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Afghan Journalists Demand Respect; Defense Industry Concerned about Low Interest in Math, Science; Bedroom Talk on Tape Prompt's Lawmaker's Resignation
Aired September 10, 2009 - 12:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, thanks so much.
You've heard the speeches. You've heard the shouting. We're pushing forward on the facts. This hour, health care reform and Republican push-back, both face the CNN truth squad.
A kidnapped Afghan journalist is dead. His western colleague rescued. A daring raid condemned by some as a NATO double standard.
And if you dare brag about your sex life, stay away from the mike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DUVALL: So I am getting into spanking her.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: You are?
DUVALL: Yes, I like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Open mike night at the general assembly. A lapse in judgment? Surely. A conflict of interest? Maybe. A political career in tatters? Well, you'd better believe it.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Pushing forward now on the number one question on health care reform in America -- what's next? For President Obama, a follow-up to his prime time speech to Congress, this time to a friendly audience of nurses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now's the time to act and I will not permit reform to be postponed or imperiled by the usual ideological divergence. We don't need more partisan distractions.
If there are real concerns about any aspect of my plan, let's address them. If there are real differences, let's resolve them. But we have talked this issue to death, year after year, decade after decade, and the time for talk is winding down. The time for bickering has passed. We're not the first generation to take up this cause, but we can, and have to be, the last.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, talk is not winding down on Capitol Hill, and some of it's about the president's heckler from last night. More about that in just a minute.
Meanwhile, bipartisan talks still going on in the Senate. As for the House, Republicans are reiterating they want commitment.
The president is expected to meet with so-called moderate Senate Democrats today at the White House. For what it's forth, former senator-turned-vice-president Biden says he expects a bill on the president's desk by Thanksgiving.
Brand-new figures from the Census Bureau now, and a brand-new talking point for supporters of reform. Forty-six point three million Americans did not have health insurance in 2008. That is up from 45.7 million in 2007. Those are people who went without coverage for the whole year. Counting those who had coverage and lost it would push the totals even higher.
Now back to the big fallout over two little words from the president's appearance on Capitol Hill, words not spoken by the president, by -- but by South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson. You heard him shout it from the House floor. You see him on the graphic behind me.
Well, Wilson promptly apologized, and as you may have seen live here in the CNN NEWSROOM, just minutes ago, the president turned the other cheek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You accepted Joe Wilson's apology?
OBAMA: Yes, I did. I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes. He apologized quickly and without equivocation. And I'm appreciative of that.
I do think that, as I said last night, we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big, important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name calling, without the assumption of the worst in other people's motives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, earlier today the congressman talked about his own motives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: It was spontaneous. It was when he stated, as he did, about not covering illegal aliens, when I knew we had those two amendments. And I say that respectfully. And we need to discuss the issues, and I'm happy to do that. And I'm going to run go vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel that...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Earlier talk about possible sanctions seems to have fizzled. Not so the fortunes of Wilson's Democratic challenger in next year's election. Rob Miller has raked in $200,000 in campaign contributions just since Wilson's outburst.
The question remains: did the president misstate the facts? Why don't we ask Josh Levs and the CNN truth squad.
Josh, what did you find out?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra.
You know, I'll tell you something. It's been interesting to hear these claims going on throughout the day. Because what a lot of people are talking about on both sides are documents that we link you to at the truth squad at CNN.com/healthcare.
The first thing I'm going to tell you is that there's no final bill. I can't emphasize that enough. It's so important to understand. But what a lot of people are pointing to is the House bill. And I'm going to go to a line in the House bill right now, because I want everyone to see. This is something the president points to and many of his supporters. This right here.
"Nothing here shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." In short, this House bill specifically says you cannot give subsidies, federal subsidies, to illegal immigrants. So, a lot of the president's supporters say, hey, check that out.
But what we're hearing from Republicans is this report from the Congressional Research Service. I know it looks tiny on your screen. What they're saying, this is a nonpartisan group. They looked at the bill and they said, "Wait a second. It does not contain any restrictions on non-citizens participating in this exchange, whether they're here legally or illegally."
I know that's confusing, which is why we have this for you. This is what it's all about. Take a look at this graphic. There's this thing called the health insurance exchange that people would use to look at different plans and choose one for themselves. Well, the Congressional Research Service is saying, on the next screen, that immigrants, even if they're here illegally, would actually be able to buy a plan by using that. If they wanted to, they could make that choice.
