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Stimulus Package: One Year Later; Afghan-Pakistan Strategy Session; U.S. Missionaries Await Fate in Haiti
Aired February 17, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday, February 17th. And here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Federal stimulus dollars hard at work at a Caribbean playground. Why does paradise need taxpayer money?
The government scrambles to handle a fictional cyberattack. Cell phones die, the nation's power grid goes dark. It's all fake, but what if it wasn't?
And a blind musician rises from Haiti's earthquake rubble to play again. A music legend gives him a keyboard to recovery.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So here we go.
It is the largest economic stimulus plan in the nation's history. Today marks one year since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Critics say it's been a waste of money that has produced few jobs. Supporters say it has stemmed the massive jobs losses the country was experiencing a year ago.
Just moments ago, President Obama said the recovery kept the country from plunging deeper into recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During a recession, when businesses pull back and people stop spending, what government can do is provide a temporary boost that puts money in people's pockets and keeps workers on the job; cuts taxes for small businesses; generates more demand; gives confidence to entrepreneurs that maybe they don't have to cut back right now, maybe they can hold steady in their plans and in their dreams. That's exactly what we've been able to do with the Recovery Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the Obama administration says the stimulus is helping the economy and more help is on the way. But is the public convinced? Boy, let's get to the White House now and our White House correspondent, Dan Lothian, joining us live now.
Dan, what is the White House saying about progress, the progress of the stimulus program?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Tony, you heard two things from the president today, talking about progress, saying that, yes, stimulus is working. But he was also going after the critics, those who have been saying that it has been a waste of money, that these jobs, the millions of jobs that the administration has been touting, simply has not materialized.
But this administration, the president in particular, believing that it has been very successful, that two million jobs have been saved or created. And the president pointing out that he expects another 1.5 million jobs to be saved or created here in 2010.
But as the president pointed out, it's not perfect. The stimulus is not perfect, and it still has a long way to go.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our work is far from over, but we have rescued this economy from the worst of this crisis. And slowly, in new factories and research facilities and small businesses, the American people are rebuilding a better future. And we will continue to support their efforts. We will leave our children an economy that is stronger and more prosperous than it was before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, Tony, there's a bit of a disconnect here between what this administration is saying about the stimulus and what the American public believes.
HARRIS: Oh yes.
LOTHIAN: According to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted just last month, only 36 percent of Americans believe that stimulus money is really helping the economy. Sixty-three percent believe that these projects were politically motivated, did not benefit the economy.
So, certainly, whether it's in the messaging or whether it's not really trickling down to the American people, they're not feeling that optimism that this administration is putting out.
HARRIS: Yes, and you can communicate it effectively -- not saying the administration has -- and people still not like it.
Tomorrow, Dan, the president will discuss cutting the deficit. What can you tell us about that?
LOTHIAN: That's right. You know, the president has talked about this before, and tomorrow he'll actually be signing this executive order to form this fiscal commission. And what the president is trying to do is get both Republicans and Democrats to sit down and come up with some ideas as to how to chip away at this booming deficit.
So you will have a Republican and a Democrat coming up with these ideas. They'll talk about it for the next several months or so, and then come back with some ideas sometime after the midterm election -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Dan Lothian at the White House for us.
Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.
Of course we want to hear from you. We always do.
What kind of impact has the stimulus in the Recovery Act had on your life or in your community?
If you would, just go to my blog, CNN.com/Tony. Leave us a comment there. You can also give us a call if you'd like and let us know what you think. Here's the number: 877-742-5760.
And we will share some of your messages and comments on the air throughout the newscast.
And other big stories that we are following for you this Wednesday morning.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele struggles to charm Tea Party bosses. He held four hours of Q&A with 50 activists, scouting common ground ahead of the 2010 midterms. But when asked if they left the talks as loyal Republicans, the group shouted no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA MILLER, TEA PARTY WDC: It was congenial. Everybody wanted to figure out what kind of assets he could bring to the game.
I want it to return to commerce, charity and the individual, their rights and responsibilities. And if his agenda or the people that he backs don't support that, I find that I'll put my energies like they will in an area where I think it will achieve the most good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes, like, where is the question?
