Abdulhakim Muhammad, charged with a deadly attack on a Little Rock Army recruiting station, was tortured while in prison with radicals in Yemen.

MATTINGLY (on camera): What were they doing to him? Was this physical?

HENSLEY: This was physical. It was deprivation of sleep and deprivation of food. I understand that there was some beatings on the back of his lower legs. MATTINGLY (voice-over): In what sounds like the beginning of a legal defense, Hensley describes Muhammad as a teacher turned martyr. A transformation Yemeni officials find hard to believe. A spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington says Muhammad resided and worked in two cities over 14 months. He was in custody only two months on a visa violation before being sent home.

MOHAMMED AL-BASHA, SPOKESMAN, YEMENI EMBASSY: It is understood that the process of radicalization can take a number of year, not a couple of weeks. So the statements that his lawyer made that he was brainwashed and tortured for weeks in Yemen are baseless.

MATTINGLY: Born Carlos Bledsoe in Memphis, his attorney says he converted to Islam while attending college in Nashville. Bledsoe changed his name to Abdulhakim Muhammad in 2006 and traveled to Yemen the next year to teach English and learn Arabic.

MATTINGLY (on camera): While there, he married a Yemeni woman but had to leave her behind when he was expelled from the country in January. Now almost six months later, he's in Little Rock, accused of killing one Army recruiter and wounding another.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): He pleaded not guilty after police say he confessed.

MATTINGLY (on camera): He told you he wanted to be a martyr?

HENSLEY: Sure. He said he wanted to be a martyr. I think that's out there. He has said that several times to people.

MATTINGLY: When the police took him into custody, why didn't he try to fight? Did he -- was he hoping that the police would try to kill him?

HENSLEY: I think that you have to look at the definition of martyrdom. It does not necessarily require death.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): While in Yemen, Hensley says Muhammad came to believe U.S. troop were responsible for harming Muslim women and children. Hensley says Muhammad was angered by two FBI interrogations.

HENSLEY: There was threats made, we're watching you, we're going to get you.

MATTINGLY (on camera): The FBI said this?

HENSLEY: The FBI. That's what my client said. We're going to get you. We're going to do everything we can to cause you trouble.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A federal law enforcement source tells CNN the FBI was investigating Muhammad, but FBI spokesmen would not confirm any contact they may have had. Hensley says Muhammad is anxious to tell his story and may not wait for a trial to do it.

David Mattingly, CNN, Little Rock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, thanks so much.

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