But the trick here, Kyra, is that basically there are already millions of illegal immigrants who are buying health insurance. So, this idea that illegal immigrants might be able to buy health insurance through an exchange wouldn't revolutionize the way things are right now.
Now, one more point on this, because this is really important. What a lot of people are saying is that there aren't strict enough rules in this legislation to determine who's here legally and who's here not. And that's what they want: stricter rules. Democrats have rejected some Republican ideas for how to make things stricter. That's why you have the debates going on right now.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now, there was a Republican response. So how...
LEVS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Did you truth check that?
LEVS: Yes, we did. This is interesting. Check out this quote last night from the Republican response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY (R), LOUISIANA: I read the bill Democrats passed through committee in July. It creates 53 new government bureaucracies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: We -- we wrote that down for you. And I'll show you really simple the answer right here on the graphic. He said there'd be 53 new bureaucracies. We took a look at what these 53 would be.
And if I can show that, what you'll see, really, is that it's not exactly 53 new bureaucracies. You have some cases where the plan would change some current programs. You have one that would exist temporarily, one that might maybe exist if some things happened. There are bureaucracies or groups that would have ombudsmen. They were counted separately.
So we decided, Kyra, that 53 figure is misleading.
Let me just tell everyone, again, CNN.com/healthcare is your place to go any time you hear a claim. Plus if you see something you want us to check out at the truth squad, send it to us there. It's easy to comment. And we would love to hear what you're hearing so we can get you the facts -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Josh, thanks so much.
LEVS: You got it. PHILLIPS: It's coast to coast. It's anti-big government. The Tea Party Express has arrived in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but it's not the only express this town. Our own Ali Velshi also in Scranton. And he is on the CNN Express.
All right. Tell me where you are and what's going on, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. I'm in the court square in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You can see the CNN Express there. And right behind it, you see the two buses of the Tea Party Express.
And I will tell you, in front of the Tea Party Express there are a number of protestors. Those are pro-health care protestors. They parked themselves right in front of the bus.
Over my right shoulder is the demonstration. More than 1,000 people now protesting government intervention, protesting higher taxes, protesting cap and trade, environmental legislation and, of course, protesting health care. In fact, the current speaker just said that this health-care reform, Kyra, is the first step towards socialism, and the next step is communism.
There are all sorts -- all sorts of things going back and forth. Dale, pass me that flag. There are all sorts of protests going on that sort of demonstrate the kind of feeling around here. I want to just show you this flag that somebody presented to us. It's meant to mean American Revolution II, the second American Revolution. There are flags around here that say, "Don't tread on me."
So it's a real -- a fairly anti-big government gathering right now of people who say, "We can't afford health care. Government has to get out of our lives. They can't run things better than others can." That's basically the tone over there.
I've got some people over here who feel that health care has to -- has to be reformed now, and that's -- that's pretty much the division lines we're seeing across the country, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you. You know, you've been following all these various forums across the country, right, specifically on health care? And we've seen how fiery those have become. How many people have showed up to go at their congressmen or congresswomen or senator.
What's your take on the Tea Party movement here? Same size, smaller, bigger, growing? What's your sense?
VELSHI: This is smaller than many of the other stops. There's no question about that. By my estimate, maybe 1,000, maybe a few more than 1,000 people. A lot of towns have been much bigger. I think I heard about 10,000 in Chicago. So, it's not as big, but they're leading toward this big rally in Washington on Saturday. And they're hoping to get a lot of steam.
Now, there -- you know, there are vehicles -- there are a number of them around me -- that follow the Tea Party Express around. They seem to gain some steam. But you know, it's a good mass of people there. There's no question. Very, very strong feelings. People who feel that the media in general is not representing their -- their view about being anti-big government all that effectively.
Now Kyra, as you know, this is our third week where we've been driving around the country, stopping all over the place, talking to people. And I've had a range of views, from anti-big government to fix health care now. We've been talking to people about the economy. So, I think most of America has some opinion on this, but this is not the biggest rally the Tea Party Express has had in its -- in its tour.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Ali Velshi, great to see you.
Stealing moments of time to save lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our job is to get people up and out of here in seconds. Because it's -- seconds count.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on the ground, in the air, with no time to waste. He shows us just one example of the urgency and dedication of U.S. troops nearly eight years to the day after 9/11, the day that turned Afghanistan into a battle zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We're returning to base after a long patrol along the same road that we came down, so any Taliban who have been watching us would know that we're going to be using this road, so we have to be very careful.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This city now lives in the shadow of the Taliban. The Taliban control neighborhoods here. In fact, this is a Taliban neighborhood.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was just a couple tourniquets that are really holding all that blood from coming pouring out of his legs. That's why they have to take him to the operating room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Three different CNN correspondents, three different in-depth looks at what's going in Afghanistan right now.
