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Protesting Budget Cuts at Colleges and Universities; California Class Size Soaring; Elections for Sale?
Aired March 04, 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: It is being called a day of action to defend education, teachers and students across the nation putting away their books and grabbing picket signs. Rallies, marches and walkouts under way in 33 states today to protest budget cuts at colleges and universities.
Demonstrators say those funding cuts have forced tuition hikes and canceled classes, meaning it may -- it may take more than four years and money to graduate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is so jacked up, we shouldn't -- we're paying so much already, why would they even consider making us pay more?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Got to tell you, you can trace today's protests across the country to California's budget mess, where $1 billion was cut from the state's university system in just the past two years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMEKONGO DIBINGA, IREPORTER: We have a wide-scale problem on this issue of education, and the more we cut these budgets, the more we're going to see the prison population rise. We're going to see more teachers be unemployed. And we're also going to see more unqualified teachers in the classrooms.
It has been said that if you want to study what a government truly values, look at its budget, and there you will see where the priorities are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy, your voices are raised, and we are listening. From California, we head back to New York and today's protest at NYU.
Ines Ferre following the story for us.
Ines, what's the mood at the New York rallies taking shape?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting is that those students are later meeting up with students from the New School. HARRIS: That's right.
FERRE: And also from Hunter College. And then they're going to Governor Paterson's New York office to protest there.
And I've spoken to these students, and some students are really upset at the threat of cuts to state-funded colleges and universities, and also higher tuition costs. Some students that they have had to take on extra jobs, Tony, they have more debt on their hands, and some even need to extend the number of years that they're in school.
And students across the country have really complained about this problem. Here are what some are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BATEMAN, METRO STATE STUDENT PRESIDENT: If we wait until next year, we are going to be shutting down schools. We are going to be hiking tuition. We're going to be cutting financial aid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep it as low as possible, for my sake and the students' sake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FERRE: And most of today's protests are expected to be centered around cuts to state colleges and universities, but you can also expect to see folks protesting against cuts to K-12 education, and also private tuition hikes. I spoke to one girl who said, "Just because I'm in a private school doesn't mean I don't face the same problems as the public school students, that same barrier which is basically money" -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Yes.
We talked to a young woman last hour who echoed that sentiment. But, Ines, wait a minute. Everything costs more today. Hello? We've been through a brutal recession, still trying to recover from that.
Hasn't the cost of living gone up for everyone?
FERRE: Well, yes, you've got higher costs for everything.
HARRIS: Yes.
FERRE: And schools are saying that, you know, they've had to increase fees, they've had to cancel classes, cut some student programs. Some even furloughed professors and reduced salaries, especially in California. But you've got some state college administrators that are even saying even with the tuition hikes, they're still not meeting their budget needs. A real problem.
HARRIS: Yes. And we're also hearing from some of these students -- yes, we're hearing from some of the students, look, we might feel a little bit better about all of this if you would simply offer us a little more transparency, open your books. I know you're following this story for us throughout the day. Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.
And as we've said, thousands from students from coast to coast are turning out to protest tuition hikes.
Josh Levs is here to focus on some of the protests.
And you're going to help us with the touch screen here.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Tony, given what we're talking about, in this population, there's no surprise there's a lot of stuff going on the Web. Right?
HARRIS: Yes, for sure.
LEVS: I'm just going to show you a little bit at the top, because if you want to know if there's a protest near you, what's going on in your state, or if a young person out there, a few things you should know about.
First of all, I'm going to push this twice, ireport.com. Send us your pictures, photos, videos all day long and let us know what you get. They're starting to come in right here from some of the events around the country. We'll get a little more to that in a little bit.
Take a look right here. I want you to see a map that we have set up at our page that shows you some activities in each state today. You just click on your state and it tells you right over here about what is expected to happen. The words are going to be small, but I'm just giving you the idea here.
It's all on the main page of CNN.com. It links you to this.
And we're getting a lot of this information from here. This is studentacvism.net. And what they have is really extensive here.
Everywhere you see one of these little balloon marks, it gives you information about what's going on that city. And once you go there, you click on it, it often brings you to their Twitter page, their Facebook page. It gives you directions. It gives you their Web site about the demonstrations.
So lots go on, on the Web, Tony. And we're also looking at what these folks are exactly protesting.
HARRIS: Good. Good.
LEVS: I'm going to show you some figures now. You've got to see these numbers. They are stunning.
HARRIS: Whoa.
LEVS: First of all, we have three schools up there for you. Take a look at this.
The University of California, 32 percent increase, that right there. We got the numbers for you, from $2,264, up to $10,989.
Look over at the University of Georgia, a 35 percent increase. See that -- $2,000, up to $8,195.
And the University of Arizona, Tony, 31 percent increase, from $2,130, all the way up to $8, 972. We're talking tuition and fees when you take a look at this.
