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Cash for Clunkers Too Popular?; Billions for Unwanted Projects; Health Care and the Home Crowd; Ahmadinejad Reportedly Has Strained Relationship with Iran's Supreme Leader; Second Chance for Homeless; Piven Has "The Goods"; Nation Building in Afghanistan; Chris Dodd To Hold Press Conference About Personal Illness; Be Careful What You Tweet
Aired July 31, 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: A mad dash for cash. A group of lawmakers scrambling to refuel the cash for clunkers program before Congress takes its summer break. Congress provided a billion dollars' worth of auto rebates and thought that would last through October. But it looks like that money is gone in just about a week.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joining me now. And Ed, good to see you. I believe you've wrapped up your radio show. Here's my question for you, Ed: If you're a dealership today, what's life like for you over the weekend? Do you continue offering this program? What's the latest?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was stressing today, look, if you were planning to go out this weekend and purchase a car through the so-called cash for clunkers program, it's going to be honored. He's insisting the federal government is behind it.
There had been some reports late last night saying, look, all of a sudden, this is no longer good, that they were going to have to suspend the program. He said the program is still up and running. They're going to honor any certificates for purchases over the weekend. And more importantly, that the president wants to expand this program.
And when you talk to various leaders on Capitol Hill, including Senator Debbie Stabenow, what she is saying today is that they are trying to get an infusion of about $2 billion more to expand this program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: We have agreed that we're going to work to try to continue this program. First of all, it continues as is today, until otherwise notice, until dealerships are told otherwise. And the House intends to pass a bill today that would add an additional $2 billion to the program. It would come to the Senate, and then next week we would work with colleagues to try to pass that.
DEIRDRE WALSH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL PRODUCER: And how do you pay for the $2 billion? Where does that money come from? STABENOW: It would come from unused recovery funds that the Obama administration has identified, working with appropriators as a source of funding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: So, you could hear right there, our congressional producer, Deirdre Walsh, was interviewing Senator Stabenow. She's suggesting they'll redirect some stimulus funds, because this is obviously pumping up the economy, it appears, anyway, because you've got people sort of rushing into car dealers across the country.
Robert Gibbs saying this is a good way to stimulate the economy. But they have to figure how to process that.
I've already got Republicans e-mailing me saying how much is this costing, though, to process all of this? And were these people who were going to go out and buy cars anyway? So, that's something we'll have to dig into.
Robert Gibbs saying right now there's an estimated 20,000 certificates that are backlogged, that have already been involved in car sales, that government bureaucrats are trying to go through and process. That's why they were worried they were going to run out of money. There's such a backlog. These cars are just flying out right now -- Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. And I guess we learned last hour, Ed, that the president is going to make a statement next hour, 1:15. What are we likely to hear from the president?
HENRY: What we're going to hear from the president is two things. He's going to take a look at these revised GDP numbers, gross domestic product, and basically say, look, it looks like, at the end of last year, beginning of this year, when he took office, this economy was in much worse shape than anybody thought. And so, he's going to use that, because he's been doing that at town hall meetings politically to say, look, give me more time. I inherited a mess -- in fact, a mess that was even bigger than the worst critics thought.
A second point he's going to try to make is that when you look at the growth numbers for this latest quarter, it's a little bit better than economists expected. And that the sort of contraction in the economy is not quite as bad. It's bad, but not as bad as they expected. And he's going to try to use that to say, look, we're starting to pull out of this.
HARRIS: Right.
HENRY: Things are starting to get better. But don't take your eye off the ball, because there's still a lot of people without jobs...
HARRIS: Absolutely.
HENRY: ... a lot of people without health care. And he's going to try to make his point again to push for health care reform as well -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Our Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry for us.
A busy day so far for you, Ed. Appreciate it. Thank you.
And in just a couple of minutes, I'll ask an auto dealer how the Cash for Clunkers rebate program has impacted his business this week.
Also, auto analyst Lauren Fix will join us as well.
New figures on gross domestic product are out today. They confirm the country's output of goods and services shrank in the second quarter by one percent. That's not as much as analysts were predicting, and some say that suggests the recession is winding down.
GDP has contracted for four straight quarters now. That is the first time that's happened since the Commerce Department began keeping records back in 1947.
Build some bridges, will you? Or fix a few.
The House Transportation Committee is giving stimulus spending a checkup today. One congressman praised the states for quickly spending stimulus cash to repave roads, but he says they need a kick in the pants and focus on big-picture projects like bridges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: We find that they say with most funded projects relating to transportation, they focus on paving improvements. And there's nothing wrong with that, and I have to compliment the Department of Transportation and state departments of transportation for trying to pick the low-hanging fruit, get the money out as soon as possible. But many of those jobs are short-term, some of the money's been spent and the jobs are already closed down.
