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Turning Words Into Jobs; Stimulus Fraud; Small Business Owner Gets Creative
Aired January 28, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for your top-of-the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon in Tampa where President Obama is arriving now. He will announce a new high-speed rail network and new jobs to build it.
Across the country, unemployed Americans watched the President's State of the Union Address with a keen ear. Did they hear what they wanted to hear?
And one techie calls it an iPhone on steroids. Now that Apple's iPad has landed, will it take off with the public?
Let's do this -- let's get started.
President Obama is in Tampa right now to put federal stimulus money and Americans to work. Washington will spend $8 billion to build a high-speed rail network. It will connect dozens of cities around the country, including Tampa and Orlando. The president says construction will create jobs, and he wants more, as he indicated in last night's State of the Union.
(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)
HARRIS: OK.
Jobless Americans -- and there are north of 15 million of them today -- had a vested interest in the president's address last night.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez got their reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm at a pink slip party in Pasadena, where all these job seekers are networking with each other. They are also talking to headhunters, hoping to find jobs. But they're really here to hear what the president has to say about the State of the Union.
Now, one of those people is Rosa Esqueda. Rosa has been unemployed for 14 months. She has a background in real estate.
Rosa, did you hear anything that makes you feel any more confident from the president?
ROSA ESQUEDA, JOB SEEKER: Absolutely. I certainly feel more confident after hearing his speech. Mainly...
GUTIERREZ: What did he say that you liked?
ESQUEDA: His focus on jobs, and his number one priority is getting the unemployed back into the workforce.
GUTIERREZ: All right, Rosa Esqueda. Thank you very much. And good luck.
And we're going to cross over here. This is Ed Berry. Ed is an IT analyst.
Ed, you have been unemployed for a year. It's been really tough out there. Did you hear what you wanted to hear from the president?
ED BERRY, JOB SEEKER: Well, yes. I heard a lot of positive, aggressive talk, so hopefully he'll give timelines to what he wants to do. But I did hear some positive things coming from him.
GUTIERREZ: What did you hear?
BERRY: Well, reinvesting in the infrastructure, cutting some of the tax breaks of the jobs that went offshore. And also, he wants a jobs bill on his desk. So, meaning hopefully that will be soon, hopefully.
GUTIERREZ: So, you heard action.
BERRY: I heard action, but hopefully he'll get the support he needs to make action to be a reality.
GUTIERREZ: All right. Thank you very much. And good luck to you.
And now we're going to come and talk to a man who has been unemployed for two years. This is Edwin Duterte.
Edwin, two years, that's a long time.
EDWIN DUTERTE, JOB SEEKER: That's a real long time finding a job, yes.
GUTIERREZ: What did you hear tonight? DUTERTE: I heard that President Obama wants to have small businesses take advantage of what big businesses have and help them with the stimulus. What I wanted to hear is not only will he help small businesses grow, but I also wanted to hear how he can help and educate small businesses as to how to grow.
GUTIERREZ: That's just a sample of what some of the job seekers here had to say about the State of the Union, in a state where the unemployment rate continues to be above 12 percent.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Pasadena, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Thelma, appreciate it. Thank you.
Jobs, the economy, health care, the war on terror -- did President Obama tell you what you wanted to hear in the State of the Union Address? Here's what some of you are saying.
From Dan, "I voted for and volunteered for President Obama, but I had hoped to hear some tougher talk with more concrete plans for jobs and the economy and a clear plan for fighting terrorism here at home."
Gayle writes, "No, we did not hear what we need to hear. We are farmers, ranchers, in the West, and little was said to address our issues, although we, as producers, contribute the largest positive contributions to exports in the nation."
And Joe tells us, "Yes, I heard what I think was needed to be heard. However, watching the Republicans during the speech, I do not think they got the message. Congress needs to work as representatives of the people, all the people."
Let's do this -- let's keep the conversation going. Send me your thoughts, CNN.com/Tony.
As we said, President Obama is in Tampa, Florida, at this hour. Right now, he is at MacDill Air Force Base, where he is meeting with military crews supporting aid missions to Haiti. Next hour, a town hall-style meeting at the University of Tampa, where he will announce the funding for high-speed trains. We told you about that program earlier in the hour.
We are waiting for the Senate to vote on whether Ben Bernanke gets to keep his job. The Federal Reserve chairman is now expected to be reappointed after some doubts about that earlier this week. He's caught a lot of flack from opponents of the Wall Street bailout. No Fed chairman has been rejected by the Senate, but today's vote could be very, very close.
