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Bodies and Wreckage Pulled from Hudson River; Obama Heading to Mexico; Baking to Stop Foreclosures; Cash for Clunkers gets Extended

Aired August 09, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Part of an aircraft and more bodies are pulled from the Hudson River. We'll have the latest on yesterday's shocking midair collision.

After unleashing massive flooding in Taiwan, a powerful typhoon batters eastern China.

And President Obama is going on the road again. We'll tell you what he hopes to work out with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

Hello, everyone, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Sunday, August 9th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

One day after a small plane collided with a New York sightseeing helicopter, a section of aircraft has just been pulled out of the Hudson River. Also recovered, two more bodies. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday morning, divers pulled up a fourth victim from an area where the sightseeing helicopter debris is concentrated. The remains were carefully placed onto a stretcher and transferred to a waiting police boat.

As additional bodies are being brought to the surface, they'll be taken to the medical examiner's office for identification and autopsies. Divers also hoisted to the surface a sizable piece of metal, part of the helicopter's fuselage. The water is murky and the current is strong, making it tough for divers to find the small plane's wreckage. They can barely see two feet in front of them. Sonar is helping. The NTSB is spending its first full day tracking down more witnesses and looking for possible video of the crash from buildings overlooking the Hudson.

DEBBIE HERSMAN, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: This is a tragedy. Having two aircraft collide over the Hudson River and having no survivors is something that is very sad event. Our charge here is to find out what happened, and if we can make any recommendations to prevent this from happening again, that's why we're here. So we need to see what the facts tell us, and if we have any immediate concerns, we will be sure to get out with those to the public.

CANDIOTTI: A small plane like this one, with a pilot, his brother and brother's son took off from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport on Saturday and turned south over the Hudson. At the same time, five Italian tourists lifted off for a tour in a helicopter.

COLIN RICH, WITNESS: There was a small plane like a Cessna cutting back towards the New Jersey side, a helicopter heading southbound, about 1,100, 1,200 feet. The plane rolled into the helicopter, hit the side of it. The helicopter went straight down in the water. There was like a poof of smoke and a bang, and the plane went further down and hit the water.

JASMINE PAN, WITNESS: I was just very shocked. I think I was screaming for a few seconds, and then two of us called 911.

RICH: Italian tourists who stayed behind waiting for their friends and family were stunned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told me that they had some relatives, not friends, but relatives. But we don't know anything.

CANDIOTTI: The NTSB says that just before the accident happened, another pilot on the ground saw the plane approaching and tried to radio a warning to the helicopter pilot. There was no response.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll have more from Susan Candiotti momentarily. Meantime, the small plane involved in yesterday's crash was being flown by 60-year-old Steven Altman of Ambler, Pennsylvania. The passengers were Altman's brother Daniel and Daniel Altman's 15-year- old son Douglas. This video you're about to see of Douglas Altman right here is part of a tribute that his friends posted on YouTube. Friends also started a Facebook page in his memory.

Our iReporters are also staying on top of this story. Jim Davidson sent us these photos from the scene. He lives just a few blocks from the river on the New Jersey side. He heard what sounded like a car backfiring or fireworks. He says he didn't think much of it until someone called to tell him about the crash. If you're an eyewitness to news, sent us an i-Report. Our address is ireport.com.

All right, a strong earthquake rattled Tokyo and parts of eastern Japan earlier today. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.1 and said there was no threat of a tsunami. High-speed train service however was halted but has since resumed.

Officials have retaken control of a California prison after a riot sent 40 inmates to the hospital. The melee broke out last night at the California Institution for Men in Chino. A housing unit was set on fire as you see there. The injuries range from stab wounds to head trauma. Eighty officers responded to the riots. None of them was hurt. The medium security prison is about 35 miles east of Los Angeles and houses about 1,400 inmates. A similar riot broke out there in December of 2006.

And we're watching the White House right now where President Obama is about to leave for Mexico at a summit with Canadian and Mexican leaders. Up for discussion at this summit -- trade, immigration, drug trafficking. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House. So Elaine, at the top of this list, a whole lot of subjects that they want to try and tackle. What's at the top?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A number of pressing issues, Fredricka. We should point out first of all, it's going to be a very quick trip. The president is actually due back here in Washington tomorrow night. Excuse the ringing phone here in the booth, Fredricka. But this is, obviously, a chance for the leaders of these three countries to sit down and talk about some pressing issues.