The problem we have is building the larger infrastructure projects that are multiyear and, you know, significant. And in complexity, I have to admit that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Around 2,500 bridge projects were slated to get some stimulus money.
Does the latest round of economic numbers indicate the so-called great recession may be coming to an end? We know what analysts are saying. We want to know what you think.
Here's what you do -- go to CNN.com/Tony. Leave us a blog comment, if you would.
Do you believe that we have hit bottom, and are we on the way up? Share your thoughts, or a story or two with us, at our Web site. We'll have some of your remarks a little later this hour. Congress is considering spending billions for weapons and programs the Pentagon doesn't want.
Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence says you can thank pet projects for that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six hundred billion dollars won't buy you any more F-22s. The House cut funding for the fighter jet that's never fired a shot in battle. The Pentagon didn't want that jet anyway, but it's still stuck with projects it did not ask for.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't want a new missile defense system, or another engine for the joint strike fighter, or nearly half a billion dollars for new presidential helicopters. Come to think of it, even President Obama didn't want those. They're all in the new defense spending bill.
RYAN ALEXANDER, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: The Department of Defense has no history of being frugal.
LAWRENCE: The president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group, says the words Pentagon and frugal have never been connected before.
ALEXANDER: And when they say we actually don't need this, it's pretty extraordinary. We should listen to that.
LAWRENCE: Nearly $3 billion of the extra money goes to earmarks, which are projects demanded by individual congressmen. Mostly for work in their home state.
REP. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: If they're so good, why do we have to earmark money for them? Why don't we say compete on your own like everybody else?
LAWRENCE: Representative John Murtha sponsored the bill that cut the F-22 money, but says his earmarks provide good jobs for American workers and produce needed equipment like body armor.
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: The biggest complaint I get from troops in the field -- I don't know how often you visit the field, Mr. Flake. I don't know how often you come to the people that do this work.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Representative Murtha was responsible for 23 earmarks totaling $90 million, the most of any House member. But we'll have to see if they all make it through, because President Obama has threatened to veto this bill if some of these projects were included.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: Today is the day British forces are set to fully withdraw from Iraq after six years there. In recent months their mission focused on training the Iraqi army.
At the peak of the war, about 46,000 British troops were stationed in Iraq. Britain was a key ally of the U.S. when President Bush ordered the Iraq invasion. One hundred seventy-nine British soldiers have died in Iraq since the war began.
A U.S. Army colonel says American troops are doing more harm than good by staying in Iraq. Colonel Timothy Reese, who advises the Iraqi military in Baghdad, says the U.S. should declare victory and withdraw in a year. He wrote a memo last month saying the training of Iraqi troops has reached a point of rapidly diminishing returns and is actually generating more opposition.
Right now, U.S. combat troops are set to withdraw from Iraq by this time next year. Another contingent is staying until the end of 2011.
House members heading home in just a few hours. And they're likely to get an ear full from their constituents concerned about health care reform.
Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar live from Capitol Hill for us.
And Brianna, this is a really critical period. What can lawmakers expect to hear when they get back to their home districts?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly going to be feeling some pressure from constituents who will be voicing their opinions on health care, Tony, but also a lot of Democrats, especially those in swing districts, are going to be very vulnerable to any attacks that Republicans who opposed the Democratic health care reform plan may lob their way.
I want to tell you, they're really gearing up for this. There was just a meeting on the House side of the Capitol with all of the House Democrats and David Axelrod, one of the president's top advisers, as well as Nancy-Ann DeParle, the top health care adviser. And they got together solely to work on what their message is going to be.
This memo also went out to all House Democratic members, and it says that "This may be the most consequential district work period" -- that's what they call recess -- "that we have ever faced." This memo outlines that they need to counter the Republican government takeover message.
How are they going to do that? They say through district health care events, through telephone town halls. And this goes on for three pages here, Tony.
So, they're really trying to circle the wagons, Democrats are, and make sure that even though they're somewhat vulnerable because they have not had a vote before the full House floor, and, of course, some members can be changing their minds before they come back, they want to circle the wagons and move forward with a unified message. It's going to be tough.
HARRIS: Yes. And if you would, Brianna, give us a quick update on where we stand right now.
KEILAR: Well, the initial goal, Tony, was to have both the House and the Senate vote on health care reform. Obviously not going to happen. So, then the scaled-down goal after that was to get health care reform through the key committees on the House and the Senate.