OK. Tracking your stimulus dollars, where it's going, that is our focus all week. Right now, our Allan Chernoff zeroes in on fraud, and lots of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kentucky construction magnet Leonard Lawson on trial this week for allegedly bribing a state official during the past decade to win big projects, but that didn't stop Lawson family companies from winning $24 million in federal Recovery Act contracts.
Lawson Companies should have been suspended for bidding for stimulus work within 45 days after Leonard Lawson was indicted. According to a Department of Transportation rule, even though he plead not guilty. But it took the department 10 months to act after the Lawson firms had won the contracts.
REP. EDOLPHUS TOWNS (D-NY), OVERSIGHT & GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: When people see folks getting away and getting contracts even after they've been indicted, that to me does not help in terms of us to get rid of waste for an abuse.
CHERNOFF: Auditors for the inspector general of the Department of Transportation warned there is a perfect storm for contractors intent on defrauding the government, given the billion in Recovery Act dollars that Washington is doling out.
CNN has learned that federal investigators already are finding evidence of bid rigging and Recovery Act contracts for the Federal Highway Administration. Prosecutors are examining cases where contractors appear to have been colluding with each other to win road improvement jobs, repaving and expanding streets and highways.
No criminal charges have been filed yet, but the Department of Transportation inspector general has 25 criminal investigations under way, a dozen of which have been referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Other cases involve what the government calls disadvantaged business enterprise fraud. Companies owned by minorities or women bidding for contracts, then after taking a cut, passing the work to a nonqualified contractor.
Inspectors general at all federal departments and agencies are aggressively searching for stimulus fraud. Certain that corruption will infect the recovery act spending.
WAYNE MICELRATH, EPA ACTING ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL: Fraud will occur. Typically we see false statements, false claims, bribery (INAUDIBLE), conflict of interest, anti-trust violations.
CHERNOFF: The latest stimulus fraud score card 10 months into the Recovery Act, 470 audits, 106 active investigations, and 25 cases accepted for prosecutorial review.
And investigators say they're only just beginning. Every department is training federal, state and municipal workers in fraud detection, anticipating that corrupt contractors view Recovery Act funds as a potential gold mine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, good story. CNN's senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, joining me from New York.
And Allan, this morning you found yet another case of stimulus money not going where it should. Fill us in.
CHERNOFF: Exactly. The New York State comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, is rejecting a $27 million contract for painting highways. The firm that had been selected by New York State, L&L Painting, well, it turns out this company has had health and safety violations, has been blacklisted by the New York Schools Construction Authority, and has very close ties to a company that paid fines related to that very issue we talked about...
HARRIS: Right.
CHERNOFF: ... disadvantaged business enterprise. L&L would not comment to us.
HARRIS: And the government, as you mentioned, is training employees in handling stimulus contracts. How many people have received the training so far?
CHERNOFF: Tony, the number is huge, 55,000 people.
HARRIS: Wow.
CHERNOFF: That's both in the private and the public sector. Not all of them have been trained in detecting fraud.
HARRIS: Right.
CHERNOFF: But that's how many people have thus far been trained, just how to not only check out fraud, but also how to actually analyze contractors, figure out how this whole system works. The government's very serious about this. They're doing what they can to prevent fraud, but they know it's coming.
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.
Allan Chernoff for us in New York.
Good stuff, Allan. Appreciate it. Thank you.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
HARRIS: And all this week, CNN is focusing on the president's biggest economic initiative so far, the $862 billion stimulus plan. What happened to $787 billion? Man, it keeps growing. We talked about that yesterday.
The stimulus project is actually digging in to how the money is being spent, who it is helping, and who may be abusing the program. In just a couple of minutes, we will check in with that man right there, Josh Levs. He is at The Stimulus Desk to find out what they're working on for this hour. And you can also find in-depth coverage of this special initiative on our Web site. Just go to CNN.com/stimulusproject for details on how the program is and isn't working.
As we've been showing you this week, not everyone is relying on the stimulus. We will get an update from a small business owner who is trying to clean up with fun, fun soap.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. You ready for our "Random Moment of the Day"?
You know, it really is an appreciation of the number one female tennis player on the planet, straight out of Compton, California, USA.
Serena Williams -- no, Terri White, not this Serena Williams. Not the player who blew a gasket just four months at the U.S. Open and threatened to put her foot somewhere -- you know. I'm talking about this Serena Williams. She is going for her 12th Grand Slam title Saturday at the Australia Open.
Come on, America. Jump behind America's sweetheart. If you don't -- if you don't, there's always this Serena.
