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Lax Security at Federal Buildings; Behind the Scenes at G8 Summit; Is Recovery Plan a Bust?; Pickens Still Plans Wind Farm; India Gets First Wal-Mart
Aired July 08, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: Pushing forward this hour, how safe will you be next time you visit a federal building? A troubling new report should have you very concerned. Bomb components smuggled past security guard.
A baby accidentally sent through an x-ray machine. A guard asleep at his post. All those things are uncovered by plain closed government investigators. The Senate's homeland security committee got an earful this morning as it opened hearing on the report by the government accountability office. And Senators don't like what the report uncovered.
The committee chairman Joe Lieberman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE, LIEBERMAN, (D), CONNECTICUT: As we approach the eighth a anniversary of 9-11-01 and 14 years after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, it is really outrageously unacceptable that the federal employees working within our federal buildings and the citizens who pass through them are still apparently so utterly exposed to potential attack by terrorists or other violent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: What a remarkable story. We're going to b ring you more on this right now.
CNN's Brian Todd joins us from Washington. He's got the details on this troubling story -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, this is a really devastating report by the Government Accountability Office. They had investigators basically conducting sting operations on 10 federal buildings. Not necessarily this one here, but buildings just like it.
These buildings with security overseen by the Federal Protective Service. But the FPS actually uses private security contractors as guards similar to the ones who are in this checkpoint behind me.
We're going to show you some video first. This video is from the GAO showing an undercover GAO investigator actually going through a checkpoint, sneaking bomb components through a checkpoint at a federal building. They visited 10 federal buildings and did the same operation in each of them. Once they got the components past these checkpoints, these investigators were able to go into bathrooms and other private areas and assemble, essentially, detonators and bombs, and walk around freely inside the federal buildings.
Then we're going to show you some other video. This is what these components were able to make. First, a detonator here, basically in the trunk of a car. This is how strong an explosive they were able to make, showing the detonation going off in the trunk of a car. This video all given to us by the GAO.
There was a hearing on this today on Capitol Hill. The head of the Federal Protective Service, Gary Schenkel, was called to account. And here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY SCHENKEL, DIRECTOR, FPS: When the GAO presented its alarming oral report to us several weeks ago, it caused us all grave concern. We have all worked very, very hard and were taken aback upon receiving this disturbing news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Now, one other thing to mention here is that these buildings -- and again, we're not allowed to say which buildings they were or in which cities, but there were 10 federal buildings in four U.S. cities, all buildings with a level 4 classification. That means top security levels just underneath the level of the White House, as far as the sensitivity and the security level that needs to be in place. And these buildings included facilities of the Department of State, the Justice Department. These were offices of lawmakers, even including the Department of Homeland Security, which overseas the guards in question.
Now, the gentlemen whose sound bite we just ran, Gary Schenkel, did say that within hours of getting this GAO report, they increased the number of inspectors at some of these checkpoints and they instituted a program to aggressively attack the management of these private security contractors.
But Ali, a very, very devastating report for the Federal Protective Service, which oversees security at federal buildings.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Lieberman put it well when he said all these years after 9/11, and after the Murrah building, this is still going on.
We're going to be speaking to him later in the hour.
Brian, excellent reporting on this. Thank you so much.
Brian Todd in Washington.
Now, Brian was telling us a bit about the Federal Protective Service. In all, the Federal Protective Service has about 1,200 officers, and they oversee about 13,000 private security guards. The Government Accountability Office says it visited six of the 11 regions of the Federal Protective Service that they oversee, and in all six regions, the service did not require some of its guards to complete the mandatory 128 hours of training.
Joining us now from Washington is Mark Goldstein. He's with the GAO. He was at today's Senate hearing.
Mark, thank you for joining us.
First of all, how did you find out about this? Was this a routine investigation by the GAO, or was there some tip that there is a problem with security at these buildings?
MARK GOLDSTEIN, GAO: We were asked by three committees of Congress to investigate the Federal Protective Service, and we have been doing so for several years. We issued a report a year ago that talked about problems that FPS had in managing and overseeing the protection of federal property. And this most recent report specifically looked at the contract guard program and how FPS manages it.
VELSHI: Tell me this thing about how a number of regions, all those six regions, the guards -- and I'm assuming this means the private guards that are hired -- were not compelled to complete 128 hours of mandatory training. I mean, either it's mandatory or it's not, isn't it?