On the House side, it looks like it's going to happen. The Energy and Commerce Committee is the last of three committees that needs to vote on health care reform. And we're expecting that they're going to do that early this afternoon.
But on the Senate side, even though the Senate isn't leaving for its recess for another week, it's not going to happen. The last committee that health care reform in the Senate needs to go through is the Senate Finance Committee. Last night, Democrats had to capitulate to Republican demand. They're not going to do that.
They're going to keep working, but it's doubtful, Tony, if they're even going to reach a verbal agreement on how they move forward.
HARRIS: Boy, a lot on your plate.
Brianna Keilar for us on Capitol Hill.
Brianna, appreciate it. Thank you.
Car customers are rushing to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program. What's the impact on the people selling the cars? I'll ask a dealer.
That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Space Shuttle Endeavour back on terra firma. The orbiter landed just before 11:00 Eastern at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ending a 16-day mission to the International Space Station.
Boy, look at that. Is that nice or what?
The crew dropped off an American astronaut and gave one from Japan a ride home. They also installed a porch-like platform just outside the space station.
The seven American astronauts were part of the biggest gathering ever in space. Counting the six station residents, the crowd totaled, what, 13?
(WEATHER REPORT) HARRIS: How about this, a change of heart at GM? The automaker will keep about 50 dealerships slated to be closed open. Many are small town or rural dealerships.
For example, GM executives got 2,200 letters from a Missouri town of 2,500 asking that the family-owned dealership remain open. GM agreed. Other dealers saved themselves by pointing out the great distances GM customers would have to drive to buy a car. GM notified 1,300 dealers in May they'd be closed as part of the company's restructuring.
A group of Democrats are scrambling to get more money for the Cash for Clunkers program before Congress goes on vacation. The auto rebates will continue through the weekend at least, but it looks like the program has burned through the $1 billion Congress allotted. That happened in just one week. The money was supposed to last through October.
Let's talk about Cash for Clunkers with auto analyst Lauren Fix, in Rochester, New York.
Lauren, it's great to see you, as always.
LAUREN FIX, AUTO ANALYST: Thank you for having me back.
HARRIS: All the time. Whenever.
And I've got Geoffrey Pohanka. Geoff is president of Pohanka Automotive Group, which runs 10 dealerships in metro Washington.
Geoff, good to see you.
Let's talk about this.
Lauren, let me start with you.
As I recall, you had some big-time reservations about this program not that very long ago. Are you ready now, on this program, Lauren Fix, to declare Cash for Clunkers a great idea and a huge success?
FIX: No, I am not, believe it or not. You knew I wasn't going to change my opinion, and I still have reasons, because there's so many people that were totally excluded from this program.
And even though you think, oh, the recyclers are making money, they are making nothing off of this. They are making less than $100 of car, and they've got tons of paperwork on their hands.
The only one who is making anything off of this is, thank goodness, the dealers are making some money who are getting rid of some of the 2008 leftover cars and the '09s before the 2010 models come in, in the next month or so. That's the only positive thing about this whole program.
HARRIS: Oh boy. Hey, Geoff, help me out here. Look, if Cash for Clunkers were a movie, is this a horror story for you because of all of the work and all of the -- I understand that it's labor-intensive here. Is it a horror show or is it one of those feel-good movies?
GEOFFREY POHANKA, PAST DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION: This is a box office hit, no question about it.
HARRIS: You hear that, Lauren? Did you hear that Lauren? Lauren, did you hear that?
FIX: For the dealer, it is. Yes, I do. And for the dealer, yes.
And I'm so glad you guys are making some money. But I think what happened was we overstimulated a lot of consumers who stopped purchasing cars waiting for this to happen. They may have purchased cars anyhow, so they sat on their hands and they waited. And when the program became available, they jumped in.
And that's what you're getting now, is a huge influx of people. But it's not going to be continuing forever. We're not going to see 16 million cars being sold in the year of 2009 or even 2010. I hope that it does come back, because I am all for the auto industry.
HARRIS: Right.
Geoff, will you talk to Lauren, please?
POHANKA: Yes, I will. Most customers don't know about this program. They are learning slowly.
This is not a new program. It's been used around the world, in Europe, South America, and China. And every place where it's been used, it has stimulated car business.
Now, car sales are 20 percent of retail sales in the United States. It's a pillar of our economy. And we're on our knees.
Our sales are down about 35 percent to 40 percent year to date. And unless we get the car business going again, there's no way we can get the national economy going.