And there's our "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. President Obama makes it clear, he is focused on helping small business as he pushes his jobs agenda.
We've been following small business owners in the NEWSROOM for months now. Today, let's update you on one who hoped coming clean would lead to big bucks.
Here's our Brooke Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAWN DALLAIRE, CEO, CLEARLY FUN SOAP, INC.: It began with a goldfish in a bag. And this is the original bar. It's still our most popular to this day.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dawn Dallaire's story starts with a goldfish, a bag and a bright idea to sell novelty soaps. It's an idea this 47-year-old entrepreneur has been poring over since she started this small business in her garage six years ago.
Early on, Dawn got a phone call that changed everything: a massive order from a major retailer.
DALLAIRE: All of a sudden now, we have tractor-trailers pulling in our neighborhood, and so that became an issue. So, then we took the leap and got our first building.
BALDWIN: By 2008, Dawn was raking in revenue of more than a million dollars a year. Somehow this single mother managed a staff of two dozen, made guest appearances on network TV, and local newspapers headlined her success as Georgia's small businessperson of the year.
And then the recession hit. One of her biggest clients, Linens- n-Things, went bankrupt.
(on camera): In two weeks' time, you're submitting a manuscript to your book, you're Georgia's small businessperson of the year, and then, wham! The bottom drops out.
DALLAIRE: Yes, exactly. Exactly. And it was almost -- it was like, if I could do the book over, it would be twice this thick because of the lessons that I've learned over this last year.
BALDWIN (voice-over): They're lessons this award-winning entrepreneur feels compelled to share. Lesson number one, keep your business lean and mean. Dawn cut the employees who weren't making the grade and kept the most passionate people. She also chopped her salary in half.
(on camera): There was a chunk of time where you weren't getting paid.
DALLAIRE: I didn't get paid for seven -- I added it up last night. I didn't get paid for seven months.
BALDWIN: Seven months.
DALLAIRE: And at that time, I was the sole breadwinner. It was the hardest thing that I've ever done.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Two, keep your inventory in check.
DALLAIRE: We won't order the inventory on speculation. And we will wait until we have a purchase order in hand.
BALDWIN: Three, maximize your selling potential online.
Four, don't ignore smaller orders.
DALLAIRE: The mom and pops are our tried and true, and they're your backbone of your business. They keep you going between the other orders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So, boy, got to love the soap. Got to love it. We're going to get -- that's me on the soap. Wow.
Dawn, good to see you.
DALLAIRE: Thank you.
HARRIS: Welcome.
Did you feel like the president was talking to you last night when he was talking about small businesses like yours being the engine leading us out of this recovery?
DALLAIRE: Yes, and I listened intently to see what he had to say. And some of the things I liked, some of the things I still have concerns about.
HARRIS: Yes.
DALLAIRE: But, yes, I think he's got some things that I actually appreciated hearing.
HARRIS: What concerns you?
DALLAIRE: Well, it concerns me that they're taking the stimulus money and, you know, putting it into government, making more government jobs instead of in the private sector.
HARRIS: What do you think about taking the idea of taking money that's been returned from the TARP program and making that available essentially to community banks to make that money available to small businesses?
DALLAIRE: As long as they'll let go of it, that's great, you know? They're not -- they've not been real good about letting go of it.
HARRIS: Well, tell me about the relationship with your bank, because it's key to small businesses.
DALLAIRE: Well...
HARRIS: I'm not asking you to bash -- well, maybe I am.
DALLAIRE: No. Let's just say they don't answer the phone when I call.
HARRIS: What is that? How do you explain that?
DALLAIRE: Well, you know, my company has taken a very big hit. I got a front-row seat to the downturn in the economy.
Linen & Things was my largest customer, and they filed bankruptcy and owed me hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so, that sent my business on a tailspin. And then we tried to recover from that and we've had to make tough choices.
We had to regroup. I've had to take on a business partner. I've had to make some tough choices.
HARRIS: How is your business today?
DALLAIRE: We still struggle. You know, payroll, making payroll is still an issue. Like most small businesses, we struggle from day to day.
I got back from Chicago yesterday. I did a trade show there, and I have to say, I did feel like there was a little upturn.
HARRIS: Really? What did you sense there?
DALLAIRE: Well, it just seemed like the aisles were -- there was a lot of people there, a lot of buyers there. I think we're all still cautious, the retailers and the manufacturers are still very cautious, but I could sense a little bit of optimism there.
HARRIS: What was the key decision that you made during the downturn, when things were looking a little bleak, that has made the difference, at least so far in your business still being here and surviving?