GOLDSTEIN: That's correct. The problem is that the Federal Protective Service doesn't have assurance that guards are fully trained and certified with certain kinds of responsibilities by the time they step on to a federal facility. So, not only did many guards not receive required training on magnetometers and x-ray machines, but FPS can't assure themselves -- and they have to be responsible for their guards -- that these people were necessarily certified in things like firearms or domestic violence issues or baton training or CPR and first aid.
Part of our investigation showed that in pulling files for guards, that more than 62 percent of the guards' files we looked at had at least one certification that had expired. And in many instances, for many contractors, the guards had an expiration level higher than that, in the 75 percent range. So, we have a lot of concern that the people who are standing guard at federal buildings today may not be fully trained and may not be fully certified to be doing their job.
VELSHI: OK. That's an interesting point. So, you're saying that it's the management of them and the training of them, as opposed to simply not enough guards or a technological problem?
GOLDSTEIN: That's correct. There are a lot of issues, some of which are resources and technology, but some of it is also issues of management. VELSHI: Let's talk about this whole business of getting bomb components into a federal building. This was done in a way -- was it done as if you guys were experts at this and you could sneak things by anyone, or was it fairly obvious what was going on?
Tell me what happened, as much as you can.
GOLDSTEIN: Sure. I can't tell you what the components were, but our investigators went into 10 federal buildings of level 4 security, which is the highest level below the White House. They were able to get through the x-ray machines and the magnetometers a variety of components.
These were real bomb-making components, although they were not at a concentration level that would have gone off. But t was enough to get through a test. They got the materials past the guard posts.
They assembled the bombs inside of bathrooms in about four minutes, and they freely walked around several floors of the 10 different federal buildings that they went into, including the offices of the Department of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Justice, State, as well as the offices of a United States senator and a United States representative out in the field.
VELSHI: Mark Goldstein, fascinating story.
Mark Goldstein is with the GAO.
Thanks very much for joining us.
GOLDSTEIN: My pleasure.
VELSHI: We'll speak live with Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee, at the half-hour, right here in the NEWSROOM, about what the Senate plans to do about these troubling, troubling discoveries.
Well, the global economy, the global temperature, it's all part of the G8 Summit that's happening right now in Italy. Leaders of the top eight industrialized nations, including the new guy, President Obama, are talking about how the global money crisis hasn't gone away, how much more financial stimulus might be needed.
Some countries like Germany, well, they worry about inflation and are pushing for restraint. Climate change is also on the agenda, but there is no consensus developing between the nations on cutting their carbon emissions.
The summit is taking place in the Italian town of L'Aquila. An earthquake has devastated that place in April. Leaders took a tour of the quake zone right after their first session.
CNN Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry is on the G8 beat. He has got some behind-the-scenes perspective for us. Not the normal stuff that we get in the reporting. Ed is going to prove to me that his life is not all just one of perks and fancy travel with important people.
Ed, good to see you.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ali, good to see you. I know you fly first class and travel first class. That's the kind of guy you are.
But yes, we wanted to show you behind the scenes. And it's not all fun and games here. Obviously, there is a lot of substance going on.
You mentioned the economy. These leaders are already affirming a commitment on the first day to having pro-growth policies, dealing with the financial crisis. Also talking about climate change -- a commitment, a broad goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in just the last few moments, they announced, by 80 percent, among developed countries by 2050.
That's obviously still very far off. Critics are going to say it's going to be hard to enforce. So there's a lot of substance on the table. But behind the scenes, there's also a little fun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: We're at the G8 Summit, a little bit like Disney World, because everything is broken up into a village.
This is the media village. All these reporters from around the world. And since this is Italy, everything is well manicured, even the welcome sign. And it's pretty exciting to be covering the president of the United States traveling all around the world.
Here in Italy, you've got this natural beauty, the mountains, the balmy weather. But I don't want you to think it's a vacation.
We only had a couple hours' sleep last night in Moscow. Get on a bus at 3:30 in the morning. Then take that bus to the airport, a three-and-a-half-hour flight to here and Italy.
And then once we landed, we're in such a remote area, we had to take a two-hour bus from the airport here to the summit site. And it's not like we're soaking in the rays all day. Instead, we're working here with all the other television networks, where we pool our resources. It's essentially a well-manicured, well-done tent.
