Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Toyota Recalling Even More Cars; Obama Focusing the Agenda; Kids and Suicide

Aired January 28, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's the top of the hour and we'll take a quick look at some of the top stories right now. The world's largest automaker taking another hit. Toyota recalling another 1.1 million cars because of potentially fatal flaws, sticking gas pedals and bad floor mats are what we're talking about. They're also recalling cars in Europe and China.

Just a day earlier, Toyota stopped selling eight models in the U.S. because of that problem. You can get a full list of the cars affected at CNN.com.

Getting the Taliban to turn in their weapons and become part of Afghanistan's mainstream. That's the goal for more than 60 nations and organizations meeting in London today. The summit is looking at a $500 million pay for peace proposal. That money expected to come from deep-pocketed international donors. It would go to jobs and housing.

And don't be surprised if Ben Bernanke ultimately gets a second term as Fed chief. It's looking like he'll win a key vote this afternoon. Bernanke's second term has been in doubt due to anger support of Wall Street bailouts and for not seeing the financial crisis looming. Still, Bernanke's expected to have enough senators on his side to beat a filibuster today.

The president heading to Tampa, Florida, this morning with the VP in tow. so what's in Tampa? Eventually high-speed rail service, which means jobs. Something the president emphasized during the "State of the Union" speech last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For every success story, there are other stories of men and women who wake up with the anguish of not knowing where their next paycheck will come from, who send out resumes week after week and hear nothing in response. That is why jobs must be our number one focus in 2010 and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now a lot of people are asking what happened to health care? The president barely mentioned it last night. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joining me now. It seems like that's all we've been talking about too recently, Ed. ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. I mean, obviously, in fairness to the president, there had been a lot of criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats as well saying that he needed to have a pivot to jobs and there needed to be a lot less focus on health care.

I was still struck though by how small the focus was on health care. I mean, it took quite a long time to get to it. It was a very small part of the speech. But it's very clear that this president does want to make that hard turn to jobs and I think he was candid about some mistakes, saying that there have been some political missteps. He said, you know, some things that were deserved in terms of mistakes made and there's been backlash, as he put it.

And I think he was also, though, somewhat defiant about saying, look, I'm not going to give up the fight on health care or some other big issues in the agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We have come through a difficult decade, but a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don't quit. I don't quit. Let's seize this moment to start anew, to carry the dream forward and to strengthen our union once more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So a stirring call there in the conclusion to try to bring both sides together. You see a live picture at Andrews Air Force Base. Marine One has arrived. The president will be boarding Air Force One shortly. As you noted, Kyra, he's going to be going to the Tampa area for a town hall meeting. A rare joint appearance with Vice President Biden who runs the middle class task force that's been getting a lot of coverage lately.

It's about the high-speed rail. The president handing out billions of dollars from the stimulus on that. One of the areas expected to get money, of course, Tampa, Orlando. They want to link up there with high speed rail, eventually maybe link it to Miami as well. And as you noted, the president trying to make the case there will be jobs in building that high-speed rail in the short term and then long-term you may be making the commutes of various people with jobs, hoping to get jobs a little bit easier there, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now of the president getting ready to head to Tampa. As we follow that, Ed, you know he lost over health care. What about national security?

HENRY: Well, it's interesting. I saw Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, was pretty tough on AMERICAN MORNING this morning saying that it was a very small amount of the speech. The speech was almost 70 minutes long. Foreign policy was less than 10 minutes of that. Again, in fairness to the president, Republicans spent a lot of time saying what are you going to do about jobs, we want to hear a lot more about that. He gave maybe Republicans as well as Democrats and independents a lot more on jobs. Now, though, the criticism is not enough on foreign policy. It's a tough balancing act. While he wants to focus on the economy and a lot of these important domestic issues, he's still commander in chief.

There are a lot of big issues around the world and he's certainly hearing that criticism this morning that maybe he should have spent at least a little more time on national security, especially after that Christmas day attempted terror attack, national security has certainly gotten back in the mind.