Now, the government is faced with two things with stimulus. I have not seen any benefit of stimulus until this particular program. Do we pay to put money in the auto manufacturers and pay for factory workers to stand around, or should we stimulate the wheels of commerce, getting car sales going again, to put those factory workers back to work?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
Lauren -- Lauren -- yes!
POHANKA: This is working. FIX: Well, you know, wouldn't you rather see every single driver in America get a check for $1,000, only toward a new car? I would have bought a new car. Many people would have.
But anyone who has ever owned a hybrid, you can't trade that car in. You can't trade a high fuel economy car in.
And many people are getting excluded where that program keeps changing. People would call and say, I've got an old Dolero (ph), it gets 17 miles to the gallon. And the next they go it says 19.
That's not fair, and it's not helping people out who have always been good. It doesn't help people that lease. And the leasing program that goes in this Cash for Clunkers is a five-year lease.
I don't think you would recommend that to any of your customers. Although I do agree with you, we do need to help stimulate the economy, and this is the only thing that has. I agree.
HARRIS: Geoff, talk to Lauren.
FIX: Give $1,000 to everyone.
POHANKA: Hey, this is very cheap stimulus. This is the cheapest stimulus that money can buy, and it does three things.
It doesn't just get new car sales going. It gets old clunkers off the road. That's why it's called Cash for Clunkers.
The average car in the United States is nine and a half years old. These are not as safe. They don't have the safety standards. They don't have the fuel standards. And, you know, putting a car in the Cash for Clunker program, it has to be fuel inefficient.
So, we do three things. We get the wheels of commerce turning again, which is very important. We get old, fuel-inefficient cars off the road.
Fifty percent of America's air pollution comes from 10 percent of its older cars. So, this will benefit all three areas.
And it's worked in other countries. It's working great. We need more money for it.
HARRIS: Hey, but Geoff -- you need more money for it. Has it been cumbersome just to process it all, to work everything that's required to get the program on track and get it working for you?
POHANKA: You would not believe. It should be easy to take an old car and trade it in, but there's about 300 pages of regulations. I can only imagine what cap and trade and health care would look like...
HARRIS: Well, isn't that a pain?
POHANKA: ... with this. This is a hard, complex program. But it's working. We need more.
FIX: Well, I have something to say about some of the factors. What we forget is any car, new or old, that is poorly maintained, as proven from the Car Care Council statistics, is you will find that if you don't maintain a new car, it's going to pollute more than an old car.
There are many people that have taken care of their cars. And the impact to the small guy, who includes your service department, ,where people aren't getting their cars serviced, is also affecting your bottom line as well, as that small Midas store, or even that little guy around the corner. So, when people aren't maintaining their cars, you can see that it's going to affect the economy -- it's going to affect everybody, as well as pollution. Also...
HARRIS: Geoff, talk -- also?
FIX: Also. There's one other thing.
These cars are going to salvage yards, and they are absolutely dead weight. Look at what the salvage recyclers are saying -- they're worth less than $100.
The engines which had the most value of those vehicles are worth nothing. So, you take them off the road, that means less salvaged cars. Used car values go up.
I would have rather seen them take those cars and give them go to charity and let them do Meals on Wheels, or taking kids that are underprivileged places. At least it would have a better purpose than making them -- having environmental waste off of them.
POHANKA: I don't agree with any of that. I've talked to a lot of customers who brought their old cars in. They are as happy. They are sky high. They like the program.
It works, and it works as intended. The only problem was, initially, the government was going to put $5 billion in the program, which would stimulate up to 1.25 million car sales, which isn't chump change, but they only put $1 billion into the program. And that $1 billion has been used in a week's time to sell 250,000 cars.
This will put Americans back to work. It will get more fuel- efficient, newer cars on the road. It will reduce our pollution. And it's the cheapest stimulus money can buy.
HARRIS: I hear some John Philip Sousa, the strings in the background.
Boy, you guys -- man, I didn't have to do a doggoned thing here.
Lauren, great to see you.
FIX: Great to see you, too.
HARRIS: Geoff, continued success. And I hope the program works. I know it's a bit cumbersome to work through all of the regulations and everything, but I hope it works for your automotive group.
Thank you both. That was terrific.
POHANKA: Thank you.
FIX: Thank you.
HARRIS: I didn't know it was going to be that good.
Still to come, more fallout from the crackdown in Iran. We will get the latest on the demonstrations, the arrests, and the battle for power from our Iran Desk.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you to Washington, D.C., now and to Capitol Hill. Our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, Brianna is joining us now with some breaking news.
What do you have for us, Brianna?