And this is the area where we do our live shots. And sometimes when we're doing those stand-ups, you'll hear other voices, like my colleague here from Italian television. The reason for that is that these big events, they have got us all clustered together, one next to the other. And you can see all this gear, cameras, lights, all the equipment lined up.
It's not too busy right now because the summit just started. But when it gets busy, it's pandemonium, because people are shouting over one another just to be heard. This being Italy, they've got all kinds of ad hoc cafes out here for people to mingle. And everyone's after one thing at this summit, the swag bag.
They always give out something. This year it's a knapsack. You can see the "G8" on there, and it's full of all kinds of goodies.
They've got, of course, some materials that we sometimes read through. You've got a pencil that says "G8," a highlighter. You've got a T-shirt. You've got even a swimming towel, a hat.
My favorite part, though, this year is a watch. What time is it? G8 time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And Ali, you saw that T-shirt there. I'm going to bring that back to the states for you.
VELSHI: I appreciate that. I don't get much swag from those trips.
Listen, on balance, you travel to a lot of places. Is there much downtime for you when you are on these trips, or are you always ahead of sort of the president or whoever's moving around?
HENRY: We're always trying to get ahead of the president. That's why there is not a lot of downtime.
On this trip, we got to Moscow on Sunday night, before -- Sunday afternoon/Sunday night, before the president did. That was really our first chance since he was not around yet to kind of explore the city, get your bearings.
This is a great learning experience for everyone on this beat when you get to go to such historic places. Walking through Red Square, for example, quite an experience. But for the rest of the trip it's kind of run and gun throughout -- Ali.
VELSHI: Hey, just a question about that. You interviewed the president and you were uncharacteristically well dressed for that interview, so much so that you got a comment from the president out of it.
HENRY: Well, you know, it's funny you raise that, Ali. He did. Right before the cameras were rolling, the president was complimenting me. I was wearing a gray pinstripe suit and he told me that it looked good and he thought it matched my tie well.
And I was telling him that I was sort of getting dressed in the dark at 3:00 in the morning in Moscow and wasn't really giving it much thought, so I was really glad I picked the right thing. It would have been pretty embarrassing for the president to say the opposite, that the suit looked pretty bad. I think my mom probably would have been all over my case.
But you know, you never have to worry about that, Ali. You're a well-dressed guy.
VELSHI: And I learn a lot about reporting from you. Stick with me, I will give you some dressing tips.
Good to see you, my friend. Enjoy yourself out there. Keep giving us good news.
Ed Henry talking to us from Italy.
HENRY: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: Well, some of the president's top money men facing a tough grilling on Capitol Hill today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. AARON SCHOCK (R), ILLINOIS: Why shouldn't every governor take the money, tell you whatever you want to hear? Because up until now, I haven't heard a good explanation from you as to how we're going to force them to honor the commitment that we're expecting them to take in exchange for the money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, that's just a portion of a House Oversight Committee hearing examining how states are spending their portion of the $787 billion stimulus money.
Our Kate Bolduan has more on the often heated exchanges.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, Chairman Adolphus Towns said very clearly at the top of today's hearing what they want to learn. Is the Recovery Act working? Well, it seems there is good news and bad news there.
The comptroller-general of the Government Accountability Office says the money has helped to stabilize state and local government budgets which are under great stress right now, but the chairman of the committee says there seems to be significant shortfalls in tracking the funding.
Listen here to a heated exchange over job creation -- or, rather, slowing job loss -- between Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz and OMB Deputy Director Rob Nabors. Chaffetz you'll hear from off camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: How do you justify saying that you're slowing the free-fall?
ROBERT NABORS, OMB DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Well, I think that what we would do is we would look back at the job loss that we saw in the first quarter which was approaching 700,000 jobs a month, and look at where we are right now. We're not happy with the job loss we're that seeing right now. CHAFFETZ: I know you're not happy. We're not happy either. But the projections that the administration put forward, and what would happen or not happen if we did or didn't do the stimulus are dramatic. They're unacceptable.
NABORS: We believe that the job loss is unacceptable as well, and...
CHAFFETZ: Now, the president is quoted as saying that the stimulus has "done its job." Is that true or not true?
NABORS: We believe that the stimulus has had the impact that we had predicted, which is job creation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So far, the administration says the Recovery Act has saved or created 150,000 jobs. Now, Republicans criticize that number, saying the government's measure is impossible to verify if a job is created or simply saved.