At the top of the agenda is the H1N1 virus. Of course all three countries looking ahead at prepping for what could be an outbreak come this full.

This will be an opportunity for the countries to talk about how they are all preparing for that and to coordinate their efforts on that front. Also, the economic recovery. Because these countries are so closely tied economically through trade, this will be a chance for the leaders of Mexico and Canada to get an update from President Obama on what the financial picture in the United States looks like right now and also what it looks like going forward.

Finally, climate change and clean energy. Experts say that Mexico has really tried to take a leadership role when it comes to this issue in international climate talks. Mexico has really gotten out there to try and essentially pave the way and talk about how it as a developing country can work to get clean energy technologies. And that's of course of big interest to the United States as these climate issues come to the forefront in the Obama administration. They're expected to do so this fall when Congress gets back. Obviously, this is something that the White House has a great deal of interest in, wanting to see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks so much at the White House, appreciate that. All right, so the president making his way to Mexico today. The focus over the next few days will be as Elaine just said on the economy of the U.S. and of its neighbors to the north and south. So tomorrow he'll continue to meet with Mexican and Canadian leaders and then Tuesday he holds another town hall meeting on health care back in this country, this time in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. And Wednesday, the president hosts a White House reception for the new Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor.

All right, let's talk severe weather now. Felicia downgraded to a tropical storm. We're talking about Hawaii. Severe storms hammering the Midwest and the mainland here. Let's check in with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in our Severe Weather Center. Jacqui?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, a popular tourist destination in Spain rocked by several bombings. Police knew what they were up against. We'll tell you how. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One day after a small plane collided with a New York sight-seeing helicopter, five bodies have been recovered from the Hudson River. Joining us now, CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti. Susan, what's going on there now?

CANDIOTTI: Fredricka, divers continue to be hard at work as they have for the past several hours. As you've noted, they've already recovered three more bodies for a total of five. So five out of nine victims have been brought up from the bottom of the Hudson River at this time.

The bodies recovered so far, those victims are believed to have come from the helicopter wreckage, because that is the aircraft that authorities believe they have been able to locate and are convinced of that, as a matter of fact, at the bottom of the Hudson River.

So far they continue to look for any sign of that small plane that was carrying three people, the pilot, his brother, and that brother's son. In other words, the nephew of the pilot. Still trying to locate that using all kinds of methods including sonar to try to determine exactly where that is.

Also earlier as we have mentioned, they've brought up both a small piece of the helicopter and a much larger piece, which was picked up with cranes. And they moved that piece over to a pier in the area for further examination. Of course, identification of the bodies of the victims still has to be done, and that's going to be a difficult procedure. We've also learned that the -- most of the Italian tourists who were here, some relatives of the victims, others of them friends are beginning to make their way back to Italy. Some of them remaining behind of course, assist the police in trying to identify the dead.

So a lot of things still going on. Conditions that the divers are working in still very difficult. Although the winds are not very high, it is very difficult to see below water. We hear that maybe two feet visibility below. I talked with the U.S. Coast Guard about the channels. And apparently the channel is believed to be at its lowest at about 4:00 this afternoon, so that might be the optimum time for divers to do their work. Generally they end their work at about sundown each day for safety reasons. Fredricka, this afternoon the National Transportation Safety Board is planning to hold a news conference. Of course, we will try to bring that to you live for the latest information they have about this terrible accident.

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much, appreciate that.

Overseas, a string of bombings rocked a popular tourist destination in Spain today. Two bombs exploded at two restaurants at the island of Mallorca. Police had already evacuated the area after the Basque separatist group Eta phoned in a warning about the attack. No one was hurt. A third bomb was diffused near by. The attacks come just after Eta claimed responsibility for several other bombings that killed three people earlier this summer. Despite widespread rumors about his health, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il still seems to be in firm control. That's the conclusion of U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones following former President Bill Clinton's talks with Kim last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JIM JONES (RET.), NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We can also report that the president did -- the former president did spend time with the Korean leader, that he appeared to be in control of his government and his -- he sounded very -- very reasoned in terms of his conversations.

His health is a big issue, but obviously, we didn't have any time to make an assessment there. But he seems in control of his faculties, and the former president was able to engage him on a number of subjects.