Nine-eleven is why U.S. troops are there. Seven years and some 364 days after the attacks, they're still there. The stakes, the risks, as high as they ever were. August, the deadliest month for U.S. troops, American men and women putting their lives on the line, every minute, every hour, every day. Americans like Nate Dabney, an Army combat flight medic. His job? To race against death.
Here's CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): One hour. That's it. Minutes began ticking down when word came that two men, both civilians, about 40 miles from here, were critically wounded. Without help, they could bleed out and die.
NATE DABNEY, COMBAT FLIGHT MEDIC, U.S. ARMY: If they're an urgent patient, we have timelines where we need to be moving extremely fast. I mean, within minutes. We don't mess around. When that bell rings, we run. And we get out here. We get all geared up, and we take off.
GUPTA (on camera): Right now we're in a medevac Black Hawk helicopter. It's the fast as I've ever traveled in one of these, 1,200 feet off the ground. We know there are two patients who need help. That's all we know. We don't know how bad off they are. We're going to do triage on the scene.
(voice-over) It's what these guys do. I'm with an elite medical dust-off crew. The name goes back to Vietnam. It was the radio emergency call signal to chopper in the combat flight medics. They are a go team: 24/7 they steal moments of time to save lives.
DABNEY: Our job is to get people up and out of here in seconds. Because it's -- seconds count.
GUPTA: For Nate Dabney and his team, most missions are about rescuing American military.
DABNEY: They're leaving this gate every day on foot and in vehicles, knowing what's out there. And if they can do that, then I'll do anything to make sure that they get out all right.
GUPTA: But today, the call came to save Afghan locals. It's a critical part of the U.S. strategy to win the hearts and minds of Afghan civilians. We are now into the golden hour. Most trauma patients who die of blood loss die within an hour unless we can stabilize them. So, we have 20 minutes to fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go!
GUPTA: Twenty minutes to get the patient on the chopper. Twenty minutes to get the patient to a hospital. It's one golden hour.
DABNEY: So, when I got in the aircraft, my mindset is airway, oxygen, stabilization of the chest. Fine-tuning this down to the very last second is the most important thing.
GUPTA: But with the dust-off teams, the challenge is not just getting to the patients, but about getting out of there safely.
DABNEY: This is probably the most dangerous place in Afghanistan. Couldn't see any security out yet. Here we are coming into this area, you know, you can see it when we're going. It's six- foot-high cornfields and water and mud everywhere. Not very many ways for us to get out of there real quick if we had to. So I was worried.
GUPTA (voice-over): For so many reasons, that fear is always looming. Dabney surprised me when he pulled out this picture. These are his three boys.
DABNEY: I've discussed it with my wife, even written a letter for her to read to them. When it comes to that kind of thing, you hope that they're proud of you. One of the things you try not to think about.
GUPTA (on camera): It must have been a tough letter to write, though.
DABNEY: It was. It was a real -- in fact, it probably took me about -- you know, being a dad is probably the most privileged and most important job you could ever have, no matter what you do. You know this.
And -- but at the same time, showing them what being a man is really about, you know, fighting for your country, sacrificing for your country. Things that are more important than, you know, staying at home and avoiding this kind of thing.
GUPTA (voice-over): As for today's mission, Dabney and his dust- off crew cheated the clock, again. It's now clear the two men they flew in to save will survive their terrible wounds.
(on camera) And Nate Dabney is expected to be here in Afghanistan until the beginning of next year. It can be a very busy job for them, up to nine to ten of those medevac missions in a single day. Incredible work.
Also wanted to give you a quick update on the little boy, Malik, that we've been covering all week. It's been a bit of a roller coaster for him over the last couple of days. Taking a look at some video there. He had a bit of a fever, which can happen after an operation like this, but it really did slow him down for a period of time, which made the next couple of days even more impressive.
As you see, he is walking there. Remember, we were concerned that he might not have any strength on the left side of his body, but he's putting weight on that left leg, able to walk with just a little bit of assistance from his father.
We've also got a very special report about Malik tomorrow, uncovering some details about his story, which we just uncovered and have not yet shared. It's remarkable stuff. Certainly stay tuned for that.
Back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Incredible stuff. And there's plenty more. All this week Sanjay, Anderson Cooper and Michael Ware are reporting from Afghanistan from the battle zone. Check out their reports on "AC360." That's tonight, 10 Eastern, only on CNN.