So here's what we did here. We took a look at those same schools, not just the latest increase, but over a 10-year period. And here's what you have there -- the University of Arizona there, from 1999 up to 2009, look at that, and we're basically talking in general about tripling there.
HARRIS: Right.
LEVS: From $2,264 up to $6,855.
California Berkeley, we know a lot of the protests today are in California, so you had about $4,000 in 1999, up to more than $8,000 of last year. University of Georgia, $3,000 in 1999. Now more than $7,500.
HARRIS: Look at that.
LEVS: Every year we've been seeing a massive jump, and you can look back and see how much it skyrocketed.
HARRIS: How do you manage that?
LEVS: Well, that's just it.
HARRIS: Yes. How do you manage it?
LEVS: I know. What are you going to do? And this is what they're talking about.
And I told you last hour about stimulus money that's been put in to defray some costs. But the truth is, it wasn't a solution. People are still struggling.
And I'll show you. We've got everything that I just showed you, the link for you at the blog and Facebook and Twitter and my page. It's at CNN.com/josh, Facebook and Twitter.
And we're following the tweets from the field. A lot of these protesters today are tweeting.
HARRIS: Oh, good.
LEVS: And Tony, you're asking what can be done. Some of them have some ideas, and I'll be sharing them with you this hour.
HARRIS: And I know a lot of folks want the books opened up. Let's see if you've been mismanaging, if there's a better way to spend the money that you're getting. I can't wait to hear some of the Twitterers, Josh.
LEVS: Yes. It's all good.
HARRIS: Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: See you.
HARRIS: Do you have any thoughts on the solution to this problem that we've been discussing here for the last six, seven minutes or so? If you do, give me a call, 1-877-742-5760. We would love to hear from you.
Other big stories we are following for you this hour.
New guidelines say men should weigh the risks and benefits before deciding whether to be screened for prostate cancer. A House panel is holding a hearing on the updated guidelines from the American Cancer Society. The organization says while the tests can detect cancer, they can also lead to false positives and unnecessary treatments.
We will hear from our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, about the new guidelines a bit later this hour.
President Obama tells Congress it is time to finish the job on health care reform. The president is calling for an up-or-down vote in the next few weeks. He also supports using reconciliation to allow for a simple 51-vote majority. Democrats are hopeful, but Republicans are pushing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: How many Democrats are going to side with the Speaker over their constituents? And how many Democrats are willing to vote blind when the American people strongly oppose this bill and small business owners are terrified by it?
My point here is this debate is far from over. Republicans are going to continue to stand with the American people against this job- killing, massive government takeover of our health care system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We, again, as I said to you before, are waiting for the -- to freeze the design on the substance, get a bill, which I hope will be very soon, see what the Senate is willing to do, and then take up the issue with our colleagues. It is -- in the House. It is pretty exciting, because we feel that we are on the brink of making very important history relevant to the lives of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Overworked and pushed to the limits. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too many students that will be without an efficient teacher because you're stressed. You're thinking of your bills that you have to pay. You're thinking of your mortgage. You're thinking of your own family. It's very hard for all the children to learn when you have a stressed teacher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Is this any way to educate our kids? We will take you inside a classroom suffering from budget cuts.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, dozens of protests nationwide today in defense of education. Demonstrators tired of budget cuts that are bloating classrooms and burdening teachers.
Casey Wian now with one first grade teacher who is really stressed out in California, trying hard to cope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at Maywood Elementary School in southern California, there is a growing problem, and it's about to walk through that door. It's not him or him or her, or any of the students individually, but it's just that there are too many of them in each classroom. And throughout California, budget cuts are forcing class sizes to increase dramatically.
(voice-over): Mrs. Cisneros used to have 20 students or fewer in her first grade classroom. State funding incentives kept kindergarten through third grade classes small. California had suspended that program to save money. So this year her class started with 27 students.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Melanie, what are you doing over there?
LORENA CISNEROS, FIRST GRADE TEACHER: One of the biggest problems in my classroom right now is going to be the seating, you know, just finding a seating arrangement for all those children.
Are you OK, Bailey (ph)? Yes. Can you make up a little bit of room for Bailey (ph), please?
All the work that four teachers would do, now three teachers do it, and that's been a challenge as well.
WIAN (on camera): As you can see, there are no students in this classroom. That's because Maywood Elementary lost five teachers last year. It's now being used as a meeting room. Last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District send out 8,000 layoff notices to teachers and other employees. About 2,000 actually ended up losing their jobs.
This year, more than 5,000 additional layoff notices are going out, and by the end of next year, the district will have cut more than $2 billion from its annual budget.
CISNEROS: We just spend a lot of money from our own pockets, sometimes a trip to the teacher's store is $60 to $100. For example, those books, I purchased them myself.