As you know, he had a very good relationship with his father when the president was in office, and so he was able to convey his own -- his personal views with regard to the importance of the issues of the moment, which is making sure that nuclear weapons do not appear on the Korean peninsula.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Former President Clinton was in North Korea to win the freedom of two imprisoned American journalists. The White House continues to deny that Clinton passed any official messages to Kim.

So the bank is foreclosing on the house? Let them eat cake? She'll bake it. It worked for this woman. She'll explain the secrets of her success.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, saving your home from foreclosure? For one woman it was a piece of cake. CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Actress Angela Logan has played many roles to earn a living. She's worked as a teacher, model, hairdresser and is studying to be a nurse. But when she recently fell into foreclosure on her Teaneck, New Jersey, home, she turned to baking.

ANGELA LOGAN, MORTGAGE APPLE CAKE: It was a flash of desperation. And I thought, wow, we could sell these cakes they're so good.

CHERNOFF (on camera): A major reason Angela fell into a cash squeeze is that two years ago she hired a contractor to renovate the house. He took his money, but he only did a portion of the work.

(voice-over): To save her home, Angela set a goal of selling 100 mortgage apple cakes in 10 days for $40 each. She asked everyone she knew to buy a cake.

LOGAN: The hardest part was to say, can you buy my cakes. This is my problem.

CHERNOFF: A local Hilton hotel offered its kitchen so Angela could bake faster. Angela says she's baked about 200 cakes, double her goal. And by qualifying for the federal make home affordable program, her monthly mortgage payment is dropping by nearly 20 percent. Other Americans in a financial bind, she says, can also find creative answers to their cash crunch.

LOGAN: Find your talent. Find something that you can do that will help. I can paint fences, you know? Who needs one?

CHERNOFF: Almost any talent can generate extra cash. Teaching a skill, like playing an instrument. Home repairs, for those who are handy. Even dog walking or pet sitting for animal lovers.

LOGAN: Wow, this is incredible.

CHERNOFF: Internet retailer Bake Me a Wish got a whiff of the Mortgage Apple Cake and now is leasing pans to mass produce it and share the proceeds with Angela. A whole line of Angela Logan cakes is planned.

LOGAN: That's it.

CHERNOFF: Escaping foreclosure could propel Angela Logan to a new career as the queen of cakes. But back in her kitchen, she still studies nursing, knowing from experience never to depend upon just one role. Allan Chernoff, CNN, Teaneck, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Homes, cars, jobs. Have we turned the corner on the economy as President Obama said last week? That's our topic for full hour at 4:00 Eastern Time today. Is the worst behind us? The White House says yes, and already many of you are commenting on Facebook and on my blog. And Ines writes "My thought is that a lot of people have exhausted their unemployment benefits or have taken part-time jobs to make ends meet, which is not reflected in the unemployment figures.

And Ken says, "Nobody knows if the economy has bottomed out. I do know one thing however. No Democrat will ever admit a mistake."

And then Larry writes, "I believe we have turned the corner and we're in a recovery now."

Thanks so much for your thoughts. We continue to hear from you throughout the day, 4:00 Eastern Time, one whole hour, we want to hear from you. Is the worst behind us? Join us on my Facebook page, FredrickaWhitfieldCNN or my blog, CNN.com/Fredricka. And then, of course, tune in at 4:00 Eastern Time right here.

All right, violence on our border with Mexico, the result of a trafficking of drugs and guns. This will be just one of the topics President Obama will discuss at a summit in Mexico. Michael Ware reports live from Guadalajara in just a few minutes.

But first, a day a lot of kids have been dreading. Tomorrow, many head back to school. With the new school year comes new guidelines for swine flu as well. Elizabeth Cohen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the first week of classes at Freedom Middle School in Canton, Georgia, and Principal Karen Hawley has the hand sanitizer ready.

KAREN HAWLEY, PRINCIPAL, FREEDOM MIDDLE SCHOOL: We really wanted to make sure that we were doing everything to protect our students and our employees.

COHEN: Schools around the country are preparing for swine flu. Some 700 schools closed down last spring because of H1N1 outbreaks. Friday, the Centers for Disease Control issued these guidelines for schools. Students who have had H1N1 should only return to school when they've been fever-free for 24 hours. Schools should encourage hand washing and respiratory etiquette, meaning coughing or sneezing into your sleeve. Also, it will be up to schools to decide if they want to close down. At the CDC news conference, they made it clear schools should do what they can to stay open.