KEILAR: Tony, this is about the health of Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. We received a note from his staff saying that at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, he's going to have a press conference about a personal health issue, and his aides also forwarded us an article where Senator Dodd had spoken to "The Hartford Courant" telling them that he has early stage prostate cancer.
Now, we need be clear, Tony, that oftentimes, prostate cancer is very, very treatable. And this article stresses that Dodd feels fine, that his plan is to have surgery after the Senate goes into recess, after next week, and that he plans on being back at work after what he describes as a brief recuperation.
As you know, Senator Dodd has been working very long hours lately. He's been sitting in as the top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee, because Ted Kennedy, the chairman of that committee, is away from the Hill recuperating, and trying to recuperate from brain cancer. So, certainly he's been working some tough hours, and he's facing a tough re-election here coming up in 2010.
HARRIS: That's right.
KEILAR: But according to "The Hartford Courant," Tony, this is going to affect his decision to seek re-election. He's planning on seeking re-election, as he was before, after this brief recuperation.
HARRIS: OK. "The Hartford Courant" is -- OK. All right, Brianna. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Iran's president lashes out at his critics. In a speech today, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his relationship with Iran's supreme leader and denied there was any rift. His remarks come a day after more post-election violence. CNN's Reza Sayah is following developments from our Iran Desk.
And Reza, if you would, give us an update.
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came out today and said the supreme leader and I, we're like father and son. There is no rift. It was his attempt at saying the two are getting along.
Of course, talk of a rift came up last week, when President Ahmadinejad made a controversial vice president's pick. Hardliners, along with the supreme leader, made it clear that this was not the man. They suggested the president get rid of him. But Ahmadinejad kind of dragged his feet. He delayed the decision.
And when he got rid of him, he turned around and made him his top adviser. Many said that was defiance against the supreme leader. But today, the president telling a gathering in Mashat (ph) that all this talk of a rift is a plot by foreign governments.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): They are waiting to propagate it and make it a big deal. They imagined they could take advantage of this. No way. That way is blocked to the ill-minded and enemies of the revolution, and to the devils, God willing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAYAH: Of course, the two men will be standing side by side at an inauguration ceremony in a few days. It's going to be very interesting.
Also today, new pictures of individuals arrested during protests yesterday. Let's take a look at those pictures.
According to state-run television, 50 individuals arrested. And there you see how they're arrested. The security forces in street clothes, simply grabbing them by the wrist. And who knows where they take them to?
The government says hundreds of people are already in custody from previous protests, but human rights groups say the number is more in the thousands. One human rights group saying 2,000 people in custody.
Very interesting tomorrow, Tony, 20 of these protesters, according to the government, will go on trial on security-related charges. A lot of anger by opposition groups about how these detainees are being treated. Stay tuned to how they react to this trial starting tomorrow.
HARRIS: And I know you'll be following it for us. Our Reza Sayah for us from our Iran desk. Reza, thank you.
You know, this economy is hitting a lot of people hard. I am going to show you one program reaching out to those in need.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's see. We are three hours into the trading day. But before we get to the numbers from the big board, New York Exchange, as always, we like to remind you to visit our Web site with the best analysis on the financial crisis that you can find anywhere. Just go to cnnmoney.com. Our money team does (ph) a terrific team. You can't do any better than that team.
Now, let's get to the big board. As you can see, the Dow trying to end the week in positive territory, off of session highs three hours into the trading day. The Dow is up 19. And the Nasdaq is up just a couple. We will be following the numbers throughout the day with Stephanie Elam, in for Susan Lisovicz, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Remembering a literary pioneer. It's what we're talking about today in our "What Matters" segment, in partnership with "Essence" magazine. A memorial service for author E. Lynn Harris will be held in Atlanta in August. Harris died last week of heart disease while on tour promoting his latest book, "Basketball Jones." A former IBM executive, Harris became a popular writer of gay black fiction, who once sold books from the trunk of his car. Harris wrote 11 novels, 10 of them became "New York Times" best sellers.
The neighborhood you're raised in could determine how much money you make later in life. And middle class blacks may be the most affected. According to a Pew study, 66 percent of black children raised in poor neighborhoods, even if they are considered middle class. That is compared to 6 percent of white children. Researchers say that causes more black children to fall out of the middle class as adults. They say growing up in a poorer neighborhood has a greater impact on a child than the parents' education, employment or marital status.
It is a hand up instead of a hand-out. A program in Atlanta is giving homeless men and women a second chance. Samaritan House helps people with a home-cooked meal, a warm smile and the skills to help them move back into the workforce. I recently paid a visit to see how many people are going from poor to productive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS (voice-over): Ernest Butler is a Hurricane Katrina evacuee. He came to Atlanta with no job, no possessions and no family. But because of Samaritan House, he was able to find a home and help at Cafe 458.
