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Detained American Baptists in Court on Trafficking Charges; Clean Energy Projects Receive Chunk of Stimulus Money; Congress Votes on Possibly Raising Debt Ceiling; What to Do If Your Accelerator Gets Stuck
Aired February 04, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good coverage on the tea party. We will continue that.
But we've got breaking news right now. If you felt angry and betrayed by how Wall Street acted before, during, and after the biggest financial crisis in recent history, you're going to want to hear this.
Fraud charges have just been laid against America's largest bank, its CEO at the time of the crisis, as well as its chief financial officer. The charges, which I have here in my hands, says, "Bank of America executives, including former CEO Kenneth Lewis, deliberately misled shareholders and the U.S. government in order to get bonuses for their workers and to get more money for the bank from taxpayers."
I've got the civil complaint in my hand. It was filed today in New York by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has, like me, been working this story since day one back in September of 2008. He joins me now live from New York with the latest on this -- Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, the attorney general in New York is saying that Bank of America withheld information it had about massive losses at Merrill Lynch in order that this deal would go through, in order that the shareholders of Bank of America would approve the purchase of Merrill Lynch; and also that Bank of America tried to manipulate Washington into bailing out this deal and to putting billions of dollars into the deal so that it would get done.
Ali, these are very strong charges from the New York state attorney general, charges of fraud against the bank, the former CEO, and the former chief financial officer.
VELSHI: And this -- this part -- the second part you said. So first of all, there's something that shareholders need to be concerned about, but let's just talk about the rest of us, because we all sort of became shareholders in some of these major banks because of the TARP money, the bailout money that went in.
There was -- what the attorney general is alleging is that Bank of America threatened to not go through with this deal to purchase Merrill Lynch unless the government backed the deal to the tune, I think, at the time of about $20 billion. CHERNOFF: That's right. And when the deal was hatched -- let's put it all in perspective. Bank of America for years had been trying to buy Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch had resisted.
Then, remember, this is all after Lehman Brothers had collapsed; the financial markets were in total chaos. And indeed, Merrill Lynch did have billions of dollars of losses coming on the books from investments it had made in risky securities.
All of a sudden, this deal was put together very, very rapidly, that same weekend when Lehman was going under, and the companies wanted to get it done. The government also did want to get it done.
Later on, Ken Lewis, the former CEO of Bank of America, went to the government and said, "We need help to get this done." And the attorney general is saying, well, that amounted to fraud.
Ali, we should also mention that Bank of America is saying these charges are absolutely without merit, and let me read the statement from Bank of America, as well: "Bank of America and its executives, including Ken Lewis and Joe Price, the former CFO, at all times acted in good faith and consistent with their legal and fiduciary obligations. In fact, the SEC had access to this same evidence as the New York attorney general and concluded that there was no basis to enter either a charge of fraud or to charge individuals. The company and these executives will vigorously defend ourselves" -- Ali.
VELSHI: OK, well, they make an interesting point there. We've invited Bank of America onto the show, as well as the New York attorney general. Let me just ask you about this. It gets confusing as to who's supposed to charge whom.
So now you've got juthe SEC. You've got the New York attorney genera. And then you've got, you know, the FBI or the Justice Department. These charges have come from the New York attorney general's office. Why is that important?
CHERNOFF: Well, the New York attorney general is taking the action at the very same time that the Securities and Exchange Commission has actually struck a deal with Bank of America.
Bank of America is agreeing to pay a very, very hefty fine of $150 million, and that involves settling charges that it failed to reveal the extent of losses and also failed to reveal billions of dollars in bonuses that had been agreed to be paid out to Merrill Lynch employees, $150 million...
VELSHI: How big was that circle, Allan? You and I both have this complaint. We've been reading through it, and you and I have both worked on this story for so long. How do you square the circle? The SEC says you pay a fine and this problem goes away, and the attorney general has filed charges.
CHERNOFF: Right. The attorney general of New York certainly has been very aggressive on this front. Recall, he had some face-to-face meetings with Ken Lewis, the former chief executive officer, specifically asking about those bonuses, and he came out of those meetings very, very angry, believing that Ken Lewis was denying information.
Bank of America did not want to reveal the full extent of the bonuses, the full extent of when they knew about the Merrill Lynch plan to pay out those bonuses. And that, clearly, has led to these very, very aggressive charges by the New York state attorney general.
The SEC, on the other hand, which, keep in mind, can only bring civil charges, is settling over here. So, these are civil -- this is a civil settlement from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
VELSHI: Now, does that mean these charges that are laid are criminal charges by the attorney general's office?