DALLAIRE: Well, we had to -- well, the day that I found out that Linens & Things filed bankruptcy, I had to let 14 people go that day.
HARRIS: Whoa.
DALLAIRE: And we've not been able to hire them back yet. And also, we've had to go back and renegotiate our rent. We've had to go back and -- just, we're lean and mean now, so, you know, we're better able to cope with this.
HARRIS: Yes. So give me your Web site, because I want folks to be aware of where you are and how they can find you.
DALLAIRE: OK. Well, we actually have two. We have clearlyfunsoap.com and then we have shopfunsoap.com. So, if you want to go to purchase some items, go to shopfunsoap.com. I'm sorry.
HARRIS: Well, hang on. Just hold it up there.
DALLAIRE: OK.
HARRIS: There you go.
DALLAIRE: Or you can go to clearlyfunsoap.com and it will redirect you to here.
HARRIS: What have you learned about yourself as a businesswoman?
DALLAIRE: Ooh. Well, one thing about it, you find out what you're made of when you go through what I've gone through with this business. I'm a survivor, as most business owners are.
HARRIS: Stronger for it?
DALLAIRE: Oh, absolutely. It's not for the faint of heart, so...
HARRIS: Dawn, terrific. Thank you.
And how about this? You got that, Ron? Take that shot.
How creative is this woman?
DALLAIRE: I thought you might like that.
HARRIS: That's your boy right there, on soap. Rub-a-dub-dub. Smelling good.
Thank you, Dawn. Appreciate it. Best of luck in the future.
DALLAIRE: Thank you for having me.
HARRIS: The Southern Plains bracing for a winter storm. Chad is in the Severe Weather Center checking that, the latest conditions.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: President Obama is hoping to help small business owners like Dawn Dallaire, who we met just moments ago. Gerri Willis is there, and she is going to show us what he is proposing. That's next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Folks are having way too much fun with this idea of my face on soap. Stop the e-mails. Stop the madness, please.
The economy is priority one. We heard it over and over again during the president's State of the Union Address.
Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is in New York.
Gerri, good to see you. If you would, break it down for us.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Sure. Sure. I like that soap. That's nice.
Well, let's talk about what's going on here with small business. And we should say at the top here, why small business, why give small business so much help? Because they create jobs.
Here are the proposals the president put on the table.
He proposes using -- get this, Tony -- $30 billion paid back by Wall Street bailouts to help community banks give credits to small businesses. That means loans, new tax breaks for business that hire. They could do this by cutting payroll taxes.
Typically, a business spends about 7.65 percent of wages paid to an employ to payroll taxes, and they would try to cap this somewhere, maybe $105,000. And there would probably be some limits on how long the person would have to be unemployed before they took the job.
Also, tax incentives for investing in new equipment of plants, eliminating capital gains on small business investments. This is a big deal, because if you invest in a small business, you always worry about how much tax you're going to have to pay when you cash that out, sell it. Also, tax breaks, as we said, for job creation.
So, lots of ideas out there really to get jobs going. Jobs are a major theme.
The president talked about improving infrastructure, building clean nuclear power plants. He talked about giving rebates to homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient, so we could see more benefits coming that way -- Tony.
HARRIS: You know, the cost of college also a major theme for the president last night, Gerri. What's on the table?
WILLIS: Well, you know, earlier this week we talked about the Middle Class Task Force, right? And it showed up in the State of the Union Address as well.
The president talked about capping student loan payments to 10 percent of discretionary income. So, think about that.
Let's say you just got your degree, you're out in the job market, you can't find a job that pays you very well. You're worried about repaying that college debt. Well, guess what? You get some help from the federal government.
This builds upon the existing incomes-based repayment program. The proposal would also forgive debt after 20 years, and 10 years if you were in public service.
He also talked about increasing the fund to Pell Grants. This is financial aid that goes to lower-income students. And giving families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college.
So, there was lots and lots of stuff for regular people.
When it comes to housing, the president said his administration would step up refinancing in their housing program, but as we've been reporting, this program is having a lot of trouble getting traction. It's not been doing very well. So it will be interesting to see if they can really get that moving.
And, of course, we'll bring you all the very latest. Don't forget to tune in to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" this weekend. We'll have more on the State of the Union and the state of your wallet.
Plus, credit card reforming is coming, and coming soon. Everything you need to know before it happens -- Tony.
HARRIS: That is terrific. All right.
"YOUR BOTTOM LINE," Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Eastern, on CNN. Gerri, appreciate it.
WILLIS: Can you send me some of that soap?