DR. THOMAS R. FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: And it is now clear that closure of schools is rarely indicated even if H1N1 is in the school.

COHEN: At Freedom Middle School, they already know what to do if a child becomes sick at school.

DANA ODEN, NURSE: The first thing would be to isolate them and I would have them come into my office in my office and I would shut them in my office and then I would use the phone from the front desk. And they would lay here until their parent picks them up.

COHEN: They hope isolation, diligent hand washing and scrupulous disinfection will keep the virus at bay.

HAWLEY: If we were thinking of closing the school, we would certainly look to see that at least 10 to 20 percent of our population was out.

COHEN: At this school that would mean about 100 kids sick with H1N1. The federal government hopes a vaccine is available by mid- October and school children are at the top of the list to get it.

ARNE DUNCAN, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: We have to prepare for the worst. The honest answer is we don't know how bad this is going to be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now an update on our top story. President Obama has just left for Guadalajara, Mexico, for meetings with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The agenda includes drug violence, the environment and, of course, the economy.

And a powerful typhoon blamed for at least two deaths in Taiwan has reached eastern China and has already taken one life there. Winds were clocked at 73 miles-an-hour. Houses have been destroyed and streets of course flooded, as you see right there as well.

All right, the search continues in the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. A small plane collided with a sight-seeing helicopter yesterday. Two more bodies were pulled out of the river today along with a section of the aircraft. Five bodies in all now have been recovered. Authorities believe four more bodies remain in the river.

Earlier today, CNN discussed yesterday's collision with Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSMAN: The rules vary. We need to look at this air space as very complex. There is a VFR corridor along the Hudson River, and the helicopter would have been operating within those rules. So we need to see what those rules are and if they were complying with those rules, and if the scene environment if you're a VFR corridor. There's a lot of claspy airspace, a restricted airspace around the airports. There are four major airports right here in the immediate vicinity in addition to a number of other airports. We need to check and see what the aircraft that departed from Teterboro, what rules they were operating under and what their altitude requirements were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to hold a news conference at 4:00 P.M. Eastern today. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of that investigation.

A tragic end to a police chase near Fresno, California. Authorities say a car fleeing police officers ran a stop sign, then slammed into a pickup truck. Four young children in the truck were killed along with three people in the car. Officials say the chase began after the car refused to stop for a traffic violation.

President Obama is now on his way to Mexico for a summit with North American leaders. The president boarded Air Force One moments ago after departing Marine One there. He's expected to meet with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon later on today. A host of issues are expected to be discussed, including drug violence along the border. In Guadalajara right now CNN's Michael Ware. He spent a lot of time covering the drug wars throughout that country. Michael, what kind of support in this drug war will Mexico most likely ask for? MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, they're certainly going to ask for the delivery of the promised aid money under the (INAUDIBLE) initiative, which has guaranteed $1.4 billion to Mexico over three years. Now, some of that money is currently being held up in Congress. They'd certainly like to see that freed up. There's a whole host of issues involved here. In supporting President Felipe Calderon's war on the drug cartels here, and that includes even just the delivery of promised helicopters. The Mexican government has committed more than 40,000 army soldiers to the streets of its own cities so bad has this drug war become. Indeed, we've seen just last month alone there's been a spike in violence here in this country, 850 Mexicans died in drug-related violence in July just itself. The drug war is definitely in full throes yet the Mexican government is all but fighting it on its own. Just a few hundred million dollars in aid from the United States each year simply is not enough to support the Mexican government. The Mexican government will be looking for a lot more from President Obama. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: These are going to be tough discussions that take place in so little time during the president's visit. Michael Ware thanks so much for your reports from Guadalajara.