WIAN (voice-over): Lupe Hernandez is Maywood's principal. She has presided over four years of rising test scores and she knows some of her best teachers will get pink slips.
(on camera): What has it done for morale for teachers and other staff members here at the school?
LUPE HERNANDEZ, PRINCIPAL, MAYWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: You know, our teachers really work hard because we have had such great success. It's hard for them. They are staying here longer. They are in fear of what is next.
WIAN (voice-over): Educating a room full of six and seven-year- olds while keeping them safe is not a job for those distracted by the threat of losing their jobs.
CISNEROS: It's just too many students that will be without an efficient teacher. Because you're stress, you are thinking of the bills that you have to pay. You're thinking of your mortgage. You're think of your own family. It's very hard for all the children to learn when you have a stressed teacher.
WIAN: Casey Wian, CNN, Maywood, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, while these teachers face cuts, almost $7 billion stimulus have been spent on education in California. Where on earth did the money go?
We're investigating that ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Product placement going on here, right?
Top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
What on earth was he thinking? An Israeli soldier telling military secrets on Facebook. The Israeli military says the combat soldier posted information about a raid including the time and place. The raid had to be called off. The soldier is locked up for 10 days and removed from his battalion. Deadly violence as polls open for early voting in Iraq. Three bombings have killed at least a dozen people and injured dozens more. Iraqis are choosing a new parliament and national government. Election day is Sunday.
Shocking and totally unexpected for passengers on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Three 26-foot-tall waves battered the ship, smashing windows and killing two people. More than a dozen other people were hurt. The ship was northeast of Barcelona, Spain, at the time.
More top stories for you in 20 minutes.
U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon raked in millions in the professional wrestling ring. Now she is planning to spend a small fortune for a spot in the political arena, part of a trend that some say spells trouble for American politics.
Randi Kaye looks at whether U.S. elections are for sale.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Take a look at this. That woman, in wrestling jargon, she is getting tombstoned. Two things you need to know about her.
First, she hates to lose and will do anything to win. Second, she is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and plans to spend tens of millions of her own to become the next U.S. senator from Connecticut.
Her name is Linda McMahon. Dave Leventhal from the Center of Responsible Politics tracks campaign spending. He says there is no recession in politics.
(on camera): Do you have to be rich to get elected these days?
DAVE LEVENTHAL, CENTER OF RESPONSIBLE POLITICS: You don't have to be rich, but it sure helps to be rich.
KAYE (voice-over): In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg poured at least $90 million of his own into his re-election campaign and won. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine more than 40 million to win in 2005. Back in the Connecticut smack down, McMahon's opponent in the Republican primary are millionaires too but small time compared to McMahon.
Former congressman Rob Simmons is worth about $2.5 million.
ROB SIMMONS: You know, we don't need $40 or $50 million, we don't need $40 or $50 million, we need people. We need people. And tonight, we have got people.
(on camera): Do you believe that you have to be rich to win?
SIMMONS: No, I do not. And I am not rich and I have won. KAYE: McMahon has never held political office but says she is willing to spend $50 million of her own money on this campaign and finance herself because she is refusing to accept money from special interest groups.
(voice-over): Personal financial disclosure forms shows McMahon has so much cash she keeps $1 million in a bank account and has more than $15,000 in uncashed checks.
At the Republican primary debate in Hartford this week, McMahon was asked if she was trying to buy the election. Her opponent Simons says it's a valid question.
(on camera): You've raised about $3 million.
SIMMONS: Yes.
KAYE: Your opponent, Linda McMahon has said that she is willing to spend $50 million that she has, her own money, on her campaign. How do you compete with that?
SIMMONS: it's hard in some respects to compete with somebody who has just the ton of money.
KAYE: Being independently wealthy allows McMahon to spend more time with voters, less time fundraising. She can blanket the state with advertising and pay top dollar for staffers. Her chief of staff earns nearly $300,000 a year.
KAYE (on camera): So money talks?
LEVENTHAL: Money does talk.
KAYE (voice-over): But for candidates like Linda McMahon who pay for their own campaigns, talk may not be enough. The Center for Responsive Politics says 40 out of 51 congressional candidates who spend $500,000 or more on their 2008 campaigns lost or quit, proof perhaps that even the richest person in the world needs a message voters believe, not just a good act.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Hartford, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That is wild.
And you can see more of Randi Kaye's reporting on the price of politics on "AC 360," tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
A call for a national day of protests at schools and universities across the United States. We will check in at one of them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's see. We love highlighting the work of our terrific money team, CNNMoney.com. If you want the latest financial news -- who is that? Is that Poppy conducting an interview there? OK.
If you want the latest financial news and analysis, it's a click away at CNNMoney.com.
Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange now. Coming up on three hours into the trading day.