DANA JOHNSON, SAMARITAN HOUSE OF ATLANTA: Cafe 458 is a special place. It's where we help men and women who are unable to work because they have disabilities. We offer a great meal that's cooked in a restaurant environment, unlike a soup kitchen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got to get yours. I've got to get those two.
HARRIS (on camera): What has this place meant to you?
ERNEST BUTLER, CAFE 458 GRADUATE: It's meant a great deal to me, man. They accepted me how I walked through that door. You know, I walked through that door with some shorts on, a striped shirt, and I wore those clothes five days without a bath. And I ate in the same dining area. And they accepted me every day just that way. And after that I started slowly pulling myself together.
HARRIS (voice-over): Cafe 458 is just one of the programs Samaritan House uses to help the homeless transition back into the workforce. While the cafe satisfies their hunger, the Edge Program nurtures their job search with a computer lab, clothing, storage for their belongings, showers, and laundry facilities. In the meantime, there's the Clean Street Team, which provides Samaritan House clients with temporary janitorial jobs until they can find full-time work.
RICHARD TAYLOR, CLEAN STREET TEAM: What Samaritan House is offering us is a chance to get back into the world.
HARRIS: Two and a half years ago, Richard Taylor was homeless and living under a bridge. And now Taylor is a Clean Street Team leader, managing five other workers.
TAYLOR: It gave me some responsibility. And I'm just thankful for this place. This place helped save my life.
HARRIS (on camera): If people watching spent some real time with homeless people, what would they see?
JOHNSON: They would see that persons that are homeless are no different than they are. The fact is that they are homeless because of their situation, but it's only a temporary situation if we're able to make a difference.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Cafe 458 also has a Sunday brunch open to the public. The proceeds support the programs at Samaritan House. And for more information, visit their Web site at www.samhouse.org. There it is.
And for more of "What Matters" to everyone, join us Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 Eastern for the premiere of "Black in America 2," "Reclaiming the Dream," presented by CNN and "Essence."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I got to tell you, we've been talking so much about getting rid of those used clunkers, we thought we'd have a little bit of fun with it. Nicole Lapin is with us once again. And you spoke with this -- he's a hot actor right now, right? He's on a real roll this . . . NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is.
HARRIS: What is his name? It's Priven. This Jeremy Priven?
LAPIN: Piven. Piven.
HARRIS: Piven? Priven? Piven?
LAPIN: P-I-v.
HARRIS: So he's got the hot show on our sister network, HBO.
LAPIN: HBO.
HARRIS: It's -- what is it, "The Entourage"?
LAPIN: Entourage.
HARRIS: Right, right, that's a really good show. And then he's got this new movie coming out, right, and you had a chance to sit down -- Priven, Piven?
LAPIN: Piven. Man, check it out. It says it right there. P-i- v-e-n.
HARRIS: Yes, but I can't read.
LAPIN: You know, look, in HBO, he either makes you want to be an agent or be scared of one.
HARRIS: Yes. OK.
LAPIN: In "The Goods," he is at it again, Tony. It's a new comedy that either makes you want to be a used car salesman or run from one.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTRESS, "THE GOODS": No smoking on airplanes.
JEREMY PIVEN, ACTOR, "THE GOODS": I know. It's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you light that, I'll have to report you to the FAA.
PIVEN: Stacey (ph), did you know that in 1969, when smoking was allowed on all flights, we put a man on the moon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I had no idea.
PIVEN: And it starts with ashtrays and it ends with all of our precious freedoms being stripped away. But we don't have to take it, like Rosa Parks and David Lee Roth when he left Van Halen, we can say, enough injustice. We can smoke one for America! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are you?
PIVEN: I'm Don Ready. And I got the goods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAPIN: Yes, it is so funny. I saw the preview of this. It is from the people, Tony, that brought you "Talladega Nights."
HARRIS: Oh.
LAPIN: Yes, yes, so it's . . .
HARRIS: It's (INAUDIBLE), OK.
LAPIN: It's like a smart, lowbrow comedy. It has a brilliant cast. Will Ferrell is in it.
HARRIS: OK.
LAPIN: And James Brolin is in it.
HARRIS: Like him.
LAPIN: So, it looks like this whole world that we're talking about, this Cash for Clunkers, we're looking at this with a humorous lens here.
HARRIS: Right.
LAPIN: This is kind of a spoof. So when I interviewed Jeremy Piven . . .
HARRIS: Piven, Piven.