CHERNOFF: Yes. Well, the attorney general of New York certainly has that right to -- to pursue that. But in this specific example, again, he's charging the fraud. Let's see what happens.
VELSHI: Right.
CHERNOFF: I mean, we don't know exactly what's going to happen in this situation. The bank, the former executives, they're saying that they are going to vigorously defend themselves. So, maybe -- maybe a settlement comes out of it...
VELSHI: Right.
CHERNOFF: ... after we have the SEC settlement.
VELSHI: And for all of the stories of this nature that we've covered, over the last couple of years, this one does seem to have the feel of the most high-profile, the biggest bank in the country. They've named Ken Lewis, who a lot of people sort of pointed fingers at. This does seem to be the biggest move yet against anybody who had a role in the financial crisis.
CHERNOFF: and yet another of the many repercussions that we are experiencing as a result of that financial turmoil that happened in 2008, and the fall of 2008. And the repercussions continue, if you look at what the Dow is doing even to this day.
VELSHI: Sure.
CHERNOFF: It all -- it all goes back to those very, very perilous days.
VELSHI: All right. Allan Chernoff, you'll stay on the story. I will, as well. Thanks very much for joining us on that.
Just to repeat, fraud charges have been laid against Bank of America, its former chief financial officer, and its former CEO. We're continuing to dig through those charges and get you some detail as we go on.
The other thing we're continuing to dig through is Toyota's troubles. We're going to break down information for you. There is a lot of confusion out there. We're going to tell you if your car is part of the recall, and what you do about it, right when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. We're going to continue on with this story about Toyota and those recalls, and it just keeps on getting worse for Toyota.
Among the latest developments, the National Highway Transport [SIC] Safety Administration has launched a formal investigation into the brake issues that we've been hearing about on the 2010 Prius hybrid electric model.
Let me tell you what the recall involves right now.
First of all, there are two separate recalls. The Prius is not involved in the recall at all.
There's the first recall, which involved the gas pedal getting stuck on a floor mat. Let me show you the models involved in that: the 2005 to 2005 [SIC] Avalon; the 2007 to 2010 Camry; and the 2009 to 2010 Corolla.
Also the floor mat recall involves the 2008 to 2010 Highlander; the 2009 to 2010 Matrix or Vibe. That's the Pontiac Vibe. And the 2004 to 2009 Prius. They're involved in the floor-mat recall.
Continuing on the floor-mat recall: 2005 to 2010 Tacoma; 2007 to 2010 Tundra, pickup truck; and 2009 to 2010 VENZA. Those are all the floor-mat recalls.
Now, there's a second recall going on, and that is this accelerator, the gas pedal, that tends to get stuck in -- in an accelerated position, causing problems with -- with stopping. That's a separate recall.
Let me show you if your car's involved in this: the 2005 to 2010 Avalon; the 2009 to 2010 Matrix or Pontiac Vibe; 2008 to 2010 Sequoia; 2007 to 2010 Tundra.
There are more of these: The 2007 to 2010 Camry, certain of these models. Certain 2009 to 2010 Corollas; certain 2010 Highlanders and certain 2009 to 2010 RAV4s.
Again, it would behoove you to phone Toyota or your dealer to make sure it's -- your car's in the recall and to find out what you're supposed to do. There are some exceptions and cars that are not involved in this recall, but there are, as you can see, many that are.
Now, what exactly do you do if you do own one of the cars on the list that I just -- I just showed you? Well, you contact your Toyota dealer, and you'd expect phones to be ringing off the hook right now. So we sent CNN's Susan Candiotti to a location, a Toyota dealership in -- in New Jersey. She's there now for us -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali. Well, as you look over my shoulder here, you can see that the service bay here, filled with cars. The thing is, all the ones that you see right here are mainly rentals, a few others.
And the reason for that is this: Toyota only now is starting to instruct all the mechanics on how to make the fixes that you were just describing.
So, for example, at this particular dealership, it was only this morning that they sent a couple of their top mechanics to learn how to do that repair. One of those, Mike Gates, he just finished up that training, and now he is here working on a car. Again, these are mainly rentals they're starting to work on now, until they can get the customers in.
Mike, show us what exactly what we're looking at -- what you will be repairing.
MIKE GATES, MECHANIC: This is the accelerator pedal, and we'll be putting the bar right in the back.
CANDIOTTI: It was loose; it was loosened up a little bit now, right?