This hearing follows what Republicans say are mixed messages coming from the administration on the economy. Vice President Biden telling ABC there was a misread on how bad the economy was, and President Obama clarifying that to NBC while in Russia, saying they received incomplete information -- Ali.
VELSHI: Thanks, Kate.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is counting down the days until she leaves office. The former Republican vice presidential candidate seen here on a fishing trip with her family abruptly announced on Friday that she is quitting the job July 26th. Palin says -- well, she hasn't said what she'll do next, but a book deal is in the works and she's ruling out a run for the White House.
In a new "USA Today"/Gallup poll, 19 percent of voters say they are likely to vote for Palin if she runs. Twenty-four percent say they are somewhat likely, but more than half say they are not at all or not too likely to support Palin. Now, among Republicans only, 72 percent say they would be very likely or somewhat likely to vote for Palin.
Bald, paper white, with track marks on his arms. Not how we have ever seen Michael Jackson. That's for sure. But that's the word from a source involved with the investigation.
Some incredible details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, in death, Michael Jackson's music is back on the top of the charts. Sales of music are just soaring. More than 800,000 copies of his different solo albums sold last week. And he's grabbed all 10 spots on the Top Pop Catalog Albums' chart. That actually breaks his own record set last week when he had eight of the top 10.
If that's not impressive enough for you, ,Michael Jackson also has five of the top 10 music downloads.
Now, if you watched all of yesterday's memorial, you probably saw Jackson's gold casket being wheeled out of the Staples Center -- to where? Well, we still don't know.
Family and friends held a private memorial at a cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, but sources say he won't be buried there. No burial plans have been announced for the Neverland Ranch either.
Another open question here. What killed the "King of Pop?" A toxicology report hasn't been released, and on his death certificate, cause of death is listed as "deferred."
We do have some troubling new details from the investigation. Here is CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a gentleman here that needs help, and he's not breathing.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has now learned disturbing new details about what precisely police investigators found when they answered the 911 call from Jackson's house 12 days ago.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he's not conscious, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE (on camera): A source involved with the investigation tells us Jackson had "numerous" track marks on his arms, and that those marks "could certainly be consistent with the regular I.V. use of a drug like Diprivan."
(voice-over): Diprivan is the powerful sedative commonly used in anesthesia in a hospital. A nurse who had worked for Jackson told CNN he had begged her for Diprivan a few months ago so he could sleep.
Our source cautioned investigators can't say right now if a Diprivan I.V. drip caused the track marks on Jackson's arms. Some of the marks, the source said, appeared fresh, others older. In fact, some of the newest marks could have been caused when emergency medical personnel rushed into the house and used their own IVs in an effort to save him. The source would not confirm if Diprivan had been found with Jackson, but he told us numerous bottles of prescription medication had been found in Jackson's $100,000-a-month rented mansion. He described them as "dangerous drugs, similar to those found in a hospital setting." That's as far as he would go.
(on camera): As for Jackson's body, the source said he had never seen anything like it in decades of investigative work. He described it as "lily white from head to toe."
Was it caused by the disease Jackson said he had? We don't know.
(voice-over): Another source with knowledge of the case described Jackson's body as having "paper-white skin, as white as a white T-shirt." He also told me his scalp was bald, that the pop star had no hair. That may have been as a result of injuries Jackson received when his hair caught fire while making this Pepsi ad years ago.
This source also said Jackson's veins were "collapsed in both arms," suggesting frequent intravenous drug use.
His final note, the body was emaciated, despite the vigor Jackson showed on stage during his final rehearsal just 36 hours earlier.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right. Most people suspected it, now it's official. Steve McNair's death is a case of murder/suicide. That's according to the medical examiner's findings.
The retired NFL quarterback was found dead in Nashville Saturday next to the body of his 20-year-old girlfriend. She had bought the gun which was found beneath her body.
The Tennessee Titans are opening their fields to fans today and tomorrow so that they can pay their respects. McNair spent most of his career with the Titans franchise.
Well, it's known as one of the world's cleanest cities. So why are garbage bags stacking up around Toronto?
We'll tell you what the stink is about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right, I was talking a little earlier to T. Boone Pickens. This is a man who made billions -- and I mean billions of dollars investing in oil. And then all of the sudden, he had an about-face an decided that he was going to invest very heavily, billions of his own money, to build windmills -- to get windmills and build the world's biggest wind farm in Pampa, Texas.