Hurricane Fred still chugging along in the Atlantic, and a state that really needs the rain is finally getting some, right, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Texas could really use it, and they're getting it today. They had a lot yesterday in San Antonio. In fact, they even had some flash flooding. Watch what you ask for, because you go from literally a Category 4 drought all the way to flash flooding in one day.
Fred, though, Category 2 hurricane. It was a Category 3 yesterday. Traveling up into the north Atlantic. Eventually, the water gets so cold up here -- I know it's like close to 80, but still, so cold for a hurricane that it just doesn't matter anymore. This thing will eventually just completely die off. And so there we go, Category 2 now. Watch it just wiggle and wobble around. It has nowhere to go. And by the time it gets up here into colder water, 30 miles per hour.
Now, you have to realize that that is still 3,000 miles from Miami, so we are not in the least worried about that at all.
Talking about the showers in Texas right there. We'll pan around for you. Here's the weather that we're hoping to really get some -- some saturated ground here. We don't want -- any more flash flooding, but move the rain around a little bit, that will help. I'll tell you what, though, we're going to have stories coming this fall on what crops didn't survive at all in parts of Texas, because it has been just one -- not only an agricultural drought but a devastating drought for many of the ranchers, as well.
Some scattered showers across parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma and also back up toward the northeast. We'll pan you back here. We've had some showers around New York City, but so far, for the U.S. Open for tonight, things look OK. I think these showers could sneak in, though, later on this afternoon into this evening for the Open. We'll see. Obviously, all of that tennis activity outside, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. And what a bummer about our Marietta mauler. Your own community, we were all behind her 100 percent.
MYERS: You know, I didn't even realize this. She lives about ten houses from me.
PHILLIPS: Really?
MYERS: In a different subdivision, but they told me -- someone told me this morning, well, no, she lives right there. I went -- I guess I didn't know that. PHILLIPS: You need to stop by there and tell her how well she did.
MYERS: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: And how much we all paid attention to her success.
MYERS: We believed.
PHILLIPS: Yes, we did, just like on her tennis shoes.
MYERS: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Top stories now.
Police at Yale University are asking for your help to find a missing grad student who was to be married on Sunday. Annie Le's family, friends and co-worker haven't heard from her since Tuesday. Le, who's in medical school, was last seen at her lab. Her purse, her cell phone, money, credit cards all left behind.
The suspect in the shooting death of an Iowa high school football coach is in court today. Mark Becker is charged with first-degree murder in the June killing of Ed Thomas. Becker once played football for Thomas. The question now, is he competent to stand trial? Police say just days before the shooting, Becker led them on a high-speed chase and was arrested and ordered to a psych ward. Well, he was released from custody at some point before that shooting.
On the jobless front, some better-than-expected numbers. New unemployment claims dropped to 550,000 last week, and continuing claims fell by nearly 160,000, to just over 6 million. That's the lowest level since April.
More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Homeless but not hopeless. A young California woman ended up living in a Wal-Mart parking lot after losing her job. But she kept her spirits up and her sense of humor. Now her experiences have helped her turn her life around. Her story now from CNN's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most fairy tales start as a nightmare. For 24-year-old Brianna Karp, it began when she lost her job as an executive assistant and ended up living in this Los Angeles Wal-Mart parking lot, in a trailer she'd inherited from her father, who she barely knew and who had recently committed suicide. BRIANNA KARP, LIVED IN WAL-MART PARKING LOT: I was left with a truck and this camper, which I was going to sell, but then coincidentally, this happened to me. And I was, like, well I have this.
ROWLANDS: Brianna had her dog Fez and an old laptop computer, which would prove to be her lifeline.
KARP: The first night, I think, being homeless, you know, in the Wal-Mart parking lot was the scariest, and I was panicking and just afraid.
ROWLANDS: For five months Brianna lived at the Wal-Mart and used the free WiFi at a Starbucks to look for jobs and send out resumes. She also started writing a blog.
KARP: I was trying to stay positive and cheerful. I started writing the blog originally kind of with a tongue-in-cheek way to laugh about my circumstances, keep them chronicled. I didn't think that anybody would actually read it.
ROWLANDS: But people did, including Matt Barnes, who was in Scotland running a homeless Web site. He asked her to write about her life on his site. He's now Brianna's boyfriend.
Then, out of the blue, an opportunity. A reality show was looking for executive assistants. Top prize: an internship with this woman, advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Brianna was chosen for an audition, but she bombed.