Now it is the Corolla. Toyota says it is looking at steering complaints and will recall the subcompact if there is a defect. The company also says it plans a brake override system on future cars to prevent sudden acceleration. U.S. investigators want Toyota documents showing when and how it learned of defects in the recalled vehicles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AKIO TOYODA, TOYOTA PRESIDENT (through translator): Toyota is not perfect. But when we find a problem, or are made aware of it, we act as quickly as possible. We are sincerely working on that.
As VP Sasaki said, we never covered anything up or ignored any problems. I hope you understand this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Endeavour astronauts are back indoors following their third and final spacewalk. They installed a bay window on the space station. It gives spectacular 360-degree views of Earth, 200 miles below. Today's construction leaves the space station about 90 percent complete, with four shuttle missions remaining on NASA's schedule.
And beginning this hour, President Obama convenes a meeting of his national security team.
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is on that story for us.
And Barbara, good to see you.
My understanding is the meeting will actually focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony.
This morning, the president meets with his national security team on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of course, in Pakistan, a lot of interest right now with that Taliban commander yesterday, it being made known that a major Taliban commander had been captured in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, of course, the president's surge strategy under test in southern Afghanistan, in this offensive in Marjah, where Marines and Afghan forces are battling against the Taliban, several days at that now.
The Marines are saying they're making progress, but the big test of the counterinsurgency strategy really lies ahead. Once the bullets stop flying, can the Afghan government really come in and install a local government that the people there can believe in and believe can provide security for them. That's topic number one -- Tony.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
And Barbara, let's talk about progress in Iraq for a second here. Troop levels are below 100,000.
STARR: Who would have thunk, you know? General Odierno, the top commander in Iraq, actually in Washington, also will be meeting with the president.
We checked the numbers just a few minutes ago -- 97,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq, Tony, under that 100,000 level, expected to go down further. All U.S. combat forces still scheduled to be out of Iraq by the end of next year.
In Afghanistan, it's heading in a different direction, of course, 76,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Troops in Afghanistan right now expected to go up to 98,000, and possibly skirt the edge of 100,000 in Afghanistan by the end of summer -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
Barbara Starr on her post at the Pentagon for us.
Barbara, good to see you. Thank you.
CNN remains in Haiti, bringing you the latest on the earthquake recovery. And this hour, John Vause is in court finding out if American missionaries will be released.
And where is Rob Marciano? There he is.
Finally some snow in Canada for the Olympics? Just a touch.
All right. Rob is going to bring us the forecast in just a couple of minutes.
But first, here is the latest on the Dow, the New York Stock Exchange. Let's make the move here. In positive territory, off of session highs for the day, up 17 points.
We're following this number for you throughout the day, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, a decision is expected today in the case of 10 Americans jailed in Haiti for allegedly trying to kidnap 33 children. The Baptist missionaries are hoping a judge will grant them bail.
CNN Senior International Correspondent John Vause is in Port-au- Prince for us.
And John, what is the latest on this child kidnapping case? That's what it is.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Tony.
We have a little bit of news coming out of the jail where the 10 American missionaries are currently being held. One of the missionaries has in fact taken ill and they are now in the process of being moved from that jail to a hospital to receive medical treatment.
We understand that it is in fact Carissa Coulter (ph), who is a diabetic. She was actually treated by a paramedic from the U.S. Embassy for diabetes in the days after the 10 missionaries were arrested. In fact, on January 29. Now, that will impact the bail hearing. And the decision by the judge isn't exactly clear. It is unlikely, though, that it will have any impact on the decision by the judge.
We know that a couple of the defense lawyers for the Americans have actually arrived in the last few minutes. We're expecting the judge here by 1:00 Eastern.
And once he receives that brief, around then he's told us that it should take a couple of hours before he makes his decision. And then an official from this building will head out to that jail and inform the officials out there whether or not bail has been granted. And if it has been, then the 10 Baptist missionaries should be free to go, if in fact they have been granted bail -- Tony.
HARRIS: And John, illness aside, what's taken so long to come to this decision?
VAUSE: Well, we were expecting this on Monday.
HARRIS: Yes.