HARRIS: These e-mails, people are just -- people are just -- ooh!
WILLIS: I like it. What's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with it.
HARRIS: All right, Gerri. On its way to you in New York City.
Have a great weekend, Gerri. Thanks.
WILLIS: You, too.
HARRIS: Do you drive a Toyota? Well, what should you do now? We are bringing you the answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
***12 HARRIS: OK. As always at this time every day we like to direct your attention to the terrific work being done by our Money team at cnnmoney.com. I didn't pull up the -- the lead story. What is that, Joe, can you see -- oh, the stocks selling off? Yes, we've got a big stock sell-off right now.
You know what, let's get to the big board here. Look at this. This is a -- this is a significant sell-off. We're down 153 points. And Susan Lisovicz, we hustled Susan up.
Thanks for making yourself available to us, Susan. What is going on here today?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we're just in this period of time when you get a lot of information.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And some of the information is unsettling, you know. We're in a recovery period, but it doesn't come smoothly. And sometimes, you know, we take a step backwards.
So what's out there today? Well, you've got everything from a weaker than expected decline in initial jobless claims.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: It's all about jobs.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
LISOVICZ: Big-ticket items, which is so insightful in to manufacturing and how that decimated sector is doing.
HARRIS: Uh-huh.
LISOVICZ: We saw marginal improvement there when a lot of economists were expecting much better. You're seeing the Nasdaq, in particular, take it on the chin today. We're in the thick of earnings season, Tony, and so Qualcomm, a company that is a huge maker of chips used in cell phones, talked about a weak recovery ahead. And so Qualcomm shares right now are down 14 percent.
Apple shares, interestingly, you know, Apple, all of the anticipation and hoopla about this big event yesterday. Steve Jobs was calling it magical. Well, Apple shares are down 4 percent. Sure, this stock has more than doubled in the past year.
HARRIS: Right.
LISOVICZ: But, you know, now that folks have had a chance to look at it saying, well, it doesn't have a camera and it has low battery life and short battery life.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And, you know, they're picking it apart and saying maybe it won't be magical. So there is this doubt.
Ben Bernanke . . .
HARRIS: Right, right, right, right.
LISOVICZ: There's some concern about that. So there's just a lot out there. And we're coming off a week where we really got hit in the marketplace.
HARRIS: No question.
LISOVICZ: So there's -- you're sensitive to jitters and the market is really displaying it big time right now.
HARRIS: Look at that. Are we going to hang on to the 10,000 level? Well, if we fell below 10,000, that would be a horrific day.
LISOVICZ: Barely. I'm wearing green -- I'm wearing green, Tony Harris, but the market is seeing red right now.
HARRIS: All right, Susan, appreciate it. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HARRIS: You know, it was a big statement -- a big number and a key moment in his State of the Union Address. President Obama's assertion about how many Americans are working because of the $862 billion stimulus package. Our Josh Levs is at the stimulus desk with the fact check.
And, boy, Josh, hard numbers from a politician are grist for us.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, you know, Tony, what I love to do. You know that I love to hear these numbers and then pop them with the cold, hard facts.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: The problem is, this whole concept of how many jobs are created or saved by the stimulus is, like, this giant amorphous blob that I'm supposed to take a tape measure to it, because you have to imagine what might possibly have happened had that particular stimulus never happened in the first place.
HARRIS: Right.
LEVS: But what I can do for you is show you what the president said, show you what that might be based on and some figures out there.
So, let's start off with the president's assertion last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of the steps we took, there are about 2 million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Two million working right now who might otherwise be unemployed, he said. Let's open up this screen. I want you to take a look at this. This is from the president's own White House Council of Economic Advisers. They did do one examination and they said between 1.5 and 2 million jobs have been created or saved by the stimulus. So that's one figure that's out there.
But just to show you how all over the place these numbers are. This is the Congressional Budget Office, which you and I talk about all the time.
HARRIS: Oh, yes.
LEVS: Well, the government trusts these figures. I mean look at that, somewhere between 800,000 and 2.4 million they believe have been created or saved by the stimulus. So, folks, pick any number in there and the CBO basically agrees with you.
And not only that, but the Council of Economic Advisors also points to a whole bunch of other studies. Obviously you don't need to memorize this, but I want you to see how the numbers are all over. We point to this one that say 1.25 million, 1 million, 1.6 million. So how do we decide which one it is? Ultimately what you have to do is accept that we're never going to know for sure.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: First of all, how many can be credited to what was done. Also, this hypothetical about what would have happened if we didn't have that.