KARP: Yes, I went back, and I blogged about, you know, bombing the interview. I laughed about it, and I made fun of myself.
ROWLANDS: Instead of giving up, Brianna decided to take a chance and e-mail Carroll's advice site.
KARP: I'm currently homeless and living in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I'm educated. I've never done drugs, and I'm...
ROWLANDS: She asked for a second interview, signing her message...
KARP: Homeless, but Not Hopeless.
E. JEAN CARROLL, ADVICE COLUMNIST: And I thought she's so ready to work.
KARP: E. Jean's response to Brianna's e-mail appeared in the August edition of "Elle" magazine, saying in part, "Miss Homeless, my dear, you knocked me out with your courage and spirit." She offered Brianna an internship and a chance to write a fashion blog for "Elle."
CARROLL: I think she's a new voice. I think she's a voice we haven't heard. And I'm excited for her -- her future.
ROWLANDS: Brianna is now living in this trailer on a friend's property outside Los Angeles. She's hoping people will see her story and realize that, with a lost job and a little bad luck, just about anyone can end up living in a Wal-Mart parking lot. She's also still looking for a full-time job.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Some Afghans claiming NATO treats them like second- class citizens in their own country, and they point to a deadly rescue operation as a prime example.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The fight for Afghanistan rages on nearly eight years to the day after the trigger on the fight was pulled. Let's talk about a story that's stirring up some controversy right now. It's the rescue of a British journalist from his Taliban captors. His Afghan colleague was killed in the NATO mission and his body was left behind. That has some Afghans feeling like second-class citizens in their own country.
So CNN's Atia Abawi went to look into it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Media Club of Afghanistan, a group of Afghan journalists primarily working for international organizations, are condemning the death of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi, a reporter for "The New York Times" who was killed during a raid that saved a British reporter for "the New York Times" Stephen Farrell. They're calling his death inhumane that the international forces did not care about Mr. Munadi's life as much as they did the British journalist's life.
They're asking for an apology and an investigation by both the international forces and the Afghan government. They're also condemning the Taliban, refusing to report news from the Taliban for at least three days. They're actually asking the Taliban and other groups not to use the abduction of journalists as a means for political and military purposes.
Many Afghan journalists here feel that they're treated as second class, even though they're the ones who continuously risk their lives on a day-by-day basis. Journalists throughout the world, from Africa to Asia, from Iraq to Afghanistan, it's the local reporters who are out in the field first, getting the story first, risking their lives.
And in the end, it's the international media that gets the most attention when something should happen. And many of these journalists feel that they are not respected in the same way, and they're demanding that respect here in Afghanistan.
Atia Abawi, CNN, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Three weeks after the arrest of alleged child kidnapper and rapist Phillip Garrido, police have scoured a trio of properties connected to a former business associate. Jim Molino says that Garrido did freelance printing for him. And he says investigators confiscated a home computer, videotapes, DVDs, all that during their search. Police would only say the search was part of a larger investigation into Garrido.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEYVONNE MOLINO, JM AUTOWRECKERS: They went through everything. They went through my drawers. They went through my garbage. They went through, you know, everything personal.
JIM MOLINO, FORMER GARRIDO BUSINESS ASSOCIATE: I don't understand why they came here like that. Because there is no link between us and him, other than business and buying his printing products.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, this is the UC Berkeley security officer credited with breaking the case in which Garrido is accused of holding Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years. Officer Ally Jacobs got a key to the city of Brentwood. Pretty happy woman. Friends and family say that her intuition as a cop and a mom really paid off.
Caught on tape, disgraced and convicted Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff. The Massachusetts secretary of state's office has released an audiotape of an alleged 2005 phone call from Madoff explaining to a potential witness how to dodge investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARD MADOFF, CONVICTED IN PONZI SCHEME: You know, you don't have to be too brilliant with these guys, because you don't have to be -- you are not supposed to have that knowledge. And, you know, you wind up saying something which is either wrong or, you know, it's just not something you have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The 71-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for bilking billions of dollars from investors. Authorities have called it the biggest Ponzi scheme ever. Today, one of Madoff's prized waterfront homes was put up for sale by the government. The price tag? More than 8 million bucks.
New numbers on the housing crunch, and as usual, it's a sobering story. Realtytrac says the number of homes repossessed by banks last month was down 12 percent from July. The number of foreclosure filings over that period fell, too, but by just half a percentage point. California, with lots of adjustable-rate mortgages, still leads the nation in total foreclosure filings. Florida is number two, Michigan, with its struggling economy, number -- or is third. One reason that fewer homes are being repossessed, well, the government assistance program for homeowners launched last spring is kicking in. And as of last month, the Treasury Department says that banks have sent out more than 571,000 offers to reduce monthly mortgage payments. That's just 19 percent of the almost 3 million homeowners who are eligible to modify their home loans.