Well, I spoke to him earlier because his plans have changed a little bit. He says the economy is making it tougher to actually get the job done. But you'll remember probably watching his TV ads -- they were all over the tube last year -- trying to convince people to support his plan for wind power. Here is some of my conversation with Boone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Set the record straight. What's going on with your plans to get America on to wind energy and natural gas? What's changed?
T. BOONE PICKENS, CHAIRMAN, BP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, nothing's changed other than you've got a bad economy. So, financing has been very slow. You don't receive the turbines until the first quarter of 2011. And so, we'll be right on schedule.
We may not build the wind farm in Pampa, Texas. You may find it in Wisconsin or Nebraska or someplace else. But we'll be actively building a wind farm someplace with the turbines.
VELSHI: You just don't...
PICKENS: My garage is not big enough to take all of that.
VELSHI: To take all those. What's the problem with Texas? Why did you decide that that wasn't going to work?
PICKENS: Well, we need the transmission in there. And we won't have transmission until about 2013. So, we'll go ahead in 2011. We'll go to work someplace on wind. That's all -- this whole story has been kind of blown out of proportion. We're still going to do a project in Pampa.
VELSHI: You are in Washington now because there's been a bill that's been introduced to encourage greater use of natural gas in cars. This is something that you have been all about for a long time. Tell me what's happened today and how that's going to change things for us.
PICKENS: OK, that's the bill introduced. It's called Senate Bill 1408. It was introduced by Senator Menendez from New Jersey and Senator Hatch from Utah. I was up there with them. Fabulous turnout, great amount of coverage on it.
The reason is because this is the bill that will go with 1835 House bill. And those bills will come together as the bill that's going to solve the dependency on foreign oil because you're going to go to natural gas as a transportation fuel. It's going to work. There's no question it is going to work. And I think it's a monumental day for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's T. Boone Pickens.
All right, with health care reform getting much of the attention in Congress, Vice President Joe Biden announced today a major boost for the plan. He said the nation's hospitals have agreed to a multibillion-dollar savings deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, every day, you see firsthand the impact of the skyrocketing health care costs have had on American families. And today, we've -- they've come together to do something about those health care costs.
Folks, reform is coming. It is on track. It is coming. We have tried for decades, for decades to fix a broken system. And, we have never, in my entire tenure in public life, been this close. We have never been as close as we are today, and things remain on track.
We have these hospitals working with us, and we have the pharmaceutical industry with us. We have doctors and nurses and health care providers with us. We have the American public behind us. And everyone sees that we need change. And in my view, we're going to get that change, and we're going to get it this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: It's a tough question because there's already health care legislation being kicked around in Congress. Let's talk about what that legislation is and where this is likely to go. Because the bottom line is that it's about cost. Health care itself, everybody knows what the problems are. Everybody knows how to solve it.
Josh Levs is here doing what he does so well. He's going to break it down for us, at least try to. And I'm going to be paying close attention, because anything you do, I'm going to steal and repeat on TV. This is the complicated part of this thing.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we both do that. By the way, you've gotten really good with the magic wall. Are you pretty good with this one too?
VELSHI: I can change some things.
LEVS: All right, well, we'll play around a bit. Let me tell you the basics here. There is this key piece of legislation, and it's been put out by this Senate committee, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
And what you're seeing is that there's this group out here, the Congressional Budget Office, that's done this analysis at this point. And everyone is talking about this, Ali. Congressional Budget Office, you're going to hear the letters CBO so many times throughout this debate.
Let's go to what they are saying about this piece of legislation. We've got a graphic for you. VELSHI: They're nonpartisan.
LEVS: They are nonpartisan. They're independent. They analyze what this legislation's all about. And we really have been trying to drill down on what they're actually saying. This is what they're saying as of today.
Coverage provisions -- in this piece of legislation that we've got going at this point from the Senate Committee, it would cost $600 billion to pull off all the things they're saying over a period of 10 years. But that's not all. There's one more thing that we'll see now.
They're also now talking about expanding Medicaid as part of this. And on the next graphic, what you'll see, that adds another $500 billion here.
So, the costs that they're talking about in this piece of legislation so far would come out to basically $1.1 trillion. But here's what we have to understand about that. Just because it would cost that much doesn't mean we'd be in the red that way.