GATES: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: We're coming around to get a better -- a better shot of that. Let's come around to the other side so we can get a closer look at that replacement bar that he's putting in there, that reinforcement bar, as you put it. All right. So, this is -- first of all, just give us...
GATES: This is how it is in the vehicle.
CANDIOTTI: This is where the foot goes, obviously.
GATES: Moves like this.
CANDIOTTI: Got it.
GATES: And it will go right in the back here.
CANDIOTTI: And so that reinforcement bar will slip in there.
GATES: Slips right in behind that stopper.
CANDIOTTI: Got it.
GATES: And a customer won't even feel any change in the pedal. It will be the same.
CANDIOTTI: And the idea is, what? To reduce what?
GATES: It reduces the friction inside the pedal.
CANDIOTTI: And why don't you want the friction?
GATES: Friction causes wear.
CANDIOTTI: Wear, which in this case...
GATES: And when the parts wore, that's when they were having the sticking issue.
CANDIOTTI: Starting to stick. Now, this whole repair should take you, with practice and time, about how long?
GATES: Half hour per vehicle.
CANDIOTTI: Got it. And what do you think the days and weeks are going to be like for you?
GATES: Oh, we'll be working some overtime.
CANDIOTTI: A lot of overtime.
GATES: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: I mean, is it tough to try to get that done?
GATES: No.
CANDIOTTI: Are you feeling you're going to be swamped by this?
GATES: No, we'll make some money. Work some overtime.
CANDIOTTI: That's true, too. And are you convinced this is going to be -- do the trick?
GATES: That's what the engineers say.
CANDIOTTI: And you're positive of that.
GATES: They design the fix and we put it in.
CANDIOTTI: And not only that, you're also going to be doing the -- you're talking about that -- the pedal that was sticking. What about the floor mat recall?
GATES: The floor -- that's where we'll reshape the bottom of the pedal so it doesn't catch on the floor mat when it comes back.
CANDIOTTI: And you'll be doing that, too?
GATES: We'll be doing that also.
CANDIOTTI: All right. Very good. Thanks for joining us, Mike.
GATES: Thank you.
CANDIOTTI: Busy days and weeks, and the owner of this dealership is Dennis Lauzon.
I have to ask you first and foremost, I want to talk to you about the brand new NHTSA announcement. They're looking into starting an investigation now into the Prius and possible problems with the brakes. What do you make of this on top of everything else?
DENNIS LAUZON, OWNER OF DEALERSHIP: Well, it's -- first of all, I don't have all the technical information on that. I haven't been given it. It's not a recall at this point. But I believe that they're checking into a computer glitch. It's less than a second, after you hit the brake or something like that. But I'm not really that technical on that. I don't have that information.
CANDIOTTI: What do you think about having to deal with that now on top of everything else?
LAUZON: Might as well -- you know, it's every day, something different. Every manufacturer has something, probably, on a daily basis that goes wrong with some of their products.
CANDIOTTI: And what lies ahead? Your -- what have your phones been like, especially since Transportation Secretary LaHood made his comments yesterday?
LAUZON: That wasn't a wise idea to do yesterday, because that just had people in a hysteria at the time. And you know, the phones lit up. People that really had issues, you know, with their car, whether it was broken down or a tire repair or whatever, couldn't get through, because we were dealing with people that were hysterical, being told not to drive their car, to pull over on the side of the road. Really irresponsible on his part, but I don't think he meant to say that, but that's how it came out.
CANDIOTTI: And the impact on your sales, finally?
LAUZON: It's -- it's hurt, but they will come back. Toyota is a quality product, and they're going to take care of their customer.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much for joining us.
So again, they expect this place to really start hopping in the coming days and weeks. They are currently making appointments for people to come on in, and it's up to Mike Gates and the other mechanics to teach the 20 others who work here how to do the fix, as well -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. We'll stay on it. As Mike said, there are two issues. One is the floor mat, and one is the gas pedal sticking. There are some cars that are -- now qualify for both recalls, but not every car does. So it's useful to call your dealership and find out about it.
Susan, thank you very much for joining us. We'll stay on top of this story about -- about Toyota and everything that's going on.
Take a look at the bottom right of your screen. Actually, let's bring it up. We'll show you what's going on in the stock market. It's actually better than it's been for some of the day. But that is quite a dip. And the thing that makes me worried about this is that that's not just happening in the United States. We've seen drops in global markets. So when we have a global story to discuss, I want to bring in our global guy. When we come back, Richard Quest, of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" on CNNi, will be with us to explain what is going on in the world and whether you need to be worried and whether it affects you.