And then, Tony, there's another wrinkle. That every time I talk about jobs, you know this, I always want to emphasize, which is, that when we talk about jobs, it doesn't necessarily mean a permanent job where you go to work, you have a job, you get benefits. Sometimes it's temporary work, like these. We have some video here. Like work on construction sites and some other types of temporary work that are being done and, in some cases, you could say funded by some of the stimulus plans.
Now I will tell you that the White House is saying that they have a formula for sort of combing together some part-time or temporary jobs and they're not counting every single one in their jobs total. But the truth is, we ultimately don't know a whole number, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: And this right here, CNN's stimulus desk, where we're doing a lot of these calculations, looking into how your stimulus funds are being used in so very, very many ways, including all these binders. If you haven't seen them yet, 57,000 projects, Tony, funded by the stimulus that we're taking a look at (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: That's good stuff, Josh. Thank you, sir.
LEVS: Thank you. You got it.
HARRIS: You know, it just keeps getting worse for Toyota. The world's largest automaker is recalling another 1.1 million vehicles because of sticking gas pedals and bad floor mats. Our Deborah Feyerick has details on the problem, plus what you should know if you drive a Toyota.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It happens without warning.
LARRY WEBSTER, "POPULAR MECHANICS" MAGAZINE: Now I'm going to hit the brake while the throttle's floored. Watch.
FEYERICK (on camera): Oh, my God.
(voice-over): The technical term is sudden unintended acceleration. But Toyota's latest problem involves a new twist. The gas pedal gets stuck even after the driver lifts their foot. Larry Webster, an editor of "Popular Mechanics" magazine, says Toyota's 2.3 million vehicle recall and the halting of production is unprecedented.
WEBSTER: Nobody knows how long it's going to take for Toyota to fix this. And I don't think Toyota know how long it's going to fix it and that's why they've stopped production.
FEYERICK (on camera): Are we talking about a major parts change?
WEBSTER: You know, they don't know yet. Recalls (INAUDIBLE), they runs the gamut. Sometimes it's replacing a part. Sometimes it's adding a part. Or sometimes it's just sort of adjusting a part. FEYERICK (voice-over): The recall affects eight models, including Toyota's three most popular in the U.S., the Camry, Corolla, and Rav4 SUV. Toyota believes the problem may be a faulty gas pedal assembly. A claim the pedal manufacturer disputes.
WEBSTER: I don't know why that they've had to stop production, because usually you use two suppliers, so in case you have a problem with one, the other one can take up the slack. So it's a little bit of a mystery right now what's going on.
FEYERICK: Dealers don't know how to fix the problem yet, but it if it happens to you . . .
(on camera): So you're driving, the car all of a sudden begins to accelerate, so you take your foot off the pedal and jump on the brake with both feet or one foot?
WEBSTER: It doesn't matter. Just press the brake as hard as you can with all your force and then move the shift lever from drive to neutral and then turn the car off.
FEYERICK (voice-over): It's not smooth, but as we see, it definitely works.
(on camera): So as long as the driver knows how to stop the car in the event the accelerator doesn't return, you should be OK.
WEBSTER: Yes, I mean, I think we need to come up with a song or something like, hit the brake, shift to neutral. Hit the brake, shift to neutral.
FEYERICK: The hit to Toyota's reputation cannot be underestimated. The latest recall brings the number of affected vehicles up to 5 million. And it's not clear when Toyota will resume production of its popular models.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So Apple has revealed its next big thing. How does the iPad work actually and what do people think about it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Top stories right now for you.
Just hours after his State of the Union Address, President Obama takes his message on the road. Right now he is in Tampa, Florida, where he has been meeting with military crew members helping with the aid mission to Haiti. Next hour, he is at a town hall-style meeting to announce funding for high-speed trains.
In Wichita, Kansas, we are hearing from the man who has confessed to killing a high-profile Kansas abortion provider. Scott Roeder is testifying about shooting Dr. George Tiller last May. He has said before he believed killing the doctor was necessary to save unborn children.
And American automaker with something to smile about. How about the Ford story right now? Ford is reporting its first full-year profit since 2005. The company says it earned $2.7 billion last year and it expects to be profitable again this year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Oh, man. And the e-mails really have to stop.
You know, there was a lot -- speaking of snarky -- snarky tweeting going on today about Apple's iPad. Yes, yes, it looks like an over-grown iPhone, but plenty of tech geeks are filled with gigabytes of excitement. CNN's Stephanie Elam has the unveiling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE JOBS, CEO, APPLE, INC.: We'd like to show it to you today for the first time. And we call it the iPad.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): With his customary flair, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled his company's newest creation, a multimedia tablet he says will change the way we read newspapers, magazines, and books.