You see the president now getting ready to board Air Force One there, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Watching him there live. We're going to be following him obviously throughout the day. Still, his message continues rolling in from last night's "State of the Union" address.

Ed Henry, thanks so much.

You know, the president maybe glossed over health care but the Republican response sure didn't. The newly elected governor of Virginia delivered it from Richmond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA: All Americans agree that we need health care system that is affordable, accessible and high quality. But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government. Republicans in Congress have offered legislation to reform health care without shifting Medicaid costs to the states, without cutting Medicare and without raising your taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Financial institutions took a hit in last night's speech too. The president made reference to the unpopularity of giving government funds to save them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: And if there's one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans and everybody in between, it's that we all hated the bank bailout. I hated it. I hated it. I hated it, you hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We all definitely don't like root canal. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow, don't know if she's had a root canal but she's live from the World Economic Forum there in Davos, Switzerland with the reaction.

Hi, Poppy. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Kyra. It's very interesting. I mean, we also after the president said that, we heard him reinstate what he has proposed which is a tax on big banks, saying listen, if they have enough to pay out these bloated bonuses, they certainly have enough to pay back taxpayers that rescued them.

Well, it was sort of a we versus them tone at points and you could feel that. And the bankers here in Davos, at this World Economic Forum responding today. We had a chance to have an in-depth conversation with John Mack, the former CEO, and now the chairman of Morgan Stanley. I asked him what he thought. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (on camera): Is the president pointing too many fingers?

JOHN MACK, CHAIRMAN, MORGAN STANLEY: Well, I think he has an obligation to tell the American people what he thinks. If that's how he feels he clearly should be doing that. We have a responsibility and we are responsible for some of the problems and we should be held accountable. It's too easy to say it's just the banks.

HARLOW: Do you understand the outrage and do you think that there will be an understanding?

MACK: I think any time people are losing their homes and losing their jobs, if you can't understand that outrage when money is being paid, and the amounts that has been paid in the past, there is outrage and we do understand it. And that's why we're making changes.

The question is very simple. Are the changes we make, are they fast enough, are they enough, do we need to do more?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And that is the key question here, Kyra. Since the depths of the financial crisis, simply put, we have not seen a broad overhaul of the U.S. financial regulatory system. It has made it through the House, still to make it through the Senate. That's simply put, we just haven't seen a change. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So it's that lack of change that angers a lot of people. So, Poppy -

HARLOW: Right.

PHILLIPS: -- does there seem to be a willingness to cooperate between bankers and policy makers there?

HARLOW: There seems to be a willingness, but honestly what I'm hearing, Kyra, from some of these bank executives is they would like a dialogue. It seems like the two parties sometimes are talking at one other. That is the sense that we're getting. What's very interesting as the president pointed out his goal to use $30 billion from what the banks have paid back to the government to aid small community banks so they can help small businesses. A big focus on small businesses. But what's interesting and what's clear here from Davos to Washington to Wall Street, this debate is going to continue. I want to quote Tom Friedman here, a very interesting op-ed earlier this week in the "New York Times." I think he put it well.

He said "when our government is this deeply involved in propping up our economy, and the economy is this fragile, politics as usual will kill us." Something to keep an eye on in this debate all the way from here to where you're sitting. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Poppy Harlow, sure do appreciate it.

And a post-speech bump for the president. Here's our new CNN opinion research poll. We talked to 400 people who watched the speech and they're showing more confidence in the president's ideas.

71 percent now say his policies are moving the country in the right direction. Only 53 percent thought that right before the speech.

Well, beware, the wicked weather is looming, right, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it's starting to accumulate already just in maybe the last half hour to 16 minutes, in Oklahoma City. The latest on the ice storm and its track and we've got some flooding too. In fact, a high-water rescue just took place in Odessa, Texas. We'll tell you more about that coming up.

PHILLIPS: All right.