Dozens of people are feared dead in northern India after a massive landslide swept over three villages decimating two of them. Officials say at least 15 bodies have been pulled from the debris and many more victims were swept into the river. Weeks of heavy rain triggered these mudslides.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Refueling the cash for clunkers program. There's more money for rebates. We have some expert advice on how to get the best deals. Also, find out who needs to stay away from the car dealerships.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Another $2 billion for the Cash for Clunkers program. Congress has approved it. President Obama has signed it now will the program remain as popular with car buyers? I checked in with Earl Stewart, a Toyota dealer in Florida who we talked to before and also CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (on camera): We're checking back in with Earl Stewart, you remember him, he's a Toyota dealer in Florida who is selling a lot of cars under this program, good to see you. Also he's joined by CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis in New York who has some advice for consumers. So Earl, let me begin with you. You enjoyed the last month of huge sales, really exceeding your 2008 sales. So now that there is additional money in the tank of this cash for clunkers, what do you expect this next month to be like?

EARL STEWART, CAR DEALER: Well Fredricka it started out like we couldn't believe. We had a showroom full of people this morning. I thought there might be a little slump because people are rushing in, in anticipation of perhaps the Senate not passing. But with the new $2 billion we're still extremely busy. Our August is off to a record. We've sold about 50 percent of the cars that we would normally sell in the month of August in the first six days.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So people are ready to buy. They lined up as early as this morning, not necessarily just to look but they're qualifying, they have the cash or money in hand to actually get a new vehicle?

STEWART: Yes, Fredricka, yeah. One of the most surprising things about this whole program to me was so many people with the clunkers with the older low-priced cars that have good credit. There are a lot of cash buyers, too. We're having almost every clunker prospect, people that come in, qualify to buy either pay cash or be able to get the financing.

WHITFIELD: Now initially you were a bit skeptical about this program, weren't you?

STEWART: That's exactly the reason why. A person driving a 1,000 or $600 car you wonder how good their credit is, why are they driving that car. Turns out these were second and third cars, sometimes cars that have been given to grandchildren and children which are still in their name. Now they can take the car back from the grandchild and trade it in for a brand-new car for the grandchild.

WHITFIELD: What do you expect this month to be like? Until Labor Day, possibly the money, the $2 billion extra will allow folks to take advantage of the opportunity over the next four weeks. Are you afraid that the money might run out that you just might be inundated with too many customers?

STEWART: I'm afraid of that. The pace started out so fast it's too soon to say. If it continues at the pace we've seen so far today, it definitely won't last until Labor Day. It will be out well before that because we're exceeding the pace we did when the program first started.

WHITFIELD: OK, Gerri, let me bring you into the equation here. There are some unintended risks here, right? We just heard initially he was a little concerned that a lot of people may not be able to qualify. But in fact, many of these customers could qualify. So what are the other risks?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well I have to tell you, it is all about the money, and that's what I'm focusing on. Cash for Clunkers can give you a nice boost if you're looking to get a more efficient car. No matter what the incentive is, you really have to make sure you can afford that new car in the first place.

Let me just show you a little example here. If you buy a car average price tag on the car about $26,000. Let's say you get the most you can from the government, $4500. That reduces your cost to 21,500 bucks. If you finance it over four years, you pay 7 percent interest, your monthly note is $514 just for the car. You have to be able to make sure you can afford it. That it's something you can really take advantage of. Remember, cars aren't like houses, they don't increase in value over time, they get into accidents. You don't know for sure if it will be around another 20 years, unlikely that it would. It's a product that's constantly losing value. The idea here don't overextend yourself and maybe sure you can afford that. I'm sure as Earl said there are people out there who can take advantage of it but there are also those who might be involved in this program now who, you know maybe they shouldn't be extending themselves right now.

WHITFIELD: So perhaps you have some advice for folks who are anxious to hit the dealerships this weekend. What questions do they need to ask, what should their expectations be?

WILLIS: Number one, don't buy a car that's not within your budget limitations. Let's face it, $26,000 is a whole lot of money. You can get a Honda fit for about half the cost. Don't forget to negotiate with the dealer. Last time Earl and I were speaking together on this, he said yes, negotiate. Because you're getting incentives from the government, that's no reason to think you still can't haggle on price and make sure you look at the dealerships that are offering incentives on top of what Uncle Sam is offering because there are a lot of them doing that too. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right Gerri thanks so much. Earl, before I let you go. What perhaps are the questions that some of the customers are asking you, and are they negotiating?