In this housing market, buyers definitely have the upper hand, and they know it. People all across the country are haggling, and they're getting out -- they're getting sellers, rather, to cut their asking prices. But some do better than others.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York stock exchange with more. Susan, where do the buyers actually have the most success negotiating right now?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere very close to you, Kyra. It's time for that beachfront condo, perhaps. Because more than half of the top 25 cities with the biggest discounts were in Florida. This is a survey from zillow.com. A lot of our viewers know it's a real estate Web site.
Nationwide, buyers negotiated a 3.3 percent discount. In real dollars, that's an average $7,000 off the listing price. And, remember, this is on top of discounts the seller may have already made to just -- to get you to the table.
The top cities to haggle? Vero Beach on the East Coast, where buyers negotiated a more than 10 percent discount. Sarasota, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, an 8 percent discount. Atlantic City, or as we folks here in New York City call it, A.C., an 8 percent discount. So, lots of beach communities, which are seeing some very nice discounts -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, where (ph) are these places so negotiable compared to other cities?
LISOVICZ: Well, it's really a supply and demand. That's always what drives price in real estate. In this case, let's just talk a lot about supply, because Florida has a glut of inventory. This is one of the epicenters of the real estate bubble. So, it's no coincidence, as you mentioned that Florida has the nation's second-highest foreclosure rate.
We've been seeing improvements. You talked about that, where we're seeing improvements in the number of foreclosures declining. Not true in Florida. We've seen them increase, whereas, for instance, we have seen buyers in California paying over the listing price. Lots of foreclosures. Lots of interested parties. Moving down the inventory. But, Florida still has a big glut. And would-be buyers are haggling successfully -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We always love to haggle. You and I love to haggle and negotiate. Love getting those good deals.
LISOVICZ: There are some deals. But, of course, as long as you have money to put a good deposit down, you know, and plan to live in it, this is not speculative investment. This is a roof over your head.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Whispered sex talk is coming across loud and clear at the California capital. We'll take a listen to the X-rated tape that shamed a lawmaker into quitting. You might want to send your kids out of the room.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The shuttle Discovery is dodging space junk and thunderstorms on its return trip. It's supposed to land in Florida tonight, but, first, NASA says the crew must navigate past floating debris. After that, stormy weather near the landing site could extend the trip by a day or two.
President Obama's speech last night seems to have helped his cause, at least among Americans who actually watched. A CNN/Opinion Research poll is out. Going into the speech, only a bare majority said they supported the president's health care plans. After the speech, the number jumped to 67 percent. We should note that these numbers only reflect the opinion of people that watched the speech, and more Democrats than Republicans tuned in.
Ellen is the new Paula on "American Idol." Comedian Ellen DeGeneres is sliding into the fourth judge's seat after next season after Paula Abdul quit in July. Ellen admits that she has no formal music training, but she hopes to be the voice of the people.
Drug-resistant swine flu may be spreading from person to person for the very first time. Health officials say that two girls in a North Carolina summer camp came down with the same strain of the swine flu. They were cabinmates who had been given Tamiflu before they got sick. And the Centers for Disease Control says that overuse of medication can actually help viruses become drug resistant. So now, the CDC says most healthy people should not take flu drugs, even if they've been exposed to the virus.
Most people wouldn't buy a car without comparing price tags, but how about bargain hunting for a new hip or getting your tonsils taken out? We're empowering patients now to find the best deal before undergoing a medical procedure or test.
A growing number of hospitals are helping people to comparison shop on the Internet so they can brace themselves for the bill. They say that more people are paying out of pocket for care, sparking a huge demand for pricing information. For more information about how medical bargain hunting works, you can head to CNN.com/empoweredpatient.
Bedroom talk, a state lawmaker and an open mike, a combination that has a lot of people talking. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, if you see a certain guy on a Florida street corner, don't give him change. Give him a job.
I'm talking about Dean Hamilton. He's really taking a unique approach, shall we say, as he pounds the pavement looking for work. Hamilton is a unique kind of panhandler, if you will, standing on a street corner in a suit with a sign begging for a job. He's our "30- Second Pitch" today.
Dean joins me from Plantation, Florida. Dean, good to see you.