And a love song to Haiti. Yes, a heart-felt message from Grammy winning artist Kirk Franklin. And I see him over there getting ready. What do you think, Kirk, do you want to take us to break? Let's do it.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's check out CNN.com, specifically the news pulse icon in case you are not familiar with this. This is our outstanding new CNN.com page. There's a little tab up here called news pulse that we like to track every day. You know, we're not always able to get every single story in this newscast so I like to check this. It updates every 15 minutes.

And right now, the top story, the most popular story that you're logging onto is Toyota expanding recalls. We talked a little bit about this yesterday. Well, now there are more cars on that list. You can go to CNN.com.

Second story right now, Las Vegas. The most foreclosures of any city. I mean, you remember at one point Las Vegas was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Well, I guess it sort of makes sense now that it's got the most foreclosures right now in the United States. And then the third most popular right now, reaction to Obama's speech. Of course we've got that covered for you. If you want to go to CNN.com, you can get excerpts from the president's speech and also the analysis from the best political team on television. So there you go, CNN.com. You head to the news pulse and track all of the most popular stories that you're looking at right now online.

Once again the page is updated every 15 minutes. Quick break, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Ice jam, thick chunks of ice right now backed up for a half a mile in the (INAUDIBLE) river just quickly flooding parts of Augusta, Maine. As you can see, the flooding usually comes here in the spring, it's spread over a few days, not all at once though. That jam loosened later in the day allowing the river to flow freely again.

Jacqui Jeras is taking a look at the storm in the plains states for us. Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes, Kyra, things are really starting to get ugly now. That Arctic air is really making that push southward across parts of Oklahoma and so you can see our temperatures are dropping below freezing now. Oklahoma City, for example, down there into the upper 20s.

And so you've got warm air overriding it. It comes down as liquid and freezes on contact. Our senior weather producer Dave (INAUDIBLE) trying to get out of Oklahoma City right now and he said that ice is starting to accumulate so we're expecting conditions to go downhill here very, very rapidly.

And very hazardous travel on i-40, especially over towards the west. Amarillo has been seeing the freezing rain over the last number of hours changing over to some snowfall, which is likely going to be extremely heavy as we head into the afternoon.

In fact I think we've got that tower cam out of Oklahoma City to give you an idea of what those conditions are like, and you can it's a very hazy, gray day. What's coming down is very light so accumulations right now are going to be slow but we'll watch that pick up as that moisture comes in and that storm intensifies a little bit.

We're also going to see some real gusty winds associated with this. So we're concerned that if the ice accumulation isn't heavy enough to bring down power lines and trees, we're going to get a little snow and sleet on the back side of that system. And with those strong wind gusts that could be enough to take it on out.

So we'll be really watching that situation over the next 12 to 24 hours. The storm will be on the east. There you can see on the move. The watches which are in effect, the white that you see. So places like Memphis and Nashville are going to be watching for this storm tomorrow. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Appreciate it, Jacqui. Well, for millions of Americans economic recovery can't come fast enough. So could this be high-speed stimulus? President Obama unveils a new plan today. We're going to break down some of the numbers for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Will he stay or will he go? Wall Street watching Capitol Hill closely today. The Senate set to vote whether Fed chairman Ben Bernanke gets to keep his job. Right now he's in Davos, Switzerland at the World Global Conference.

Let's move on to a five-year-old girl who lost her father in a California subway shooting. She'll get a $1.5 million settlement. Oscar Grant's killing last year in Oakland was caught on cell phone video. That showed a transit officer pulling his gun and shooting Grant in the back while another officer held him down. The Bay Area Rapid Transit System agreed to that settlement. A murder case remains open.

The next big thing or just a big iPhone that doesn't make calls? Apple chief Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPad. Yes, iPad. Not a great name, I know. It's a half-inch thick tablet computer. Apple hopes it revolutionizes well everything, but you're going to have to wait a couple of months to get to that one.