STEWART: Yes. They're negotiating, but let me say, I agree with the former comments here, because I don't think they're negotiating hard enough. They should put in at least three competitive bids on the car. One thing I recommend that they do is keep the clunker out of the equation. Don't tell them about the clunker trade-in. When a dealer sees that $4500, it's like dollar signs to him, it's profit. Negotiate for the car just as if you weren't going to trade in a vehicle. Then when you get the best price after getting three competitive bids, then spring the clunker on them and say, OK, here's my qualified clunker. Take another $4500 off the price you gave me.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Earl, you are looking out for your customers who are going to be inundating you this weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Earl Stewart and Gerri Willis there. OK, cars, jobs, home, President Obama says the worst of the recession may be behind us. So 4 o'clock Eastern hour we're going to be focusing on that. Josh Levs is already hearing from you and so am I on Facebook and blog. We're going to have a lot of people's comments and questions in our 4:00 Eastern hour.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you were talking about a news conference. We have a busy 4:00 hour today. We're going to get revved up for this. It's going to be interesting. And I'll tell you, look, I mean we know we're hearing this all the time. I have people writing in, lots of questions, lots of comments. What we want to do is get as many of your questions as possible. So let's go straight to these graphics, I want everyone to see where to send us your questions right now. The easiest way is on the CNN NEWSROOM blog, cnn.com/fredricka. In fact, this is what it looks like right here. You can see. It's the first thing you're going to see, is the economy bottoming out? You get a chance to just pop in there, send us your questions as well. Now go over to my screen we've got everything going just like her on my Facebook, so you have cnn.com/josh Facebook and Twitter, both places /joshlevscnn. Don't miss the S in my name. I keep getting mad angry emails from people saying I didn't hear the S. So Joshlevscnn, there you go.

Fred, what we're going to do, I was just looking through them and we don't need to read all of them obviously right now but let's just zoom in on the board for a second. You can see, they're coming in like crazy. Lots of comments, lots of questions, and what we want to do is get through as many as possible. One of the biggest topics is jobs. So take a look at cnn.com/jobs right there. Fred, like I said, we will get through as many of these as we can today in that 4:00 hour.

WHITFIELD: Yes, people are saying good. Unemployment rate down a tiny notch, now 9.4 percent but still, where are the jobs for those who are looking?

LEVS: Yes, that's what they're asking.

WHITFIELD: I know. All right, thanks so much, Josh, 4:00 Eastern time.

Congress is in its recess. Voters are on the offensive over health care reform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An update now on what's taking place over the Hudson River there. Susan Candiotti is there with an update on more wreckage that has been located.

CANDIOTTI: Hi Fredricka, for the very first time now we are hearing from the New York Police Department that they believe that they have found the wreckage of the small plane or at least some of it. It appears to be in two different areas that's what police are telling us. One section just north of where the helicopter was found and another smaller field of debris nearby, this in about 50 feet of water. There is another new piece of information we can confirm to you from police and that is that when the helicopter earlier this afternoon lifted out a large piece of the helicopter by crane and brought it over to the pier, that is because they believe that that section might contain about two more of the victims that were inside that helicopter. If that proves to be true, that would bring to six the total of victims found from the helicopter, and that's the total number of people that were aboard including the pilot and the five Italian tourists. More to come as the day goes on.

WHITFIELD: So terribly sad. Thanks so much Susan Candiotti, appreciate that. Congress is on its recess and voters are on the offensive. And August is shaping up to be a make-or-break month for health care reform. In Arizona protestors railed against the measure outside the offices of democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell. They say the reforms are too costly and just too intrusive. The democratic leaders counter that. The protests are being staged by republicans to sabotage efforts to explain President Obama's health care plan.

Reform supporters are making their voices heard as well. They clashed with opponents in Memphis yesterday at a town hall meeting with Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen. Health care reform wasn't even on the agenda, but in the end that was all anybody wanted to talk about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think people should be penalized because of pre-existing illness. I really don't. I think health care should be a universal right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police called in extra help to handle the crowd of about 500.

A 92-year-old Oregon man goes to the hospital complaining of dizziness, and then leaves with what he calls a miracle from God.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The doctor wanted to give me some more tests, and I says, you know, I think I see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This is one of our favorite moments of a Sunday, right? This is when the NEWSROOM turns to the chat room with Jacqui and I and of course, you're in on the chat as well.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only is it one of my favorite segments, but this is one of my favorite chat room stories.

WHITFIELD: Oh goody, so then you tell everybody about it.