VAUSE: In fact, everyone was waiting for it. But then, you know, this country has been hit by an earthquake, and the building behind me just didn't have any electricity, which meant that they couldn't printout the brief which was being prepared by the prosecutor, which had to go to the judge, had to be handed up, had to get a stamp.
The judge then had to review it, then he had to put his stamp on it and hand it back to the court. So there was just no way of allowing that process to take place.
Tuesday was a public holiday here, so everything was closed and everyone stayed home. And so now we're at Wednesday. So that's why this is just taking so long.
And I've given you those times, 1:00, but this is all very optional, this is very flexible. It may or may not happen. That's what we're told, that's what we're expecting, but it may or may not happen.
HARRIS: OK, John. Keep us posted.
John Vause in Port-au-Prince for us.
John, appreciate it. Thank you.
Not seeing as much of the Recovery Act as you want? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has her top tips to get you your own stimulus money.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So here we go.
Look, a year of stimulus projects. Still waiting to see some benefit?
Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here to show you how to put together your own stimulus plan.
I like the sound of this.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. Why not?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Yes.
What about folks who don't -- how do you want to get started here? Maybe with folks who don't have a job right now, Gerri?
WILLIS: Yes, let's go there.
You know, to find jobs, you actually have to follow the money. Go to Recovery.gov. That's a government Web site designed to track stimulus money, and a feature that you want to check out there called "Track the Money."
This is a database of grant recipients, meaning companies that may soon be hiring and the federal agency that awarded the funds. So, you can also scan by state to find projects near you.
The stimulus also provided funding for green jobs. If you're looking to snag one of these, check out online job boards EcoJobs.com, RenewableEnergyWorld.com and GreenBiz.com. And of course, USAJobs.gov Web site, another great place to go to look for jobs. It's a job with the federal government.
HARRIS: Gerri, do you want to talk at least a bit about education here?
WILLIS: You know, this can be the key for folks out there who are really looking for a job and maybe they need retraining.
If you're a student, search for scholarships at FastWeb.com. And, of course, make sure to fill out your FAFSA form, the free application for federal student aid. The sooner you submit that paperwork, the greater likelihood you have of getting money.
And just don't think you'll be able to afford that four-year degree? Well, consider going to a community college where the curriculum is tailored -- tailored to employers in the area and what they're looking for.
If you're trying to save money for college, check out YoungMoney.com. You can see college savings calculators there and you'll be able to fine tune your savings plans. Look at expenses by year, along with the total cost expected for each child.
So lots of tips and tricks there if you're really looking for money for education.
HARRIS: Any advice for people who need financial help?
WILLIS: Well, OK. If you're struggling with debt and you can't make minimum payments, or you find that you're using one credit card to pay off another, it's time to call a pro.
Don't be swayed by commercials or solicitations to consolidate or settle your debt. Get free or at least low-cost help at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They have got a Web site, NFCC.org.
You'll be hooked up with a counselor who can put you on a debt management plan. Take advantage of free budget software at Ment.com (ph) and Wasabi.com (ph), two great Web sites.
Using these sites give you a bigger picture of your financial help. You can really start planning the way you should for your future. But if you are in deep, deep trouble, get a debt counselor.
And, of course, if you have any questions, send them to me at Gerri@CNN.com. We love to hear from you.
HARRIS: Oh, terrific. Thank you, Gerri. Good to see you again.
And we, of course, are hearing from you about the stimulus project. You have been e-mailing and tweeting Josh. He's on the Stimulus Desk and he joins us a bit later in the NEWSROOM.
We've got a cake over there. What's the cake all about?
You can also give us a call if you'd like and tell us what you think. Here's the number: 877-742-5760. Did you get the number? Here it is: 1-877-742-5760. And we will share some of your messages and comments on the air throughout the newscast.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: All right. How prepared is the U.S. for a major cyberattack?
We will take you inside a simulation. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So imagine this -- no cell phone or Internet service, the power grid shut down, Wall Street trading halted.
Our Jeanne Meserve looks at a worst-case scenario drill designed to answer one question: Is America ready for a major cyberattack?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up to 20 million and counting of the nation's cell phones have stopped working so far today in what officials claim is the largest communications crisis in the cell phone era.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reason? A cyberattack. As government officials convene, there is one overarching question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this an act of war, not a criminal act?