We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: President Obama's aunt is facing an immigration judge today in a Boston courtroom. Kenya native Zeituni Onyango is applying for asylum. She's been in the country illegally since 2004, when the government ordered that she be deported.
Motivational speaker James Ray is an Arizona courtroom. He was arrested yesterday on three counts of manslaughter. You might remember that he hosted a sweat-lodge ceremony near Sedona last year where three people died. He could face up to 12 1/2 years in prison on each count.
And a bit of a surprise on the job front. The government says about 480,000 people filed for new unemployment claims last week, and that's a jump of about 8,000 claims from the previous week. It's also the highest level since mid-December.
All right. We've seen a tough day, in part because of those jobless claims on the stock market here in the United States. But we actually have been having a rough day globally on stock markets. And that kind of gets us a little concerned. So we want to just check in with our good friend, Richard Quest, the anchor of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" on CNN International. He joins us now.
Richard, we don't get too alarmed, generally, you and I, about stock markets, but when there are trends we see where things are happening around the world, and the numbers and percentages are of significance, it's worth checking in. What are you -- what are you sensing? What are you seeing?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You're absolutely right, Ali. we certainly do not get ourselves hot under the collar about one day's movement, but we should be getting a little bit warm round the neck over what we're seeing in southern Europe at the moment.
We are basically witnessing a bit of a battle, a war, if you like, between the speculators and investors and certain European governments: Spain, Portugal, Greece. Greece particularly.
And what's happened today, let me tell you, the Spanish index, main stock index, down some 6 percent in Madrid. In Milan, down 4 -- 3.5 percent to 4 percent.
What it's all about, Ali, is that the investors believe that these governments are eventually going to find they're going to need to be bailed out or they're going to have to pay more for their debt, and so they are hammering away at the market debt, trying to break them, if you will.
All the lights on the dashboard are flashing red: CDSs, bond yields, stock markets.
VELSHI: Yes.
QUEST: Everything is in the danger zone. And what we're seeing tonight, Ali, is the attack is under way.
VELSHI: And oil is down today. Gold is down today. This is a bit of a troublesome day. But you and I will keep track of it on both sides of the ocean and bring it to our viewers as it becomes important for them to know when to get concerned.
Right now we are watching. The Dow is down 215 points, still above 10,000. It hasn't been below that all year, but we're keeping an on it. Richard, you'll be on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" very shortly on CNN International.
QUEST: I will. I will.
VELSHI: All right. There you go.
(RINGING BELL)
VELSHI: That means I can carry on, now that he's rung the bell.
All right. You are out of work and you need a job. Why not set your sights high? "Fortune" magazine is out with its list of 100 best companies to work for, and Stephanie Elam is breaking it down. See if you can guess the name of this next company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This business wants everyone to take it outside. Where can employees ride like the wind in middle of the day? We'll tell you after the break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM (voice-over): What company lets employees take a bike ride during the workday? The corporate headquarters of REI.
The outdoor equipment retailer offers its workers paid sabbaticals after 15 years. It also has health-care coverage for part-time employees.
Workers can test out new products and apply for grants to get equipment from the company for a personal sports challenge.
REI is No. 14 on "Fortune" magazine's list of the 100 best companies to work for.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: All right. Facebook turns six today. It's its sixth birthday. Something that has had such an impact on so many people's lives is still just a little kid.
Let's take a look at -- at some stats about Facebook that I think you're going to find very interesting.
More than 350 million active users are members of Facebook. More than 350 million active users. So, if it were a country, it would be the third largest country in the world, behind China, which has 1.3 billion people, and India, which has 1.1 billion people. You'd then have Facebook, and then you'd have the USA. So, a lot of people are members of Facebook.
It's available in more than 70 languages, available to users in more than 180 countries. And it's used for many things. It's used just for social networking, but it's also used to help people get together, to keep families and businesses and jobs connected.
The largest age group using Facebook last year, according to a survey by iStrategy Labs, was the 18- to 24-year-old age group. No big surprise. The 18 to 24s tend to like Facebook.
Today the largest group using Facebook -- this has changed since last year -- 35- to 54-year-olds. Now, that interested me. I was a bit surprised by that.
Users 55 and older grew an incredible 922 percent over the last year. There were only 950,000 of them. Now there are more than 9 million.
Now, let me give you a sense of this. If you -- you didn't realize six years of Facebook had gone by, let's go back to the birth of Facebook. Back in 2004, Facebook was born in the Harvard dorm room of Mark Zuckerberg, and it had -- it had already reached a million users by the end of that first year. So, that's its birth.