JOBS: It is the best browsing experience you've ever had. It's phenomenal to see a whole web page right in front of you and you can manipulate with your fingers.
ELAM: Publishers hard hit by plunging ad revenue, weak newsstands sales and a consumer accustomed to reading content online for free, hope this device will ultimately be a game-changer. Jobs said nothing Wednesday about partnering with newspapers and magazines for selling their content on the iPad, but publishers hope the tablet will one day let them make decent money over the Internet.
STEVE HASKER, THE NIELSEN COMPANY: If enough people buy the device, get used to paying for the content and taking notice of the advertising and marketing messages that surround the content, it representing a pretty exciting potential revenue stream for newspaper publishers.
ELAM: At an e-publishing conference in New York, experts were upbeat. The secret, they say, is making content so distinctive that people will gladly pay.
DAVID NUSSBAUM, FW MEDIA INC.: It takes the magazine and the newspaper from a very flat, kind of very antique model, to a web point 3.0 model. And I think that's really what has publishers excited. There will be video embedded. There will be audio embedded. There will be social networking tools embedded. They'll just become a whole different immersive experience.
ELAM: Book publishing could also be transformed with Apple's new iBooks store. iBooks lets customers download books like they do music on iTunes. It represents new competition for Amazon and its best- selling Kindle.
MIKE SHATZKIN, THE IDEA LOGICAL COMPANY: If there's one intermediary called Amazon, they hold all the cards. And if they are multiple intermediaries, it's a much more balanced playing field. And now you have Apple coming in and two or three months from now you're going to have Google coming in. So you're going to have three big companies, all of whom have a lot of public traffic for publishers to reach their customers through.
JOBS: You have all your books.
ELAM: The iPad does raise questions for publishers. Will they agree to Apple's cut of the profit? Will Apple share information on who's reading what? And will enough people buy the iPad to make this a transformative device? For now, though, the iPad offers publishers something they haven't had in a long time, a ray of hope.
Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. So the Internet is all atwitter about this iPad tablet computer thing, but is it the kind of attention that Apple wants. Melissa Long is joining me with that story. M.L., what are people saying?
MELISSA LONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's this whole saying that any PR is good PR, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: So, some are saying that with this case. Steve Jobs, he unveiled the iPod, as you know, calling it a truly magical and revolutionary product. But how do the industry experts, how do the consumers feel about this latest Apple invention. Many like the technology. They have been mocking the moniker. First, perspective from someone in the industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This tablet space is kind of a tough place to be. It's not quite a phone. It's not quite a laptop. So, I mean, your phone these days does a lot. So it has to -- this device has to be really good to be in the middle of these two things and justify people spending money on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: And spending a bit of change on. They have to fork over a minimum of $499 for that that's for the 16 gigabyte version, or up to $699 for the 64-gigabyte version. Well, let's highlight some of the critiques we've been getting from some of our CNN iReporters. This is an iReporter, Gary Berman (ph), out of Atlanta. He's calling it an oversized iPhone with a lot of features.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GARY BERMAN, CNN IREPORTER: Only major disappointment that I have is that it does not include a camera or a front-facing webcam or camera to do live, streaming or webcam or video chat. That's the one thing that I can see that it's missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: All right. I mentioned the moniker. An iReporter, Adriana Maxwell (ph), is taking issue with the name "iPad."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIANA MAXWELL, CNN IREPORTER: Yes, as soon as that name hit the Twitter world, the jokes ran abundantly. I had to admit, some of them were very funny. However, on a serious note, I'm curious if Steve Jobs actually consulted any of his female co-workers to make a determination if this is the kind of name you actually want on your latest, greatest project from Apple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: A lot of people are talking about it.
HARRIS: Ouch.
LONG: Adriana there highlighting how the blogs, Tony, were flooded just after Apple announced the name of its slender tablet computer.
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: It is a name inspiring many to think of hygiene products rather than slick, new technology.
Check out this website, feministing.com (ph). Here it says, "where were the women on Apple's branding team?" It goes on to say, "are there no women, again, not a single person who might have said, hey, this sounds like a menstrual product, not a revolutionary piece of technology?"
Maybe you want to weigh in on the name game. On the tech pages of our website, cnn.com, readers are having a conversation about whether or not the iPad, the name itself, could be an iFlop. So you can find this, again, on the tech pages.
But, Tony, think back, 2001.