Inside this law, they're also building in all sorts of ways to save money. And the CBO is saying, look, we haven't analyzed all of that. We can't tell you all the things that would save them money. We can only tell you the spending provisions.
So, these numbers are really important because right now, senators can take a look, say, OK, if it's going to cost $1.1 trillion, we better put in a lot of stuff to start saving money. That's what they're doing with these stats (ph).
VELSHI: All right, and it's still going to be a long time because before we're going to figure out, we'd have to see what the legislation is, and someone would have to run the other side of those numbers.
LEVS: And they've got to keep updating it. I mean, look, you were just talking about Vice President Biden, this hospitalization plan, that's a whole new element. All of a sudden, they toss that in, whatever other changes they are. You know Congress. It might go through 100 permutations. Every time, you've got brand new numbers. Right now, so far, $1.1 trillion.
VELSHI: Well, we're going to make a commitment to our viewers that we will continue to break that down because I think we all need to know that. If you're going to make a decision as to whether you are supporting change or which change you're supporting, we've just got to know how this pans out.
LEVS: And we will all ultimately pay for this if there is debt from this, so there's a critical cost.
VELSHI: All right, Josh, thank you. Excellent work on that, Josh Levs.
All right, let's go over to Chad Myers. Chad, what have you got?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, a little bit ago, we were joking about Xs and Os and John Madden. And I accidentally said "the late john Madden," meaning to say "the retired John Madden."
VELSHI: Right, but he's still with us. I know what you meant.
MYERS: I didn't mean to kill the guy off. He is 73, alive and well and one of my favorite guys on television. So, my apologies to anyone who mistook that.
VELSHI: Understood. Well, I knew what you meant. But good to clear up, John Madden's still with us.
MYERS: I hope no one went, oh! I didn't hear about that. John's well.
VELSHI: All right, John, if you're listening, you can tweet us to just confirm you heard it. All right, Chad, I'll catch you later.
MYERS: All right.
VELSHI: All right, one-stop shopping now in India. If you need something on your way to the Taj Mahal, a familiar name has come to town.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: As we've reported, a troubling new report about security at some of the nation's federal buildings should have you very concerned. Bomb components smuggled past security guards, a baby accidentally sent through an x-ray machine, a guard asleep at his post. Those are all things uncovered by plainclothes investigators with the Government Accountability Office.
Joining us now in Washington, Senator Joe Lieberman. He's the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which opened hearings on the report today.
Senator, thank you for joining us. We heard your comments earlier today. You seemed remarkably shocked by this. There were things you learned at these hearings that upset you a great deal. Tell me what bothered you the most?
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Absolutely. The actual report from the investigator wasn't due until later this summer. But when we got the interim report, we thought it was so shocking we wanted to go public with it, frankly to create some sense of urgency in the Department of Homeland Security and this Federal Protective Service.
What shocked me the most -- I think the most dramatic is that in ten different federal buildings, ten GAO, government investigators were able to get by security with the components of a bomb. Go into the restroom -- in some cases, actually asking a guard to open the restroom for them because it was closed, assembling the bomb and then walking throughout the building.
Now, God forbid that was a terrorist. If that had succeeded in five of ten cases, we would be alarmed. But to have it happen in ten of ten different buildings, something is very wrong with this agency. It has got to be fixed quickly.
VELSHI: For those of our viewers who hadn't seen the story, These GAO investigators, plainclothes, took these bomb components through, got them through the X-ray machines, went into the restrooms, assembled the bombs, walked them around to different places in the building, and took them out and detonated them and filmed that so that people could see the damage that could have been done if they were detonated inside.
We spoke to an official from the GAO earlier who said it seems to be management of the private security guards at the Federal Protective Services overseas and the management of those security guards. Is that what you think is the problem?
LIEBERMAN: Well, there are a lot of problems, but that's a big part of it. Basically, my conclusion is that the Federal Protective Service is an agency in crisis. It is sick. It's got a lot of problems.
It is divided into 11 regions. The regions have been operating too much on their own, inadequate demands made of the private security guards. Fifteen thousand private security guards guarding 9,000 federal buildings in which millions of federal employees and citizens come every year and just falling down on the job. So, they do need some more money.
But, our judgment is -- my judgment is that we have to fix the management of these places and their contracts with the private security guards before we put an extra penny into them, because it will be wasted money.