2005, let's call that the year of its adolescence. It expands into high-school networks. That's how you joined Facebook. You had to be part of a high-school network or a college network. They added the photo application, which by the way, today makes Facebook the biggest home for photographs on the Internet. And by its year of adolescence, 2005, it already had 5.5 million users.
By 2006, let's call that the year of acceptance. It expands to work networks, so you could be a member if you were from a school, from a college or from a place of business, and it allowed anyone to join. So, you didn't actually have to be a part of a network in order to join. Look at that. It jumped to 12 million users.
Let's go to 2007, so this was the year of acceptance. 2007 became the year of accessibility, because Facebook went mobile. That's where you could get it on your -- on your phone, and you could -- you could update your status from there. Microsoft invested $250 million in the company, and by 2007, 50 million users. That's 2007.
Let's go to 2008. We're calling it the year of the world for Facebook. It launched in Spanish, in French, in German, translated into 21 additional users, and jumps from 50 million users to 100 million users.
And then 2009, a year when many of you may have become acquainted with Facebook. Let's call that the year of its explosion. What a big year. In January, 150 million users. By February, 175 million. By April, 200; July, 250; September, 300; December, 350 million users.
Let's talk -- let's listen to what Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder of Facebook, has to say about what it's good for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: We believe, really deeply, that if people are sharing more, then the world will be a more open place, where people can understand what's going on with the people around them. And that's really what we want to get towards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. So, a lot of good stuff that Facebook has done. It really has been part of the whole social media world and the development of social media that we've all experienced. It has impacted so many lives in so many different ways, but some of them aren't all that good. Coming up this hour, could living online flat- line your privacy? We're going to talk about that in a moment.
And Chad Myers is standing by. I want to go over to the weather center. I'm always interested in what Chad Myers has to say, except this particular weekend what he has to say interests me particularly, because I'm -- I'm going to up to Atlantic City this weekend, Chad, and the storm that you have been tracking seems to be heading right to where I am going.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How long do you plan on staying?
VELSHI: Well, you may tell me that, because I was planning on staying a night, and if we get snowed in...
MYERS: I would say plan on spending the Super Bowl there.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: And maybe Monday, too.
Twelve to 20 inches in Atlantic City to Philadelphia. Now, the way it's going to set up, Ali, is because the way the wind is going to be coming off the ocean, probably right along the beach, right at the pier...
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: ... there won't be very much snow, because the ocean is above 32. That air coming this is going to be maybe 38, 40 degrees.
VELSHI: Right. MYERS: So you're not going to see as much at the marina.
But then you move up toward the piney woods and in the pinelands and you are going to see 20 inches of snow.
VELSHI: Yes.
MYERS: So you get to Havre de Grace. You get all those areas there. This is what we're seeing in D.C. right now. Sunny skies, beautiful. This is the reason why people don't get prepared.
VELSHI: This is what you call the calm before the snow.
MYERS: Absolutely. And here is the storm, although this is Atlanta, and it's not snowing, because it's warm enough to make all rain.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: We'll stay on top of it as you always do, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right. I'll see you on Thursday!
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I'll make sure I'll be here for work.
Listen, one of the stories we continue to track is the situation in Haiti. Karl Penhaul is there with the latest update on those ten American missionaries who have been held because they were accused of trying to take babies, children, outside of Haiti without proper documentation. Stay with us. We're on that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Here on CNN, we're sticking with the Haiti story and the developments, the rebuilding, in Haiti. One of our biggest concerns always is the children, the vulnerable children, left behind in the wake of the -- of the earthquake.
Let's go to Karl Penhaul. He's joining me on the phone now from Port- au-Prince with the story of these ten Americans we've been following. Ten Americans who apparently trying to take Haitian children out of Haiti through the Dominican Republic. They were arrested.
Karl, what's the update? We understand they are in court right now.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are down here at the courthouse (AUDIO GAP) by the prosecutor. And it's the prosecutor who will ultimately decide whether they will be formally charged with charges such as child trafficking or kidnapping, which is what the Haitian government is accusing them of, or whether they will be released.
Now, what the prosecutor has to do is go through the files, the dossiers that have been drawn up over the last two days. And on the basis of that, he will ask additional questions to the ten Americans. Both yesterday and the day before, an investigative judge held meetings. First off, with the five American women, and then with the five American men, putting questions to them. That took place at the judicial police headquarters.