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: When Apple unveiled the iPod. It had a quirky name back then.
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: Now it's a part of our standard vocabulary.
HARRIS: Yes, it's part of the lexicon, no doubt about it. I'm not weighing in on the whole iPad.
LONG: You're going to stay away from that one?
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: You, stay away from a story?
HARRIS: Take a look. All right, M.L., appreciate it. Thank you.
The struggle continues in Haiti, but we are still finding a few stories of survival.
And earlier this morning, Kirk Franklin and his singers shared a song of love for Haiti with Kyra Phillips. You can help the aid effort by downloading your own version from iTunes or amazon.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Medically inexplicable. That's how doctors described the survival of a teenage girl who was pulled from the rubble of her home in Haiti yesterday. She was buried alive for more than two weeks. Our Gary Tuchman has her amazing story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A teenage girl, trapped for 15 days in the rubble of her house, and successfully pulled out. That's what her rescuers are telling us. It appears to be an amazing story of survival.
A French rescue team is brought to the site by neighborhood residents, who said they heard a voice in the rubble. She was too weak to say her name. But neighbors say her name is Darlene Ettienne (ph). The rescuers told us, based on her condition, they believe she'd been trapped in this house near a university campus since the January 12th quake.
(on camera): The head doctor for the French rescue team says his crew took about 45 minutes to pull her out of this opening. But they say she was in this small crevice behind my feet, about 30 feet behind her. That's where the bathroom of the house was. That's where there was plenty of water.
(voice-over): The rescue team says she was not crushed, but she was entombed and could barely move.
DR. CLAUDE FUTILLA, FRENCH CIVIL SECURITY RESCUE TEAM (through translator): It's an indescribable feeling. It's a reward for all the Haitians who believed that anything was possible.
TUCHMAN: Dehydrated and with low blood pressure, the girl was whisked to a temporary hospital, through crowds of neighbors who had assumed she was dead. The rescuers jubilant about their success.
From the hospital, a helicopter transported the teenager out to sea to a French medical ship, her condition stabilized, a half month after she was trapped alone in the dark.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You know, we've been hearing a lot lately from so-called independent voters. Don't get me started on independent voters. You can read what they're saying on my blog, cnn.com/tony. But what did they think about the president's speech last night? You will hear that right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Obama getting mixed reviews from independents following last night's State of the Union Address. Our Casey Wian gets reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A gathering of independent voters in a Los Angeles suburb. Royce D'Orazio is a stand-up comedian who's disappointed in his former candidate.
WIAN (on camera): Royce, you used to work for President Obama's campaign. You voted for him. Anything you hear tonight make you regret that decision?
ROYCE D'ORAZIO, STANDUP COMIC: You know, not so much regret the decision. I mean, I think most independent voters feel disenfranchised over the last year with some of the decision, his ability to just hand over his presidency to his own party.
WIAN (voice-over): Nancy Corradini voted for John McCain, yet likes what she heard from President Obama.
NANCY CORRADINI, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I think the best part was when he said he would use the veto if need. I think that means he'll stand up to his party if needed.
WIAN (on camera): You're also a small business owner who's had to lay someone off recently. He talked about jobs. He talked about incentives for small business. Did you hear enough?
CORRADINI: I did like that part as well. I hope they can implement it. I hope the money's there.
WIAN (voice-over): Philip Geiger protested against the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, then grew disillusioned with party politics.
WIAN (on camera): Did you see him attempt to bridge the gap tonight? Do you think he accomplished that?
PHILIP GEIGER, NON-PROFIT EXECUTIVE: I think he did. And, you know, in being open to the Republicans. You know, the fact they sat on their hands and didn't applaud, you know, for the most part. I liked his little spontaneous thing of, wow, I thought I'd get an applause line out of that. And they're just all really stiff and wooden. You know, I think he's making the effort, but it takes two to tango.
WIAN (voice-over): Similar sentiments from Michael Reel, who voted for Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
MICHAEL REEL, ENTREPRENEUR: I thought the president tackled the issues of some of the blunders or mistakes that his administration made in their first year in office. I liked the way that he not necessarily chastised, but he made the Democrats understand that it's going to take two parties.
WIAN: Eric Fullkerrson (ph) applauds the president's focus on alternative energy and more.
ERIC FULLKERRSON: I was surprised. He really came out and almost proclaimed his independence and to a large degree certainly towards the end there. I felt that way. And so I was impressed. Of course the big question, as some of our people here, you know, in this group have raised, is can he truly execute? Will he follow through?
WIAN Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Let's take it to the next level. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, I love it. Thank you.