LAPIN: Piven, I asked him how he got into that used car salesman character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIVEN: There's a great documentary called "Slashers" about car salesmen that I took a look at. And I went to a bunch of lots and I've also been sold a lot of cars. And I'm what's known as a sucker. And as soon as they see me coming in, they know they're going to take my money. So, I kind of took that and I reversed it and I'm no longer a sucker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAPIN: He's no longer a sucker. The character's a little bit like the one he plays in "Entourage," Ari Gold.
HARRIS: Oh, he's really good in this show.
LAPIN: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
LAPIN: He is, of course, based on the brother of Rahm Emanuel.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
LAPIN: Ari. Abrasive. I asked him about the longevity of the hit show and he says he really wants to stick around with it. He even wants there to be a movie.
HARRIS: Nice. I like that idea.
LAPIN: We could see that. And "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard," that comes out in a couple of weeks. Maybe this is an interesting case of life imitating art with this Cash for Clunkers stuff because he goes to extraordinary length to sell these cars.
HARRIS: He wouldn't need the -- no, he wouldn't need the Cash for Clunkers program to sell cars. And it's Priven, right? Jeremy . . .
LAPIN: Lord, help me.
HARRIS: Nicole, good to see you. Have yourself a good weekend, why don't you?
LAPIN: Did you get that right?
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, got some blogs -- a lot of comments to our blogs today. You know, sign of improvement in the economy. Several signs, actually. Today's GDP numbers show a slowdown in the economic decline during the second quarter. So, that brings us to our blog question, does the latest round of economic numbers indicate the so-called great recession may be coming to an end?
Nicholas says, "Things might be looking up, but I doubt it's over. One slip up could send this thing right back down the tubes."
Alena tells us, "I believe that the worst of the economy has passed. I wish my credit had been better so I could have bought our first house."
And this last e-mail comes from -- well, I'll just put the name up here, B. Yxavius, OK, writes, "it will take time to patch this macroeconomic wound and even longer for individual consumers to recover."
You can weigh in and join the conversation at cnn.com/tony.
President Obama has made a big commitment to change in Afghanistan. What does that mean for U.S. troops on the ground? We're going to take you along.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: There is word the general at the helm of combat operations in Afghanistan may request additional U.S.. troops. Military officials and others familiar with the report due from General Stanley McChrystal say he is likely to recommend significant changes. Those changes tied to a new strategy of clearing provinces Taliban militants have pushed into. Any request for more U.S. forces would require discussions with Congress and the White House.
This month, 4,000 U.S. Marines launched an offensive into Afghanistan's turbulent Helmand province to try to take back territory from the Taliban ahead of presidential elections. CNN's Ivan Watson traveled to the town of Khan Neshin, the southern-most point of the American advance, to see how Marines are trying to establish law and order in what just a few weeks ago was a Taliban-controlled town.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In an old fort at the southern edge of Afghanistan, an experiment in nation building is under way. In makeshift offices where music from a laptop provides the only distraction from the scorching heat, behind the crumbling walls of a citadel, nicknamed The Castle, a coalition of Americans and Afghans are trying to build a fledgling local government, in a dusty town long controlled by the Taliban.
CAPT. GERARD DEMPSTER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Every morning at 7:00, we conduct a meeting with the personnel that are here in The Castle.
WATSON: The commander of the Marines, Captain Gerry Dempster, welcomes the recently arrived Afghan police chief and his scruffy group of officers. Moments later, tempers flare.
"Since I arrived here last night, your men won't allow me to bring my police trucks into the castle," the police captain says. "You don't trust me."
DEMPSTER: Use the vehicles and drive them down here, unload them, take whatever you want. But the vehicles cannot stay inside in The Castle.
WATSON: It's an uphill battle, overcoming cultural barriers between allies, while fending off deadly attacks from enemy insurgents. The morning after rebel mortars killed one Marines, Marines and police head out on their first joint patrol.
WATSON (on camera): Today is Friday. It's supposed to be the busiest day of the week. And the bazaar is all but deserted. These shops are boarded up. And around the corner even, the bakery, which sells the staple food for Afghans, is closed. We're hearing that somebody in the baker's family has been kidnapped.
WATSON: The new police chief tries to reach out to the locals, but they're scared and angry after last night's battle.
WATSON (on camera): The situation is bad now?
WATSON (voice-over): "People are afraid and fleeing the area," these men say, "because of you, Americans."
The Marines are also tense. Every passing motorcycle could carry a suicide bomber.
CAPT. KORVIN KRAICS, U.S. MARINE CROPS: This war is very frustrating. Sometimes we have a lot of lives lost on our side.