And so now, based on those investigations over the last two days, the prosecutor is going through the files with the Americans to see what additional questions he has and to see if he's going to formalize the accusations against them.
Now, the -- the session, the hearing, is now been going on now for probably about an hour and a half or two hours. No saying how long it could last, and no real saying on what the outcome may be, although we do spot aboard one of the two trucks that the Americans came to the courtroom in that there is a number of boxes and what appear to be their backpacks in the back of that truck.
So, it could quite well mean that they're at least not going back to the judicial police headquarters. Could be heading somewhere else. Of course, like I say, the prosecutor could always take the decision to release them if he doesn't believe there's enough evidence there, Ali.
VELSHI: Karl, I want to ask you -- obviously we just looked at video of you speaking to them on Monday. What is it they say they were doing?
PENHAUL: I've talked to them now three times in jail, on Saturday, on Sunday, and again on Tuesday night. They, themselves, say that they're on a God-given mission to come and save Haitian orphans.
But then when you look at the facts on the ground -- and we talked extensively to the interpreters who were working with them, and also to parents who gave their children away to Americans -- it is quite clear that the Americans must have known that most of these children were not, in fact, orphans. In many cases, it was the parents themselves who gave the children directly to the Americans and put them on the bus.
What we also know is that both the Haitian government and the Dominican consulate warned the Americans not to travel without documentation for the children, because they would be stopped. It was illegal, and they would be accused of child trafficking. In spite (AUDIO GAP), where one of the team leaders of the American Baptists asked for permission and was refused permission to cross into the Dominican Republic. Four hours after that meeting with the consulate, the whole team was arrested with the children. So, it shows they certainly chose to disregard all the information they were given, Ali.
VELSHI: Karl, you let us know if there's further development on this story and anything else you've got going on in Port-au-Prince. Karl Penhaul in Port-au-Prince.
PENHAUL: Okay.
VELSHI: One of the things we've been looking at obviously for the last couple weeks and we're continuing to look at is your tax dollars in work at "The Stimulus Project." That's Josh Levs and Steve Brusque at our Stimulus Desk. I'll be checking in with them in a few minutes to find out how much stimulus money is going toward alternative energy projects and how many jobs have been created in some specific examples. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Checking the headlines.
President Obama's condemning a proposed law in Uganda that would essentially punish people for being gay. His comments came this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast. The group that sponsors the breakfast, the Fellowship Foundation, is said to be pushing Uganda to pass the law.
The National Tea Party convention gets underway in just a few hours. It's giving Tea Party leaders across the country a change to gather and network in Nashville. But it's organized by a for-profit group, and tickets are pricey, and that's attracting criticism, even from some members of the movement. And some high-profile names have backed out entirely. We'll break all of this down for you at the top of the hour, what's going on with the Tea Party.
One side of the Illinois' governor's race is now set. Democrat Dan Hynes has conceded to incumbent governor Pat Quinn. Hynes was trailing Quinn after Tuesday's primary but he didn't bow out until after more votes were counted. On the Republican side, the primary between Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard is still too close to call.
All right, we're back here in the stimulus area that we've been using for the last little while. We've been digging into the money that has been given to stimulus projects and finding out whether jobs have been created. What are you looking at?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: $862 billion in total, right? And we are looking at clean energy projects probably because of this meeting yesterday. We have video from the president and the vice president met with governors from all over the country, and they are pushing this new plan, trying to advance clean energy in lots of different ways. The vice president when they were at the meeting, the vice president made some comments using some numbers. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The announcement you're making today, Mr. President, builds on an unprecedented investment that the federal government has made, in large part through the Recovery Act to deal with investments in clean energy and lessening our dependence on foreign oil, $80 billion.
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LEVS: So, that $80 billion there he's talking about a combination, basically, of existing funding and also some stimulus funding. So, we decided to start looking for those. And we'll zoom in on the map now because I'll take you to Texas, where I found an interesting project here.
We'll go into an area where the Texas oil fields are, 15 miles outside of Odessa, you have an area called Penwell, Texas, and we're in the oil fields here. They have a project. Let me open this up, Ali. Have you ever seen anything like this? Do you have any idea what this?
VELSHI: No idea.
LEVS: Do you have any idea?
VELSHI: No. What is it?
LEVS: This is called a gasifier, and some people think this might be the future of clean coal technology.
VELSHI: Right.
LEVS: So, we found this company. And basically they've gotten $350 million, and what this project could do, they think -- let's zoom in on this -- what this could do, if it works the way they say it will, it takes the coal and while it's in there, it basically strips it of a lot of the carbon emissions. So, by the time the smoke comes out, they say the carbon emissions wouldn't be there.