DEAN HAMILTON, JOB SEEKER: Nice to have me. Thank you very much for having me.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's our pleasure. So, you know, of course, you caught our attention when we saw one of the local affiliates get this video of you out there on the street corner. Tell me what happened. What kind of job were you working in, And did you know you were going to get laid off? How did it go down?
HAMILTON: Well, no, I did not know I was going to get laid off. It was pretty much unexpected. I got a notice that in two weeks my position may not be actually available to me, so I decided immediately, the moment I got notice, that I'm going to be almost out of a job. I just drove out.
And I would say it had to have been divine intervention. I actually just drove straight to the sign store, and I decided to purchase a sign. I didn't know what at first to put on it, and, you know, moment's notice -- in a moment's notice I was just inspired by, I'm quite sure, the whole experience to write what I did, and that's basically how I got here.
PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at the video. Let's take a look at you and your sign. And tell me the type of reaction that you got. Were people nice? Were they mean? Did they stop and say, hey, come see me or, you know, can I have a resume? Tell me what kind of response you got.
HAMILTON: Well, the response, I must say, was overwhelming, and I want to thank everyone that responded. There are a lot of people who called with just encouraging words, and also encouraging me to just keep the faith. You know, I wanted to be a message of hope to those who are unemployed. Don't give up, you know. It's something we all sometime have to face.
And God forbid, that anyone would have to find himself in this position with a family and, of course, no job, you know. It's very, shall I say, it's eye-opening, to say the least. A reality check sets in, and you start thinking about all the things that possibly could happen. And for one, it was just overwhelming.
The response was great. And I got overwhelming -- a lot of calls. I want to thank everyone that called. PHILLIPS: Well, I hear the phone ringing right now. You hear that phone ringing? I wonder if that's somebody calling you for a job.
HAMILTON: It's possible. It's possible. If you don't mind, I'd like to turn this phone off.
PHILLIPS: Yes, is that your phone? OK, yeah.
HAMILTON: It is my phone.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it is. Well, you never -- well, someone's either calling to say you look really good on CNN or it could be a job position possibly. So, I'll tell you what. We'll get right to the 30-second pitch. Does that sound good?
HAMILTON: That sounds good.
PHILLIPS: All right. I want you to look directly into the camera. I know, you can't see me. It's kind of a bummer. You've just got a camera.
HAMILTON: That's fine.
PHILLIPS: But look right into the camera, look at all our viewers and give it to us. We're going to start the clock. OK, Dean, you ready?
HAMILTON: I'm ready.
PHILLIPS: All right. Oh, and he's got his sign, too. I love it. I don't know if we can take a wider shot there if the photographer can hear me. But we got the sign. There we go, great. We'll try and get a wider shot as we start the 30-second pitch.
All right, Dean, take it away.
HAMILTON: All right. Hi, hiring managers. My name is Dean Hamilton, and I'm interested in any challenging position you have available. I'm willing to even carry water for Oprah if she's available. So, here I go.
I'm interested in a career opportunity that really challenges my exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. I have over six -- eight years experience in customer service. And in my previous position as a college -- should I say a customer advocate lead, I enabled and facilitated -- should I say, supervisors.
I would like for anyone who has an opportunity to give me a chance to redeem myself and provide for my family. God bless you, whoever chooses to hire me.
PHILLIPS: I love it. All right, now, hold the sign up a little bit higher. There we go. Now we've got the phone number, we've got you, we've got your e-mail on the bottom of the screen there. And Oprah Winfrey, if you are listening, Dean says he would be happy to carry your water for you. But I'm sure you could do a lot more for Oprah. You're a graduate student for goodness sakes -- or a college graduate. You've got all kinds of stuff to offer.
HAMILTON: I'm willing to at this point accept pretty much anything that's available that would pretty much give me an opportunity to provide for my family. I'm willing to do basically anything right now. I'm open.
PHILLIPS: What's that? go ahead.
HAMILTON: I'm wide open to options, even a reality series.
PHILLIPS: Really? What would be your idea for a reality series?
HAMILTON: Basically something like this, helping people to find their jobs, going with them on interviews. I have a lot of ideas. I've been writing -- jotting them down. But I'm waiting for the producers to call me. I have some ideas. If you're out there, call me. Dean is available. Call me.
PHILLIPS: There we go. All right, and once again, let's get his e-mail up there, Anthony.hamilton.47@gmail.com. Oprah, television producers, anyone, give Dean a call.
Dean, thanks so much. Great to see you.