JERAS: Hopefully I can do it. We have a little sound bite from this guy and you'll want to listen to it. There is a 92-year-old man in Portland, Oregon who is legally blind and he's actually regained his sight. His name is Marvin Albey and he suffered from macular degeneration and couldn't see for years and years. So he went to the emergency room after he was feeling dizzy and he collapsed and all of a sudden he said he could see again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I see everything. I see a car is there, the building here, the tree there. I like to look at the women. I'm looking for a nice gal about, oh, no younger than 75. I like one that walks, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, sweet. He said I'm not trying to rob the cradle here. She has to be at least 70.

JERAS: And she has to walk. He said he was looking forward to being more active. He said he didn't know why God had blessed him this way, but he said he doesn't want to sleep because he just wants to see everything.

WHITFIELD: He wants to catch up on everything.

JERAS: Look at him, he's all teared up. This has changed this man's life.

WHITFIELD: It is a very sweet story. However, because it is this serious, what happened? He is going to a number of other doctor examinations. They do want to try and get to the bottom of it.

JERAS: Try to help other people if they can.

WHITFIELD: It's very unusual. Congrats to him. Glad he can see now. A lot of folks had a great this summer planning their vacations and then a lot of folks have done staycations because it's just simply too expensive to get away. So here's a deal for you, for anybody who still wants to get out there and partake in a luxury resort hotel even, San Diego, it's only for $19 a room.

JERAS: You say, oops, bargain, right?

WHITFIELD: There's a catch. That tent? You got to bring it. It's B.Y.O.T., bring your own tent and B.Y.O.T., bring your own toilet paper. But you get to indulge in all the amenities at this luxury hotel.

JERAS: You have a spa, you have restaurants and a golf course.

WHITFIELD: I know folks are wondering, wait a minute, I'm intrigued. Where is this? Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego. They have everything, spa, dining, golf. You can enjoy all of that, $19 a night but you have to bring your own tent.

JERAS: That tent was inside. So you don't have to sleep outside?

WHITFIELD: No, you get one of the rooms.

JERAS: Do you have to share?

WHITFIELD: We should probably call them to find out.

JERAS: I want to know. Maybe they're trying to cut down on housekeeping so if you don't have to wash the sheets. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Let's hear what someone has to say about this in San Diego.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GATES: It started with easy stuff, towels and sheets and pillows. There's a little savings, we've tried to discount from there. And then we just kind of get more and more carried away. Someone said, what about the air conditioning and what about the water? Eventually we came down to let's just take everything out including the bed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JERAS: OK, so there's no bed. Now you know.

WHITFIELD: But you know what, here's incentive. A lot of times hotels, companies offer great deals like this because they figure right now you might not have the money but if you like it this much when you do have a little windfall, you may come back. This is a really smart marketing tool that this inn...

JERAS: Would you do it?

WHITFIELD: Well, let me think about this.

JERAS: You could bring your own air mattress.

WHITFIELD: One thing that I like about going to, you know, a destination is you want to sleep on a nice bed.

JERAS: A comfy bed, although I've been to plenty of hotels and the bed's not so comfortable.

WHITFIELD: I know, but it's a beautiful place and all that. I might, you know if I'm feeling adventurous, but dog on, I don't know if I want to sleep in the tent. Maybe I'll have to find a really comfortable sleeping bag.

JERAS: All right. Maybe I'll do it. Nineteen bucks.

WHITFIELD: All right.

JERAS: Speaking of doggone, did you hear that your dog might be smarter than your kid?

WHITFIELD: That's what I hear. My dog is quite smart. I think all dogs are smart, though.

JERAS: It depends on the breed, so they say. A researcher out of British Columbia apparently says that the average dog can understand about 165 words. They can count to five. And that's about indicative of what a 2-year-old can do.

WHITFIELD: My dog probably only knows like 10 words because I haven't offered 100 words to him. Oops on me.

JERAS: Oops on you.

WHITFIELD: I better increase the vocabulary.

JERAS: The good breeds are border collies, poodles, retrievers, German shepherds and Doberman pinchers. You have a smart dog if you have those dogs.

WHITFIELD: Doggone, all right. Thanks so much Jacqui, appreciate it, thanks for being in the chat room-slash-NEWSROOM this Sunday. See you again 4:00 Eastern time. Time for "YOUR MONEY."