MESERVE: The infected smart phones show a video of the Red Army, raising speculation the Russians are behind the attack. Meanwhile, the crisis expands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incidences of identity theft and online financial fraud having increased dramatically.
MESERVE: Officials discuss the possibility of shutting down the infected smart phones, but government can't do it.
STEWART BAKER, ROLE IN DRILL, CYBER COORDINATOR: I'm actually shocked to hear that we don't have this authority. If this was someone with smallpox wandering through the Super Bowl, we would have the authority to quarantine them.
MESERVE: Can the military assist? What powers does the president have?
JAMIE GORELICK, ROLE IN DRILL, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are operating in a bet of a bit of uncharted territory, as you know.
MESERVE: The attack is traced to a server in Russia. If the U.S. shuts it down, will the Russians see it as an act of war? And is Russia really behind the attack?
Then more grim news -- the Internet is infected, the power grid impacted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are also now receiving alarming reports of significant and growing power outages in major metropolitan areas in the eastern half of the United States.
MESERVE: There is discussion of nationalizing the power grid or mobilizing the National Guard to protect it.
BENNETT JOHNSTON, ROLE IN DRILL ENERGY SECRETARY: But keep in mind there are over 160,000 miles of transmission lines. You cannot guard every mile of that.
MESERVE: And the cyberattack goes on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And in corporate boardrooms and IT centers across the country, our nation's leaders are wondering if their networks are really secure and if this crisis might indeed spread into their systems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: This exercise raised a lot of concerns and questions. One of them about the private sector.
Eighty-five percent of critical infrastructure like the power grid, for instance, is in private hands. So what about cooperation from the private sector? What about the public messaging? What about the legal authorities? What role can the military play?
A lot of very important issues, and issues that this exercise intended to put on the table so they could be discussed, if not resolved, before there is a real-life cyberattack of this magnitude -- Tony.
HARRIS: I love the exercise.
Jeanne, appreciate it. That's good stuff. Thank you.
Let's bring in Suzanne Simons with our Fact Check Desk.
Suzanne, look, how worried -- your team went to work on this. How worried are officials about the possibility of a real -- and when I say real, we're talking about a major cyberattack.
SUZANNE SIMONS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, absolutely.
Well, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair talked about this in his annual threat assessment, and he said that a successful cyberattack against a major financial service provider could severely impact the national economy.
So, one of the things they're looking at is how it would have an economic impact on, obviously, Americans. It's not going to be the scale of a physical attack like we saw on 9/11, ,but the economy could take a big hit.
HARRIS: Yes.
Would we know who the likely culprit is behind a major cyberattack?
SIMONS: Well, we could. There are only a handful of nations who actually, intelligence officials believe, have the technology to pull off something like this.
HARRIS: Yes.
SIMONS: However, that doesn't guard against the fact that with technology growing at the speed it is, that smaller countries won't have this. And, you know, those one-off attacks where people kind of hack into something. But remember the 2003 power outage?
HARRIS: Sure. Sure.
SIMONS: Remember that?
HARRIS: In the Northeast, right.
SIMONS: It was unbelievable. The pictures were terrifying. People were on the bridges, they were stuck downtown in New York, they couldn't get home, they didn't know what to do.
***11 HARRIS: Sure, sure, in the northeast.
SIMONS: It was unbelievable. The pictures were terrifying. People were on the bridges, they were stuck downtown in New York, they couldn't get home, they didn't know what to do. People were out for like three or four days and had no power. There were some 50 million people in the U.S.
Look at these pictures, do you remember that? It's hard to forget that.
HARRIS: I remember that, absolutely.
SIMONS: It also cost an estimated $4.5 to $10 billion to get over that one little blip. Now that, of course, wasn't a cyberattack, but those are the things officials are looking at when they consider the possibility of what this might look like.
HARRIS: So bottom line this for me, please.
SIMONS: Bottom line is there are some very smart professors at National Defense University who also have studied this issue. And Professor Irving Lacho (ph) and one of his colleagues there, Courtney Richardson (ph), looked at the likelihood of whether or not something like this is really going to happen. And they concluded that actually -- they believe terrorists are going to look for those physical opportunities, physical harm more so than the economic.