All right, $8 billion of your money. That's how much President Obama wants to spend on a high-speed rail system that would connect to most of the country. CNN's Don Lemon looking into this high-speed stimulus, breaking it down where that money is going to go.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. Listen, so you may know this about me -- I'm an iPhone guy. You an iPhone, BlackBerry, whatever you're thinking about the iPad?

PHILLIPS: Only a BlackBerry, and it took me a long time to upgrade to that.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You got used to that. OK. Now back to business, Kyra.

So we were talking about the $8 billion project that the president and the vice president are going to announce today. We've been drilling down on some areas. We talked about where Kyra grew up in California, just a little bit ago, a high-speed rail system there.

And also now what they're trying to do between Chicago and St. Louis, they're going to do one as well. This one is going to cost $1.1 billion. That's how much stimulus money. Let's go to our tote board. $7 billion up there. We're going to add up this project that we're checking into now and that takes it up to $8 billion.

OK, we are checking on here. So here's exactly what this project is going to do. Let's go live to - OK, we don't have a picture of Chicago. Anyway, if we had a picture of Chicago, I would imagine that, you know, overcast and gray as it is usually when I lived there. Maybe there's better weather.

Let's talk about those trains now and I'll show you what most train systems look like across the country when we're talking about high-speed rail systems. This is going to be not a new system but they are going to upgrade the old system that they have.

The one in California, completely new system. Most places around the country a completely new system. Real quickly I just want to tell you what they're going to do. As you said, $1.1 billion, improvements to this corridor will be made to allow passenger rail service from Chicago to St. Louis to operate at speeds up to 110 miles an hour, track overhaul systems, signals, existing stations, all this overhauled. Implementation to train controlled technology, all of this, supposed to add overall across the country - tens of thousands of jobs, right?

We're not exactly sure how many it's going to add in this area. That's in California, California Barbara Boxer said it's going to add tens of thousands of jobs all over the country. Not exactly sure how many it's going to add right here. Let's look at the tote board, so far, to show you what we have here. So we have that $10 million that we're looking at right now. This one will cost $1.1 billion to upgrade that rail system between Chicago and St. Louis.

Again, jobs created yet to be determined. We're drilling down on other stuff. There is Kyra Phillips. Kyra, I can hear you talking. What did you want to ask me?

PHILLIPS: No, they were actually talking to me about something else so I apologize.

LEMON: Transparency. They're like move on after Don, go here..

PHILLIPS: Exactly. I'm hearing that high speed train at exactly the same time. Actually, here's what happened. We took a live shot up on Capitol Hill just prior to you, the Senate, you know, getting ready to vote on whether Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is going to keep his job. There was a little incorrect information that we got confused with Poppy Harlow.

He's not in Davos obviously. He's on Capitol Hill. So we wanted to just, you know, straighten that out. So that's what we were trying to figure out how to do as you were telling me all about the stimulus money and how it's helping us get jobs. Does that make sense, Don?

LEMON: Yes. And if people knew like all the things that people said to us while we were talking and they would -

PHILLIPS: We're the ultimate multitaskers, right? The ultimate multitaskers.

LEMON: Someone in my ear said blah, blah, blah, ad it was Eddie Williams and that's who's talking to you.

PHILLIPS: No wonder things are confusing. We'll blame Eddie. All right. LEMON: We both have to get back to work.

PHILLIPS: I'll talk to you in a little bit. All right.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING for desperate job seekers, you know, the recession has meant changing careers. We're going to introduce you to one unemployed man who could afford to do that thanks to the stimulus money. You'll get his story.

Then tonight on "Campbell Brown" at 8:00 Eastern, no stoplights, no paved roads, no stores. So how is this small town in Alaska, how is it getting $15 million of your money and why? And then on ac 360, the Napa Wine train got more than $50 million stimulus dollars. Two powerful senators are furious about that but the locals say they don't understand why, they're popping the wine. So who's right? The stimulus project all this week only on CNN.com/stimulus.