They say they are building a technology that could get rid of 90 percent of the bad stuff you don't want to have in there. They're one place that has gotten a bunch of funding for it.
Now, remind you, clean coal as you know has a lot of skeptics. Many people say there will never be such a thing as clean coal. But the administration has made clear that they stand behind it. Check out this figure, $350 million to this company in Penwell, Texas, to this company. And this is called Summit Texas Clean Energy LLC, $350 million right there.
They are saying they expect to create 1,000 jobs just for constructing this area. And they also expect once it's up and running, 120 to 150 permanent jobs once it's up and running.
VELSHI: This is something you're very key on on The Stimulus Desk. Finding out what type of jobs, how long they last, and how many jobs are longer lasting. Every time I say clean coal on television, it doesn't matter what I say about it, e-mails and all sorts of things we'll get. And tell me how many you get...
LEVS: Yes..
VELSHI: ... and that term ignites a lot of people.
LEVS: We say clean coal in quotes, because we don't know if it's ever going to exist, either.
VELSHI: You'll notice the quotes here.
LEVS: We don't know if it will ever be a real thing. But this administration says they're ready to invest in the possibility.
VELSHI: Yes.
LEVS: That they could ultimately create that.
VELSHI: All right, very good.
Listen, when you're dealing with your credit card and you run out of limit, credit limit, you either have to stop spending or you call up the bank and get an increase in the credit limit. Well, the country just got an increase in its credit limit. We'll tell you how much and how it goes about doing that when we come back.
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VELSHI: All right. Let's go to D.C. Brianna Keilar is there as the House votes to raise the nation's debt ceiling. Look at these numbers. Brianna, walk us through. That's just an incredible number besides you. How much does that even add up to?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the national debt, Ali. And you can see all of the zeros, right? About $12.3 trillion, and this number is quickly closing in on what's called the debt ceiling. It's essentially, you know...
VELSHI: That's the credit limit.
KEILAR: It is on the limit on our credit card, right? So what they are voting to do, what the House is voting to do, to increase it by $1.9 trillion, to this number, the debt ceiling, so that the U.S. government can borrow more. It would go to about $14.29 trillion, and this is expected to happen on very much a party line vote, Ali. Democrats voting for it, the Republicans against it.
But it is essential. Because if the U.S. did not increase their debt ceiling, they could really default on their loans, and it would be a disaster. And the reason it's being increased to this huge number, up to -- over $14 trillion, it's been increased by $1.9 trillion to make sure that Democrats don't really have to deal with this really tough vote again before the November election.
VELSHI: Right. And we believe the vote on this debt ceiling is happening right now, it's happened in the Senate already, and we believe it's happening in the House right now. You are looking at it, that is the vote. You can see, as Brianna says, 207 Democrats are voting for it, 26 Democrats have voted against it. And not a single Republican has voted in favor. 174 so far are against it.
Now, Brianna, 1.9 trillion, that's what they're increasing it to get it to $14.2 trillion which is what you're standing in front of. What do you get for $1.9 trillion?
KEILAR: If we break it down so everyone who lives in the U.S. could get their fair chunk of it, it would be $6,100 per person, Ali. That is a lot of money. And we actually sort of tried to figure out exactly what that means. That would be food for a year. VELSHI: Uh-huh.
KEILAR: For each one of us. We're talking groceries. We're talking going out to eat. All the food you'd have for a year. Or -- and I really like this one, it's my personal favorite -- each one of us could rent a private island for a week, Ali, and we would still have money leftover to pay for all of the pina coladas that our hearts could desire.
VELSHI: So, why is it going on a party line? How do the Democrats deal with it politically that they are increasing the country's credit limit? How do they face up to that politically?
KEILAR: They say they have to deal with it, but also the vote on the credit limit is directly tied to something else they are voting on, reinstating pay-go rules, pay as you go. And this is sort of like managing a household budget. If you spend too much money in one area of your budget, you have to cut back in somewhere else or bring in more money. For us, it might mean taking in extra shift. For the U.S. government, it means pulling in more money in the form of taxes.
So, this is the Democrats' way of saying, we are being fiscally responsible, but on the flip side, the Republicans are saying not so fast, they are calling the pay-go increase Swiss cheese-go because there are a lot of programs that are exempted from these accounting rules. Ali, it's an election year. Spending is a huge issue.