So while Dennis Blair is obviously concerned about this and people aren't putting it off the radar by any means, there is no real consensus on how imminent a cyberattack would be.
HARRIS: And that's his job to be that concerned.
SIMONS: It is. We want him to be concerned, don't we?
HARRIS: Doggone right we do. Suzanne, appreciate it as always.
SIMONS: Thank you.
HARRIS: Great work, thank you.
And this weekend, see how the U.S. might respond to a real cyber- shockwave. A CNN special you won't want to miss Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Now, for three weeks, the CNN Stimulus Project has been looking into thousands and thousands of ways to jump start communities all across the country. You are reaching out to us, and Josh Levs has it all. That's next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, the stimulus money started flowing last year and ever since the Obama administration has been talking it up. But just where has the money gone so far? Josh Levs is at the Stimulus Desk.
Josh, if you would, break it down for us.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was looking forward to doing this with you. You like numbers.
HARRIS: I do.
LEVS: You're all over these numbers.
All right, let's do this first, because today is the one-year anniversary of the stimulus, as you're saying. We're going to start off taking a look at one thing that President Obama said a year ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, in medicine, in energy to make our economy more stronger and our nation more secure and our planet safer for our children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, long term how these projects will play out, obviously we don't know yet. We have been reporting at the Stimulus Desk that those types of projects have gotten some funding. But what a lot of people don't realize is where this money is really going. So let's go straight to it.
First of all, the total screen that we have for you, when you look at the total amount that this is going to be worth over 10 years, it's $862 billion. That's what the Congressional Budget Office is saying, non-partisan analysis there -- $862 billion is the cost.
But, Tony, as you know, the majority of it is not for projects near you. The majority goes to paying for benefits and tax cuts. So you've got unemployment money in there, food stamps, that kind of thing.
This here is how much has actually been sent in one year. CNNMoney today has this great breakdown -- $119 billion in tax cuts, $179 billion in total payments. And when it comes to projects, that includes $31 billion has actually been spent on projects. So things like roads and construction and fixing up buildings and various other projects that we've been talking about here, Tony.
So when we take a look at the numbers, for now, that's where it is. And the government says that will increase, we'll see faster spending soon. HARRIS: OK, and also, not on that graphic, but you know this to be true, a lot of money has gone to the states to close those budget shortfalls as well. Now, what about all the jobs this program was supposed to create, Josh?
LEVS: Yes, we're going to break it down for you pretty intensely next hour. I will just tell you, the administration likes to say that 2 million people are working who would not be working otherwise. There is not a clear single figure that backs that up. There are others who say, actually, overall, unemployment is still really high. If the Recovery Act were doing its job, it wouldn't be that high. I'll have a lot numbers for you. I'll have those for you next hour, Tony.
HARRIS: OK, and what about viewers? What are folks who are watching us right now, what are they saying about all this?
LEVS: Cause you know, yesterday you and I invited people on the blog, right?
HARRIS: We did.
LEVS: All right, let's get to straight to it. I've got the computer up and behind me, we're going to start off with this first one, which is from CNN.com/Tony. "The economy is bad," Rick says, "but the stimulus bill has definitely helped me. I've been unemployed for six months. It extended my unemployment coverage and is covering a percentage of my COBRA."
Let's jump over to my Facebook page here. Arlene writes us, "The stimulus project has done nothing for me and my husband but caused our retirement to be depleted to make us doomed to live in poverty in our old age."
Let's get a couple of more in here, we've got some tweets. This one came to me on Twitter, "Why can't we recognize how much better the economy is now than they predicted it would have been a year ago?"
And now, Tony, this one, which I'm pretty sure is a criticism that we're going to show you, we'll end on this. "I know this guy who dated this girl who has a cousin who knows this guy that told his girlfriend's sister, her mom got a job."
HARRIS: You know, this is -- this is crazy.
LEVS: Someone who I think is not too psyched about all the spending in the stimulus there.
Here's how you all can weigh in, let me go to the screen for you on that. It's up in my blog at CNN.com/josh. Also, Facebook or Twitter I'm JoshLevsCNN. But, of course, the best place in America to weigh in on this, CNN.com/Tony. The only Tony you need to know.