Well, it's a story that really disturbed us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A boy, only nine years old, kills himself. We look at why the suicide rate is actually rising among kids and what we can hopefully do about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, this story not only got us talking, it broke a lot of our hearts. People who knew Montana Lance may never understand what drove the nine-year-old to kill himself. It's been a week since the boy's suicide in the Dallas suburb of Colony. Montana was found hanged in the bathroom of his elementary school. Police don't plan to file criminal charges in this case and grief counselors are now at that school trying to make sense of this for his classmates.

You know, we want to go beyond the case of the Texas boy and open up a discussion of kids and suicide. It's more prevalent, believe it or not, than you might think. We checked into the CDC numbers and it's that reporting suicide is the third leading cause of death for those between the ages of 10 and 24.

4,500 kids commit suicide every year. That's why we want to bring in psychologist Wendy Walsh to see if we can try to develop some answers here to a pretty troubling trend. And like I said, Wendy, you know, we don't like to cover suicides, but the fact that this little boy was nine years old. I mean at nine years old, what causes depression?

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, you know, depression is like any other biopsychological illness, an interaction between our biology and the environment. What we can talk about today is the environmental piece really. What's going on in children's lives in America to cause this increase in depression rate? Up by 18 percent in the last few years. And what our children are needing from us. It's disturbing, but children do suffer from depression. Their symptoms might be a little bit different than adults, but they're definitely suffering. As many as one or two per class.

PHILLIPS: So what's going on? What's so different now than, say, 10 years ago, 20 years ago? I mean, even the president last night in the State of the Union speech said I'm getting letters from kids that are breaking my heart because they're saying please do something to help my mom or dad get a job.

WALSH: You know, the biggest problem that's happened in America in the last 30 years, that nobody is home raising the kids. Feminism got in bed with capitalism and now gave birth to consumerism and now we got a recession with if parents are home, they're unemployed and stressed out.

But you know, if you look at 1975 where virtually every child had at least one parent at home when they were elementary school age. Today we're less than 30 percent of kids have a parent at home when they are elementary school age. So who's raising our children? And I think children need our attention. They need boundaries, they need our love and they definitely need to be paid attention to.

PHILLIPS: You know, how does a nine-year-old learn how to do something like this? I mean, you just - it's so hard to fathom.

WALSH: Well, keep in mind that children at this age, death is not always that final thing. And also keep in mind that they don't think in the terms of consequences like we do. Not to say that it was a game by any means, but it definitely - it's not thought of in the same way.

Another point I want to make, and many people are looking at this factor, with the rise of children and teen suicide rates, is the use of anti-depressants in children. Keep in mind that while antidepressants SSRIs, can be very effective in helping people with depression and many children and teens, it is not closely monitored. It can be very dangerous particularly in the first month of use because it raises energy level. It's a stimulant. So now a sad thought can become a sad action.

PHILLIPS: Wendy Walsh, appreciate the discussion.

WALSH: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, a love song for Haiti. A sampling of this great story we have for you today from the heart break, a song of hope and health. Kirk Franklin, take us to break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, what's your money being used for? We've been taking a closer look at the stimulus, you know, paid for with your tax dollars. So, we want to know where it's going and what you're getting out of it.

In Minneapolis, you're getting a bike trail, a really nice one, by the way. CNN all-platform journalist Chris Welch actually checked it out. The trail goes through downtown and right underneath the new baseball stadium. It costs more than a million dollars and created no permanent jobs, just some temporary work. A good deal? Well, you do the math.

Your stimulus money is also going to clean up public land. CNN all-platform journalist Jim Spellman brought in this video from the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. Southwest Conservation Corps is working in that region clearing trails and fixing up campsites. That group gets more than $4 million in stimulus funds, creating about 600 seasonal jobs.

Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," for desperate job seekers, the recession has meant changing careers. We'll introduce you to one unemployed man who could afford to do that, thanks to stimulus money. Then on "CAMPBELL BROWN" tonight at 8:00 Eastern, no stoplights, no paved roads and no stores. So, why is this small town in Alaska getting $15 million? What are they doing with that money?

And then on "AC 360," the Napa Wine Train got more than $50 million stimulus. Two powerful senators are pretty furious about that, but they locals say they just don't understand why. So, who's right? "The Stimulus Project," all week only on CNN and CNN.com/stimulus.

So, if you're in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, look out the window. What's it doing right now? And if you don't want to look out the window, listen to Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Jacqui.

President Obama promises new jobs. Are unemployed Americans buying it? We'll hear from a few of them in today's "30-Second Pitch."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now.

Toyota has added more than a million vehicles to the recall list that first came out in November. This was a problem where the gas pedal could tangle with the floor mat. The more recent recall we've been telling you about where the company has stopped selling some models -- it's been extended to Europe.

It's over for John and Elizabeth Edwards. The couple now separated after 30 years of marriage. Last week, John Edwards admitted that he fathered a child with his mistress, and a book by his former aide claims the former presidential candidate went to great lengths to hide the truth from his wife.

Millions of Americans out of work, but President Obama says they'll be one of his top priorities. In last night's State of the Union speech, the president promised to put millions of people back to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For every success story, there are other stories. Of men and women who wake up with the anguish of not knowing where their next paycheck will come from. Who send out resumes week after week and hear nothing in response. That is why jobs must be our number one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Okay. So did the president's message resonate with unemployed Americans? We want to put that question now to our guests. They also have their "30-Second Pitches" today to potential employers who may we be watching.

In Phoenix, we're joined by Frank Kitchen, a corporate trainer and speaker. In Ft. Lauderdale we've got Marlon Loban. He's a human resources executive. And in Philadelphia, we've got Rosalind Fischel, a media relations professional who has worked in both the public and private sector.

Let me ask all three of you. Rosalind, let's start with you. You listened to the president's speech, you're out of work, how did it hit you?

ROSALIND FISCHEL, JOB SEEKER: Well, to be quite honest with you, I am doing and supporting President Obama during his election, and right now I am desperate the for employment opportunities. And I believe he is going to serve the American people.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, you've got hope. Frank Kitchen, what about you?

FRANK KITCHEN, JOB SEEKER: I enjoyed the speech last night. I agreed with what he said, but the main one is I believe he needs to create quality jobs because he and the other politicians talk about creating jobs, but people don't want just jobs. They want quality jobs and they want the opportunity to go for those jobs.

PHILLIPS: Marlon, what was your take after you heard the speech? Did it make you feel any better?

MARLON LOBBAN, JOB SEEKER: Hi, good morning. Certainly it did. I like what he said about creating a new job stimulus package and also stating more about the infrastructure here in the USA. Once you do that, you'll have more jobs on board and more things coming along where you can see persons finding sustainable jobs, not just jobs we see in the last six or nine months, but jobs we've seen in the past. So, I liked what he said about creating a new jobs package.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Frank, Rosalind, Marlon. Hold on, guys, we'll take a quick break, we'll bring you right back and you'll make your "30-Second Pitch." No matter what the president says, we want to try to get you a job. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. It's 30 seconds that could change their lives.

Once again, we are talking to three jobless Americans. They shared their thoughts on the president's State of the Union speech. Is it enough? Well, we at least want them to make their pitch to potential employers.

Frank Kitchen, a corporate trainer and speaker in Phoenix. Then in Florida, we got Marlon Lobban, a human resources executive. In Philadelphia, we've got Rosalind Fischel, a media relations professional. We'll get their e-mails up on the screen. You can also go to my blog at CNN.com/kyra to find out more about them and how to get in touch with them.

Rosalind, let's start with you. We're going to start the clock. Give us your pitch.

FISCHEL: Okay, thank you. My name is Rosalind Fischel, and I'm a performance-driven and dynamic media relations professional. I also specialize in public and government relations as well.