HAMILTON: Thank you so very much for the opportunity. God bless you all.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's been my honor and pleasure.
OK, so you don't want your schoolkids to hear the president talk about staying in school, but you'll gladly load them on a bus and take them to a stadium to hear the former president speak. Isn't that interesting? We're looking into that next hour.
Triple-X bedroom talk is trumping politics at the California capital. A bragging lawmaker quits after learning anyone can listen in on his steamy whispers.
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PHILLIPS: Tuesday, President Obama challenged America's students to not let themselves or the country down. And here's one reason why, the growing STEM workers crisis. STEM in short -- is short, rather, for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Quite simply, schools are not graduating the number of highly skilled workers the defense industry needs. And that's reason for all of us to worry.
Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Navy's newest missile is one step closer to being fired in combat. But it takes scientists to build these weapons, and the brains behind America's arms are in danger.
A new report shows American students have fallen behind other countries in science. High schoolers rank near the bottom in math, behind Estonia, Finland and China. That could leave American defense contractors with a dangerous lack of potential workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of companies in other industries just go to India.
KEVIN PEPPE, RAYTHEON COMPANY: We have a very, very interesting challenge that's not shared by a bunch of our industry peers.
LAWRENCE: Google can grab the best brains from anywhere in the world. That won't fly when you're working on the Pentagon's classified projects. So, defense contractors need a large pool of American math and science whizzes.
PEPPE: We're restricted to people's clearances, and those people with clearances generally have to be U.S. citizens.
LAWRENCE: So, the real secret weapon in this missile test is a high school math teacher. Jennie Elrod spent the summer working for Raytheon, getting paid to help the military develop its new missile.
JENNIE ELROD, HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHER: Actually tell the Navy crew on the headset, OK, it's doing this. It's verified. And so I actually had a role. It was really exciting.
LAWRENCE: Now she's taking what she's learned back to her Tucson classroom.
ELROD: I saw some engineers using code when they were interpreting the missile, and they had to know number signs like integers, for example, which is what I'm teaching today.
LAWRENCE: Jenny is one of 20 teachers selected for the program.
ELROD: So I saw a lot of you with the right answer.
LAWRENCE: Her school is 90 percent Latino, and about a third of the students learn English as a second language.
ELROD: Some of my students come in with identities that "I can't do math, I don't like math, I can't do it."
LAWRENCE: Compounding the problem, math and science teachers are in short supply. The secretary of education recently argued it's time to stop paying everyone the same and give more money to teachers like Jenny. The National Education Association opposes paying teachers solely based on what they teach. With this program, teachers salaries stay the same...
ELROD: My internship was at Raytheon.
LAWRENCE: ... but private companies supplement their incomes over the summer.
(on camera): Now, there was some concern that these teachers would just give up the classroom and take jobs in the defense industry. So, they all had to sign an agreement not to work for any of the participating companies for five years.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Tucson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: OK, we all know political rhetoric can get pretty heated. But how often does it get downright steamy? California lawmaker, apparently a member of the TMI Party, is out of a job. Two words for you, dude: "open mike" is best on karaoke night, not general assembly.
Here's CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Mike Duvall, a conservative Republican and self-described family values politician caught in a very embarrassing conversation here in the California State Assembly.
The lawmaker was unaware he was being recorded on an in-house channel at the state capitol repeatedly boasting about sexual exploits with a married woman to a fellow committee member before a meeting.
MIKE DUVALL, (R) CALIFORNIA: Yes, I like it.
GUTIERREZ: The 54-year-old married two-term legislator from Orange County was talking about a liaison with a lobbyist who works for a firm that represents a utility company. Duvall served as vice chairman of the Committee on Utilities in Commerce.
DUVALL: So, the other day, she came here with her underwear, Thursday.
GUTIERREZ: He was also heard bragging about a second woman. When the recording was made public, Duvall issued an apology. But after being removed from two committees, he decided to resign.
KAREN BASS, CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: We have such huge issues before the legislature, and to have this become a distraction, he felt his responsibility was to step aside and to resign and to go home.
GUTIERREZ: Duvall had been awarded the Ethics in America Award by Chapman University in 2000. He received a 100 percent grade from a family values group and he has been an outspoken foe of gay marriage.
PROF. DAN SCHNUR, POLITICAL SCIENCE, USC: What finished Mike Duvall's career is not the fact that he's unfaithful to his spouse. Plenty of politicians of both parties have survived that. What killed Duvall's political career is that he talked about it in front of an open microphone.
GUTIERREZ: An episode that closed the door on his service in the California Assembly.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