HARRIS: Hey, you know, we've got phone calls too. We're asking folks to give us a call, but I don't have the -- Jen, what's the phone number for folks? Can we find that and put that up there, so folks can give us a call? It's 877 something or other, 877-742-5760. We're going to try to -- at least attempt to turn some of these calls around next hour. So if you'd like to hear yourself on the air talking, but give us something cogent, please.
LEVS: We'll be sharing also from here at this desk. We'll be sharing what you're writing to us at the blog, Twitter, Facebook cause a lot of people with a lot to say about it. The anecdotes are really important here.
HARRIS: Yes, all of it. All of it counts.
All right, Josh, thank you, sir. See you next hour.
The Obama administration is setting the stage for next week's Health Care Summit. The president meets with democrats and republican leaders a week from tomorrow. In an interview with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the secretary of health and human services said current bills will serve as a starting point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The president says he's going to post online the text of the health insurance reform plan, he's going to post it online ahead of the summit. What is that plan?
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Well, I think it's really -- it's sort of a combination of the best ideas of the House and the Senate bills.
Lots of good republican ideas in both the House-passed bill and the Senate-passed bill; high-risk pools and selling insurance across state lines and keeping kids on their parents' plan to 26 or 27, having a lower cost plan for young, younger workers. Those ideas are already part of the comprehensive package. So I'm hoping that the republicans really come on the 25th of February ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right, before we get to break here, let's get you caught up on some top stories right now.
It will take an autopsy to determine how a mountain climber died after he fell into the crater of the Mount St. Helens volcano. Search crews found Joseph Bohlig's body yesterday. They are not sure if he died from the fall or from exposure.
DNA tests show Egypt's King Tut died from malaria and complications from a broken leg. He also had a cleft palate and a club foot -- man! Scientists say his parents were likely siblings. The findings are published in the journal of the American Medical Association.
The stimulus project in paradise. Millions of dollars spent in the U.S. Virgin Islands and we are showing it all to you. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The chairman of the Republican Party tries to calm the concerns of Tea Party activists. Michael Steele spent almost four hours reassuring them the GOP won't try to take over the movement. The Tea Party leaders say they want the national party to stay out of local races. Partisan politics gone wild.
So what's behind the gridlock that keeps Congress from getting anything done? The host of "Real Time With Bill Maher" weighed in on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Bayh, he says things are so polarized that Congress isn't working and the people's business isn't getting done. Do you buy his reason for leaving?
BILL MAHER, HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": He wasn't working. He's the problem with Congress.
COOPER: How so?
MAHER: That made me laugh.
Well, because he isn't a centrist. People -- you guys in the media have to stop calling people like that a centrist. He's a corporatist, OK? And that's the main problem with Congress. You know, his wife is on the board of WellPoint, one of the big health insurance companies.
COOPER: So, you don't buy his --
MAHER: So, I'm not surprised that he was against the public option.
So, when he says Congress isn't working, that's why Congress isn't working, because he's the guy on the Democratic side who always sides with the Republicans to stop all legislation. That's why the Senate is where legislation goes to die.
So, bye-bye.
COOPER: Do you think things are too polarized?
MAHER: They're not polarized enough. We don't have a progressive party in this country. This is the problem, is that you have corporatist Democrats, like Evan Bayh, who act just like the people on the other side of the aisle.
COOPER: Do you think he will become a lobbyist?
MAHER: It won't be really changing jobs, just offices.
COOPER: You say, though, that there's not enough partisanship, but you have the Tea Party movement, which you have been very critical of. They are certainly partisan.
MAHER: Well, they are great for comedy.
They are a joke, to me, because they're supposedly harking back to the days of the Founding Fathers and what this country was about. That's not what they're about. They basically side with the Republicans. Who is more corporatist than the Republicans? They are against corporate power, but they are on the side of people like Sarah Palin?
COOPER: They say they're not about parties, that they are about people, that they are about -- they focus --
MAHER: But who did they -- they elected Scott Brown. Wasn't that the first scalp they got, Ted Kennedy? They got his seat. They put Scott Brown in there. Scott Brown signs -- when he signs an autograph, he puts on it 41, because he's the 41st senator. In other words, he can block all legislation.