WATSON: Back in The Castle, Captain Korvin Kraics tries to teach mostly illiterate Afghan security forces the laws of war.
KRAICS: You want to take every opportunity to make sure he's not an innocent civilian before you kill him.
WATSON: The campaign to win hearts and minds in Khan Neshin includes hiring boys to clean the bazaar and offering health care to a town with no hospital.
WATSON (on camera): Dr. Ju Mahan (ph) is from the Afghan Ministry of Health and he's come here with the U.S. military. He's treating this little boy, Akbar John (ph), who doesn't even know how old he is, for burns received yesterday when a pot of hot, scalding water landed on his leg. This is the only Afghan doctor in this town.
WATSON (voice-over): Akbar John limps away. One small victory perhaps in a war in Afghanistan that's been going on for eight long years.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And coming up in the 2:00 p.m. hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, we are expecting Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd to tell all of us in a news conference what he told his local paper, "The Hartford Courant," that he has early stage prostate cancer. Want to talk about this with our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
And, Elizabeth, what's ahead for the senator?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's ahead for the senator is we're told that he's going to have surgery.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: Which is a not uncommon approach for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is an interesting cancer in that people do different things. Some men actually choose to do watchful waiting, mean that they don't actually do a therapy or a surgery. Other people have surgery. Sometimes people will do surgery and radiation. People do all sorts of different approaches. However, the good news about prostate cancer is that, especially if it is -- if it is caught at the right time, it is quite survivable, if that's a word.
HARRIS: Survival rates are high?
COHEN: Survival rates are high. Ten years after a prostate cancer diagnosis, 91 percent of the men are still alive.
HARRIS: OK. COHEN: So, that's a good number. That's a good number.
HARRIS: Yes, that's good. All right. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
HARRIS: We'll take a break. We're back in the CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: It is Friday. We're crazy around here in the NEWSROOM.
Just want to give you a quick reminder, 1:15 p.m., about 18 minutes or so from right now, the president will be making comments on the economy. And Kyra will, of course, have those comments for you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So, boy, from health care, cars, Cash for Clunkers, and the first six months of the Obama presidency, here's the thing, do you have any questions about any of these topics? The vice president's chief economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, is answering your questions in the 1:00 p.m. Eastern hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra. So, here's what you can do. You can send us an e-mail at mailtothechief@cnn.com, or send Kyra a tweet at kyracnn.
How did I -- did I handle that OK?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I think you're my agent.
HARRIS: Yes, was that all right?
PHILLIPS: Thank you. Yes, could you mention me one more time and the show?
HARRIS: Yes, love that Kyra.
Lesson of the day, watch what you tweet to Kyra and everyone else, for that matter. Your comments could get you in legal trouble. CNN's Jessica Gomez tells us about a woman facing a lawsuit over what she wrote on Twitter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA GOMEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The whole story started here at this luxury Chicago apartment complex with a dispute between a landlord and a tenant.
Horizon Reality Group, which owns this apartment complex, says the tenant wasn't happy about a leak in the roof. That tenant took her complaints to the social networking site, Twitter, tweeting that there was mold in her apartment and that her landlord was OK with it.
Just 16 words later, and they slapped her with this, a $50,000 lawsuit.
Horizon refused to talk to us on camera, but issued this statement, saying simply they're trying to protect their reputation.
So, we wanted to sort of find out whether or not this lawsuit has any legs.
JIM SPETA, PROFESSOR, NORTHWESTERN UNIV. SCHOOL OF LAW: I don't think, at the end of the day, it has any legs. Sometimes people bring defamation suits because they just want to clear their names, and that may be what the reality company is thinking about. But I think they'll have a very hard time winning the lawsuit.
In this country, we really like free speech. So, we make it very hard for plaintiffs to bring defamation suits. They have to prove it was false.
GOMEZ: All right. Next stop, Internet cafe. Let's go check out what social networkers are saying.
Do you ever think about what you say, that it could offend somebody or could be grounds for a lawsuit?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, absolutely. I think there's a level of censorship with that type of media and it's -- it's sort of a new -- it's a new thing that people have to sort of monitor themselves.
GOMEZ: What are your thoughts about this? You're on FaceBook. You're on some of these social networking sites. What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that people should have a right to say what they want to say. But, you know, if she was already suing them, then maybe she was kind of digging a hole for herself.
GOMEZ: The tenant has since moved to a new neighborhood. We tried to get a hold of her, but were unsuccessful.
And her Twitter account has been closed down. Experts say while this might be one of the first few cases of its kind, it certainly won't be the last.
Jessica Gomez for CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And we are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.