VELSHI: So, you're not going to support increased money just yet. You want to have the management problem fixed first?
LIEBERMAN: Want to have the management fixed and then hopefully come back in the next budget cycle and give them more money, because they do need more money.
VELSHI: Senator Joe Lieberman, thanks for being with us.
LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Ali. Take care.
VELSHI: Let's take a look at the markets. Not a good day on the Dow. We've seen a number of not-good days that have not been extremely bad, but just sort of nibbling away at some gains we have had. The Dow is down now, just 56 points. Pushing down again to that 8,100 mark. We have seen that Dow up around 8,900. Some thing to discuss on the market. Maybe some concerns about this economic recovery we have seen.
Let's take a look at housing. We have a report out from PMI. If you buy a house and don't put enough money down -- you know what PMI is. It's the insurance you have to buy. This company has released some reports about the stability of the housing market, and they're saying that there are places around the country that are particularly stable.
Take a look at the most stable housing markets in the country, according to them. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which continues to be a remarkable story because it has education and universities. Cleveland, same thing. Cleveland Clinic, has hospitals and education facilities. Columbus, Ohio; Houston, Texas and San Antonio, Texas are being called some of the most stable markets -- housing markets in the country if you're looking to buy.
Let's take a look at the least stable housing markets, or the riskiest housing markets in the country. Miami, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, continues to be a risky market. Why? Because there are empty buildings there. There was a lot of building that was done. Riverside, California is also a risky market. Las Vegas, which is one of the markets that has the highest foreclosure rates, one of the highest in the country and Los Angeles, California.
So, not a atypical from what you would believe to be the case, but keep that in mind if you're in the mood to purchase a house. Remember, interest rates are low. So, it still makes it a good deal for some people.
All right. Congratulations, India. You have made it. You are now part of the Wal-Mart universe. Welcome. You will never look at blue vests the same way again. The world's largest retailer is open for business in the land of a billion people. Sara Sidner reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in the Holy City of the golden temple, an American retail giant is hoping to strike gold. Wal-Mart has finally made its way to India, in a joint venture with one of the country's best-known companies, Bharti Enterprises.
RAJAN MITTAL, V.P. BHARTI ENTERPRISES: We understand the consumer. We understand the psyche. (INAUDIBLE) I think a good mix to understand what the Indian consumer needs.
SIDNER: Not everyone can shop here. This is a wholesale store, aptly named Best Price Modern Wholesale. Here, only licensed business people for hotels or institutions are allowed in. India's strict business rules forbid foreign companies from direct retail for fear multinational corporations will wipe out the little guy.
(on camera): Big-box stores are almost nonexistent in India. Ninety-five percent of the buying and selling happened in mom-and-pop shops. If you want luggage, you buy it here. You want dry snacks, you have to go someplace else. You want vegetables? You go to yet another place.
(voice-over) For some businesses, it could mean visiting 25 places every day just to stock the shelves, until now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the whole industry, it's the best thing because everything you talk about -- you talk about stationary, crockery, cutlery, kitchen, groceries, your meats, your fish, everything is available under one roof.
SIDNER: This store also appeals to Sunair Singh (ph), who owns a tiny shop in a nearby village.
SUNAIR SINGH (through translator): I travel 40 kilometers but I save a lot of money and get good quality. I visit four to five times a week.
SIDNER: But not everyone is excited about the new store in Punjab. Small distributor Parwin Sharma (ph) is worried. He says his business has dropped by 15 percent in the month Wal-Mart has opened. But the Bharti-Wal-Mart partnership says with more than 1 billion people in India to serve, there is room for everyone to do good business here.
CRAIG WIMSTATT, BHARTI/ WAL-MART: We believe it is a very good move. We have high hopes for the opportunities to be able to grow this format in other parts of India.
SIDNER: Bharti Wal-Mart plans to open 15 more stores across India within the next few years.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Armrizner (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, Sonya Sotomayor, preparing for tough questions at her confirmation hearing next week.
What would you ask the judge if you had the chance? Tweet me at Ali Velshi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Prosecutors plan to appeal a judge's decision to toss this cell phone video from the fight club case in Corpus Christi, Texas. Former caregivers are accused of forcing developmentally disabled residents of a state facility to duke it out for fun. The judge ruled the video isn't admissible evidence in the trail of the man who allegedly filmed the fight. He claims the phone was stolen. The judge has postponed the start of testimony until the appeals court reviews her decision.