So, he's going to stop health care reform. And he's going to stop cap-and-trade, and all these things that would actually help people, these -- the populist causes. But that's supposedly a virtue, that he's 41, and he's going to stop that?
COOPER: Who do you blame for what's happened to health care reform?
MAHER: Well, I -- I mean, I blame a lot of people. I mean, certainly, the people who were in the pockets of the insurance industries and the drug companies and all the corporate powers that have blocked this and who don't want this to go through, because the main problem with health care is insurance companies, this giant cash- sucking middleman that we don't need in the middle of it.
But, of course, I also blame the Democrats for not being able to sell this. There's an awful lot of good things in this Senate bill that's already been passed, covers 30 million more people, Medicare solvent until 2026, you know, you can't throw somebody off because preexisting conditions.
You know, it's not that there's not stuff to sell. It's just that the Democrats can't sell it. They are terrible salesmen, and they back off of everything. All you have to do is scream a little and they give up on it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Tonight, the new do or die litmus test. Man, Bill Maher. Career politicians under attack because many think they just don't get it. The revealing "AC360" series asks if they're not republican enough or not conservative enough. Watch Anderson Cooper at 10:00 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I want to take you very quickly to the San Francisco area, East Palo Alto, California, some breaking news. New pictures into the CNN NEWSROOM of what looks to be a -- at least -- we don't have the best pictures but what sounds to be a horrible accident. Emergency crews as you can see are on the scene now of what appears to be a small plane into a house. A small plane has apparently crashed into a house.
Because of the fog that you can see from the pictures here, the local affiliates have not been able to get their choppers into the air to get us a better view of the scene on the ground, but the reporting here is that a small plane has crashed into a house and emergency crews on the scene have reported back seeing two structures on fire.
And the report here is that a Cessna 310 hit a transmission line and went down into a residential neighborhood, obviously, and into at least one home. No reports yet on -- on injuries in the area. But again -- well, this sounds terrible -- the initial reports of a small plane crashing into a house. This is East Palo Alto, California.
We will continue to gather information on this. Again, no reports on injuries yet, but it's early in the morning. So, we'll continue to follow this and get you any additional information that comes to us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
In other news now, you know, there is just no, really no putting the brakes on complaints about Toyota these days. Now it's the Corolla, 2009 and 2010 models, already part of the accelerator recall, but now there are complaints coming in about the power steering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHINICHI SASAKI, VICE PRESIDENT, TOYOTA (through translator): We will make a recall of Corolla if this is a problem that threatens the safety, but if it is not, we will provide the usual repair service based on customer complaints.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Toyota also announced today that they are deploying quality control officers around the globe. Congress wants to know more about these plans and the original recall, but company spokesman, Akio Toyoda, says he won't testify. Instead, the company's north American chief will testify on his behalf.
We have dedicated a page on our website to the latest information on all the various recalls of vehicles involved. Here's what you do -- just go to CNN.com/Toyota.
New home construction rose by more than expected in January. Is the housing market on the road to recovery? Not so fast. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.
Alison, are we talking about a sizable jump here?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you know, it is a significant jump. It's an almost 3 percent increase in January. And think about it, that's despite all of the bad weather, all that snow we had in December --
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
KOSIK: -- which can definitely slow down home building.
And if you want a comparison on this, the pace of new home construction is now more than 20 percent higher than it was at this time a year ago. That's good news.
Plus, it's at its fastest pace since July of '09, which means that things are picking up. Home construction has gone up in three of the last six months, so those are really good signs, Tony.
HARRIS: So, Alison, how far away are we from a full recovery of this sector?
KOSIK: Of course, don't, you know, bring out the champagne just yet, or your Jack Daniels or whatever you like to celebrate with.
HARRIS: Hey now!
KOSIK: The consensus is, you know, we've still got a ways to go.
Building permits fell almost 6 percent in January, and really that's another indication that home construction is going to slump in February. And on top of that we've had bad weather so far this February, so that's going to hamper the construction process as well. And what this really means, Tony, is that we may have to wait until Spring before we can even talk about a full recovery.