I have a rather successful record of achievements in structuring and developing marketing media initiatives for public policy in the federal government and state government. And I actually provide a lot of issue advocacy, branding imaging...

(BELL RINGS)

FISCHEL: ... and print for specific marketing initiatives. As part of an advanced degree, I've created, too ...

PHILLIPS: That was the bell. Rosalind, I'd love to keep you going and going, but I've got to move on to the next.

Forgive me, it's Fischel, I apologize for that.

FISCHEL: That's OK!

PHILLIPS: Rosalind Fischel. Everybody gets my name wrong, too, and it drives me nuts. I apologize. We want to make sure we get that right. OK, Rosalind.

All right, Frank Kitchen, let's move on to you. Are you ready for your "30-Second Pitch out of Phoenix, Arizona?

KITCHEN: Yes, I am.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's go.

KITCHEN: Hi. My name is Frank C. Kitchen and my initials say it all. You should hire me because I am fun, creative and knowledgeable. I create the environments that everyone desires to work in. If you need someone to plan your next event, train your staff or motivate your employees, then contact me at hirefrankkitchen@yahoo. That's H-I- R-E Frank Kitchen, like the room, at Yahoo.com. No job is too big or too small. All I need is you and the opportunity to shine.

PHILLIPS: Holy moly, I feel like I was watching an infomercial. That was slick, Frank. OK.

KITCHEN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Outstanding! All right, Marlon Lobban, here we go. Human resources executive. Are you ready to take it away?

LOBBAN: I am ready to take it away.

PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Marlon.

LOBBAN: I am Marlon Lobban. I'm a human resources executive with over ten years experience in H.R. pperations. My concentration includes talent acquisition, talent branding, HRIS and APS (ph) tooling concerning onboarding. Other areas include benefits administration, employee relations, tort and workers' compensation claims management.

I've managed a budget of over $1.6 million and a HR staff of 80 professionals in Fortune 5 companies. My management style is six- sigma based...

(BELL RINGS)

LOBBAN: having the ability to drive performance against the index. I can be reached at Marlon_lobban@ hotmail.com. And (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: You got it. And he gets the phone number! I love it! And Rosalind, I don't think you got a chance to say your e-mail. Do you want to go ahead and give it to us?

FISCHEL: Yes. I would like to give you my Web site, it's www.rosalindfischelimages.com. You can download my publications, resume and bio.

PHILLIPS: Right on. Rosalind Fischel, there we go. Frank Kitchen, Marlon Lobban, thanks so much, guys. You can of course go to our blog, CNN.com/kyra. You can get in touch with these folks. Also, send us your resumes, we want to help you out. Thanks, guys.

FISCHEL: Thanks, too.

LOBBAN AND KITCHEN: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's continue to share the love, shall we? Keeping faith in the face of so much loss and pain. Gospel great Kirk Franklin and his friends are here with a message of hope for Haiti. How about a little love, Kirk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PHILLIPS: Well, the U.S. general who directs military relief efforts in Haiti said as many as a million Haitians lost their homes to that January 12th earthquake and tomorrow the World Food Programme expands its food distribution points in Port-au-Prince from 12 to 15.

But we wanted to focus now on helping that country. I'm joined by gospel great Kirk Franklin and his Atlanta posse today. Good to see you.

KIRK FRANKLIN, GOSPEL SINGER: Thank you, thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's wonderful to see you.

FRANKLIN: These are some great people that came here in Atlanta to help us just talk more about the song.

PHILLIPS: And before we get to that, you were at home, and I love this, watching CNN. That of course means a lot to us because I've been listening to you for a very long time, and I'm a big fan. So, you saw what happened in Haiti. And I know how much, you know, you love the Lord and what you do within your ministry and your music.

FRANKLIN: Cool, cool, thank you.

PHILLIPS: What was it that struck you?