Well, as always, Team Sanchez back there working on the next hour of NEWSROOM. Rick, I hope I did OK when I was filling in for you last week or the week before. I hope you still have some people who tune in to watch your show.
I didn't wreck it for you, did I? RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: No. As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, young Ali, I was told by all my own personal tweets while I was on vacation that you did a bang-up job.
VELSHI: Thank you, sir. It was a lot of fun.
SANCHEZ: As a matter of fact, I sent you a tweet a moment ago.
VELSHI: I just saw it.
SANCHEZ: Did you? Yes, go ahead tell people what I wrote.
VELSHI: I loved it. I didn't know it was from you. But it says -- I just realized after it -- "Ali Velshi, you are so handsome and so talented." And to find out that that was you who sent that Rick, I'm honored.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I love you, man. You're a good guy.
VELSHI: What do you got working on?
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you. There's a couple of things that we're going to be working on today.
First of all, we have made a commitment to the story in Afghanistan, especially now that things are getting a little heated over there in more ways than one. In large measure, because of the temperature that the troops are having to deal with but in large measure as well because nine soldiers have now given their lives as a result of he was going on there in Afghanistan, try to kick the Taliban out.
You know, The problem is not kicking them out. We've done that before successfully. It's keeping them out. And that's kind of what we're going to be talking about. We've got Atia -- she's you know, embedded down there with some of those Marines. She's going to be joining us to talk about what's going on.
And you are not going to believe what's going on in one of the other stories that I have found fascinating and I'm sure you have too. You know, this situation with Steve McNair, who's probably one of the most talented quarterbacks to come down the pike in about 10 years in the NFL. He turns up dead. And now police have just told us they're going to be holding a news conference during our hour to finally say whether she killed him and then killed herself, or whether it was somebody else who may have busted into the place and killed them both, which is what everyone's wanted to know.
VELSHI: Yes, it's a remarkable story. We'll be tuned in to hear you following it and we're watching your show starting at 3:00 Eastern.
Rick, good to see you, my friend.
SANCHEZ: You too, man.
VELSHI: All right. Rick Sanchez, stay tuned for him. 3:00, send him your tweets, your messages on Facebook and on MySpace.
Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor start on Monday. And we're sure senators will ask her hard-hitting questions on interpretations of Constitutional law.
But, what would you ask her if you got the chance? Here are some of your tweets that I've got. First of all, there are a number of people who are saying, ask her about her stand on abortion. That is obviously something people are going to want to ask.
Cactus moon says, "Did Sotomayor mean that her background caused her to support the rule of law rather than the good old boy's club.?"
Another one, EventSiam (ph) says, "What past Supreme Court justice would she compare herself too?"
Those are a couple of examples of questions that I've got from you about what you would ask Sonia Sotomayor if you were actually responsible for asking her questions leading up to her confirmation.
We, of course, at CNN, will follow that very closely. And more importantly, when those questions are asked, we have a team in place to let you know what they mean. What's the relevance of a particular question. Because I think some of us, including me, don't know sometimes. What does it mean when this judge is asked this question. What are they trying to get at? What indication will it be, about the way she's likely to vote and the impact that is likely to have on you in Supreme Court rulings in the future.
All right. The president of Iran is ready to start another term. The protests are taking on a new direction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Our good friend and colleague Reza Sayah is staffing the CNN International -- the Iran Desk. You guys have been on this the whole time. To some people there might be the impression that things have died down in Iraq.
But there are still protests?
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely. Lots of internet chatter today, calling on people to take to the streets an Iran once again tomorrow. It's the 10 year anniversary of a 1999 student protest that led to the killing of several students. So look for some people out in the streets in Tehran.
Also, a protest scheduled in more than a dozen cities outside of Iran. In the meantime, yesterday, the president went on TV again, trying to put the vote behind him saying it's over. But the opposition and their supporters saying it's not. The leaders with the joint statement yesterday, again, condemning the elections and the aftermath. So, not over if you ask the opposition.
VELSHI: And I just want to remind people, you guys are on it. We're not leaving this story.
SAYAH: We're right here.
VELSHI: Reza Sayah, thank you so much.
Your national conversation begins right now with Rick Sanchez -- Rick.