VELSHI: Yes, that is a lot of money you're talking about right there, but it's important that we are constantly reminded about this because we are ultimately responsible for the nation's debt. It affects everything we do, including the value of our dollar.
Brianna Keilar, always greatly to talk to you . Thank you so much. Brianna Keilar, our congressional correspondent.
One of the stories we've been staying on top of for you is the Toyota recall. Now, more than 5 million cars recalled for two separate problems, and then a third problem is under investigation by the government. When we come back, we'll have expert advice for you on what you need to know to stay safe if you haven't taken your car in yet, and one of the problems that they're being recalled for happens to you, we'll tell you exactly what to do. Stay with us.
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VELSHI: We have talked a lot about how Toyota has been impacted by the recalls and investigations. We want to turn our focus now to those of you who are driving Toyotas.
For the last day or so, there is a lot more clarity about what is going on. Most of you should have been informed or should have the number to call Toyota or your local dealer to find out what is go on.
Let's go to Buffalo again, though. We spoke to Lauren Fix yesterday who was very good about giving us some specific information about what to do if you find yourself in a car that is subject to the recalls. Lauren, now, there are two recalls going on that total more than 5 million cars. One of them involves a floor mat and the gas pedal getting stuck, and the other one is a gas pedal getting stuck in an accelerating position without the floor mat being there. What do you do, first of all, if you drive a Toyota at this point, what are the first steps?
LAUREN FIX, AUTOMOTIVE AUTHOR: Drive it normally and be very aware of what happens. If you are in a car that accelerates, people panic and the first thing they want to do is hit the brakes. That is the worst thing to do.
You wan to put your car in neutral, turn on your four-way so people around you know you are having a problem, get over to the side of the road as carefully as possible without hitting anyone, and then shut the car off. So, the brakes will work. But if you shut the car off while it's moving, then you have no steering and no brakes. So, what we're trying to get people to do is put the car into neutral, put on your four-ways, and yesterday, there were quite a few viewers who sent me e-mails and tried to respond and to all of them, but many of them didn't even know that, so I am glad that we are able to educate everyone.
VELSHI: Yes. I would love to keep having that conversation until this thing is over, because it is a thing that has panicked people.
FIX: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: Clearly the Transport Secretary yesterday, saying and retracted it later, but he said don't drive your car, got people panicked. But one of the things he said if you take the context of the comment he made in the hearing, he said it would be simpler than to tell people to put it in neutral and doing all this. He'd like for people to just get their car fixed.
So, his point wasn't that people shouldn't do this. When you do slam it into neutral when driving and the accelerator is stuck, you will have hear a lot more engine noise than ever before.
FIX: Absolutely. The engine will continue to rev, but there's no connection between the engine and the wheels, because what you're doing by putting it into neutral is the transmission cannot connect to the wheels, to keep it simple essentially.
So, Although it is hard to ignore a engine revving very loud, the safest thing is to do to disconnect the engine from the transmission, coast to the side of the road, make sure the four-ways are on. And for those of you that aren't driving a Toyota and you see coming up on you quickly, I would be looking for an escape route. And I started to be aware of that yesterday after I spoke about it. It's just amazing how people are just a little more aware on the road, which is good anyhow. Good for safety.
VELSHI: Lauren, once you've done what you just said, once you pull over to the side of the road, disengage the engine and over to the side of the road and on the shoulder and hopefully safe, what do you do then? Do you start it up and drive home, or do you call Toyota?
FIX: No, absolutely. I would call the local Toyota dealer and if you are out of town have the roadside assistance tow to take it to the local Toyota dealership and they will repair it. Many of the dealers have the shims in stock, and I'm sure they would repair a vehicle on the side of the road and take care of you.
I also know that Toyota is giving checks out to each of the dealerships of the people based on how many people they are taking in, how many people they are servicing. Many service departments are open 24 hours a day, so I would not be surprised if some of the sales department had someone there, too, to try to sell you a new car.
VELSHI: Right. And those workers, in order to fix all these cars are staying longer, and that is where some of the money is going to help the dealerships.
Lauren, thanks very much. And if it sounds repetitive, that is okay, because we want to repeat it until everyone in America knows what to do with their Toyota.
FIX: Glad to hear it.
VELSHI: Lauren Fix is an automotive analyst joining me from Buffalo, New York.
Listen, it's Facebook's birthday! I hope you sent them a card. It is the sixth birthday for Facebook. We will look back on Facebook's brief but booming history and looking ahead when it comes to social media, one of the big issues is privacy. We will talk about that when we get back.
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