FRANKLIN: Well, we were in Nashville for this event where a lot of artists, a lot of gospel artists were together at Nashville, and I was at the hotel watching CNN and was just crying and just really hurting about what I saw. And there was a song that I wrote several years ago after September 11, and never did anything with it.

So, I called some of the greatest in gospel music, C.C. Winans and Mary Mary and (INAUDIBLE) Clerk and Yolanda Adams, and the list goes on and on. And everybody showed up that weekend, and 48 hours later, we had all these incredible artists in the studio. And they recorded this song and 100 percent of the proceeds are going to UNICEF.

PHILLIPS: And why does that not surprise me? The majority of Haitian people are some of the most faithful people in the world. The majority of them are Catholic. Even the stories that we've covered, they have been praying in the rubble, singing spirituals in the rubble...

FRANKLIN: It's incredible.

PHILLIPS: It is. It's amazing. That's got to be inspiring for you as a man of faith.

FRANKLIN: Yes. You know, and it just shows that in spite of what we learn, as far as science and as far as our wisdom that at the core of the human spirit is we have to believe there's something bigger than what we can see.

PHILLIPS: How does music heal in times like this?

FRANKLIN: Well, because it takes you from what you see now to what you believe it's going to be. What you believe God says it's going to be. So, that's what we're really hoping this song will do for these beautiful people, and raise money because faith without works is dead.

So, we really want to raise money. That's why 100 percent of every dollar when they download this beautiful song is going to the people in Haiti.

PHILLIPS: As we look at the video and we see everybody in action here that came together to do this...

FRANKLIN: Incredible artists.

PHILLIPS: ... how do we get it?

PHILLIPS: You can download it on iTunes today. You can download it on Amazon. It will be in stores next week along with this video. These are incredible artists. This is not a Kirk Franklin event, this was a wonderful gospel Christian community that came together. This is the first time ever in history that we've come together and responded to a global tragedy. And so, this is historic, even for our genre.

PHILLIPS: Well, it has been a blessing to have you here and your Atlanta support, guys. Hats off to you guys.

FRANKLIN: Thank you all for coming to help me share the song.

PHILLIPS: Would you mind doing a little something for us as we head to break.

FRANKLIN: Sure, they're incredible. Thank you, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Oh, Kirk, thank you so much. Thank you, guys, we'll let you take it from here.

GROUP OF SINGERS: Is anybody out there listening, does anybody know my name? Oooh, we're here and we care. We feel your pain. Does anybody out there know me. Can you stop the clock and make this go away? And yes, we feel your pain. And yes, we feel your pain. Hey, yes, we feel your pain...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories.

Will he stay or will he go? Wall Street watching Capitol Hill closely today. The Senate set to vote on whether Fed chair Ben Bernanke gets to keep his job. Bernanke's time -- or term, rather -- runs out this weekend. No Fed chairman nominee has ever been turned down by the Senate, but this vote could be the closest ever.

A five-year-old girl who lost her father in this California subway shooting will get a $1.5 million settlement now. Oscar Grant's killing last year in Oakland was caught on cell phone video. That video showed a transit officer pulling his gun and shooting Grant in the back while another officer held him down. The Bay Area Rapid Transit System agreed to the settlement. A murder case remains open.

The next big thing or just a big iPhone that doesn't make calls? Apple chief Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPad. Yes, iPad, not a great name maybe, but it's a half-inch thick tablet computer...

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: An unfortunate name.

PHILLIPS: As Tony says, an unfortunate name. Yes. Women are always...

HARRIS: Oh!

PHILLIPS: ... always complaining. Apple hopes that it revolutionizes everything, but you're going to have to wait a couple of months to get this one.

That does it for me. I had such a fabulous day. Kirk Franklin got me filled with happiness today.

HARRIS: I am so pumped up. You and your team are absolutely rocking it. Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I'm just trying to tee you up, my friend.

HARRIS: No, it's wonderful. Have a great day.

PHILLIPS: You too.