Still, permits for single-family homes rose slightly, and that is a good sign. Here's why -- the single-family home is seen by many as the key to this report, as it points to individuals who are going out there and buying and building a new home. Also, multifamily units like condos and apartments, they tend to be more volatile, if you look at them on a month-to-month basis.
So, bottom line here, we could see some good signs, some signs of sluggishness, there are. I don't know, let's go ahead and call it treading water until the Spring, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
KOSIK: And that's when, you know, we can really start to assess the prospects for a full recovery in the housing industry, Tony?
HARRIS: No, that makes sense. That makes sense. How about the Big Board? Markets right now, Alison?
KOSIK: We've lost a little steam. Right now, the Dow up about 25 points. Hey, we're still in the green. Investors are focusing on corporate earnings, much better-than-expected results we got from Deere and Whole Foods, they are helping to add to yesterday's very impressive rally that we had yesterday. We'll see if this momentum can pick up throughout the day.
HARRIS: Alison Kosik for us. Alison, appreciate it. Thank you.
KOSIK: Sure.
HARRIS: Burger King getting into the coffee business with a new partner. Do you want to find out who it is? Just logon to CNNMoney.com.
We are tracking the stimulus money one year later. Coming up next, we will check in with my roundtable, good folks, terrific panel, to get their thoughts on how well the stimulus is working, or maybe is it working?
And we will meet this man, a blind violinist who was trapped under the rubble in Haiti. How he got through and the famous musician who is helping him recover.
We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, stimulus money is making its way to U.S. territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nicknamed "America's Paradise," the U.S. Virgin Islands are riding a wave of federal tax dollars these days. The three islands that make up this tiny U.S. territory are slated to receive more than $130 million in stimulus money. The territory's governor, John DeJongh, says the islands are entitled to the funds.
GOV. JOHN DEJONGH, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS: We've been part of the United States since 1917. We are the furthermost destination within the Caribbean. So this really does help us to a very large extent.
ACOSTA (on camera): You're Americans.
DEJONGH: We're Americans.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Shaquil Bruno (ph) and Isaiah Thomas (ph) are looking forward to the new stimulus-funded sidewalk that will be built outside their high school in St. Thomas. The school got a visit from President Obama during the '08 campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be safer for the children walking home up the hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, look how hot the sun is.
ACOSTA: And TV ads in the islands urge residents to apply for $8 million in Energy Department grants to buy stimulus funded solar hot water heaters. The territory's leaders say the stimulus is creating jobs. SEN. LOUIS PATRICK HILL, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LEGISLATURE: They're manufacturing solar hot water heaters in the territory, which is something we've never done in the past.
ACOSTA: But the government stimulus website shows of the $19 million received by the Virgin Islands so far, 152 jobs have been created, about $127,000 per job. All in a territory where the unemployment rate is just under 8 percent, well below the national average.
TOM SCHATZ, CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE: What the stimulus has done is it has alerted the American people to how government works in general. Because the money went into existing programs, people are beginning to understand how many of them simply don't work that efficiently.
ACOSTA (on camera): Even in paradise, there's a debate over how the stimulus is being spent. Last year, the territory's legislature passed a bill requiring the governor to disclose exactly where stimulus dollars are going. The governor vetoed the legislation.
(voice-over): So the territory's legislature overrode that veto last June. Still, six months later during our visit in January, the governor had not produced one stimulus report.
(on camera): He's not complying with the laws, what you're saying.
SEN. USIE RICHARDS, MINORITY LEADER, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LEGISLATURE: Not in compliance with the local law in regards to submitting a report.
DEJONGH: My veto of it was in no intent not to share information.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Since our visit, the governor has complied with the law and issued that report. In the days ahead, he says he hopes to increase the Virgin Islands share of the stimulus to $215 million.
(on camera): What would you say to folks in the mainland who wonder about a quarter of a million dollars going to paradise?
DEJONGH: Well, paradise needs it. I mean, it really does, one, help us to be able to accommodate over 2 million Americans that we get every year in terms of tourists to the island.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The stimulus has reached these islands. The critics say the program is still lost at sea.
Jim Acosta, CNN, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