I think we're slightly off session highs, but the Dow is in positive territory, plus 19. The Nasdaq essentially flat for the day.
We're following themes numbers throughout the day for you in the NEWSROOM.
You know, this is what you might call class action -- sorry -- teachers and students protesting budget cuts at state colleges and universities. Protests are happening at more than 100 campuses in 33 states.
One, the City University of New York. And making his voice heard, adjunct student activism professor Angus Johnston. He is on the phone with us.
And Angus, that's quite a title. What are your responsibilities with a title like that?
ANGUS JOHNSTON, HISTORIAN: Well, actually, I'm not a professor of student activism. I'm a historian and I research student activism.
HARRIS: OK. That's better.
Let me ask you, to the point here, who are you frustrating with here -- the chancellors, the Boards of Regents, the legislatures? Who are you angry with?
JOHNSTON: What's happened in the United States in the last few years is that you've seen a cut in public support for higher education at the same time as you're seeing students facing more difficult financial situations of their own. And so students are getting squeezed from both sides.
They have less money and less financial security. The university is providing -- the government is providing less money to the university. And then, at the same time, the quality of education is falling as the tuition is rising.
HARRIS: I've got to ask you -- so, you know, it seems to me over the years we say one thing and we seem to do another. We talk about education -- oh, we love education, education is the way to the future and the gateway to prosperity. And we seem to do other things in terms of how we fund education.
Is it really the priority that we profess it to be?
JOHNSTON: Well, that's exactly the problem. Steep support for higher education has fallen dramatically at exactly the same time as higher education has gotten more democratic. So, 50 years ago, 60 years ago, when most people who were going to college had a lot of money and had a lot of resources and were members of, you know, various elite, it was relatively cheap to go to college.
HARRIS: Yes.
JOHNSTON: Now it's just the opposite.
HARRIS: Well, what do we do here? We're in some, you know, difficult economic times, as you know. So what happens here? What goes away to provide more money for education? I mean, I just want to gauge how deeply you and your colleagues are thinking about this.
JOHNSTON: Well, one of the things that has been proposed in California is that state spending on higher education be set at 10 percent of the total state budget, which is actually well below what it was at the heyday of higher education in California in the 1960s. And what Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed is cutting money out of prisons to support that.
HARRIS: Right, right.
JOHNSTON: But there are a variety of other different approaches that people are taking. The thing that's going on with students today in these protests is they're drawing attention to not only this budget issue, but also other issues that are going on, on campus, and they are -- they're putting their agenda on the table. And it's not any one perspective. It's not any one set of answers as to what -- what's supposed to happen.
HARRIS: Angus, we appreciate it. Thanks for your time.
JOHNSTON: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: And we'll track this tomorrow right here in the NEWSROOM.
Where is the stimulus in all of this? How much money has California gotten and how many jobs has the money created or saved? Josh Levs is at the Stimulus Desk.
LEVS: Yes.
HARRIS: And why don't we ask you, Josh.
LEVS: It's stark, Tony. I mean, you know, one reason that there's so much talk about California is, California really is the beginning in a lot of ways of the anger and frustration that we're seeing all over the country today. So many people talking about this.
Let's do this. Let's take a look at this map. I want to show it to you quickly. I showed it to you once quickly earlier this hour, but look at the top there. The University of California at Berkeley. What this map shows is how much the proposed increases for tuition would be. And if you look at the University of California Berkeley there, you're seeing a suggested 32 percent increase of $2,664, which brings it to over $10,000. Now, that's a big increase for one year. You're seeing a couple of other schools as well. But that comes after a year in which California has also gotten all this stimulus money. So take a look here.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: I mean imagine if they hadn't gotten it. The California Department of Ed got $6.8 billion out of the stimulus right there. And the next page is going to show you what's happened with that money. If we take a look at the next screen here, we're going to break it down. $4.7 billion there has been disbursed to all these education programs of all ages, all over the country. And now look at how much of that's actually been spent. $3.2 billion of that total has been spent. Which means, you're talking about all these people with all these -- who wouldn't be working otherwise.
HARRIS: Sure, sure.
LEVS: Fifty thousand jobs in California, Tony, have already been created or saved. So even with all those billions of dollars from the stimulus that have already been poured into California, they're still talking about how much they need to cut back on. And you saw the University of California there saying they would need to increase tuition by that much. So, Tony, that's after billions in stimulus.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: That's how stark this is.
HARRIS: You know, I wanted to ask you another question, but I want to get to some of these blog comments and then maybe you can show folks how to continue in the conversation.
LEVS: Sure, do that.
HARRIS: So stay right there.
LEVS: Yes, OK.
HARRIS: You know, we've asked you for your thoughts, your views on the budget cuts and the tuition hikes. We've got some of your blog responses here.
Michael writes, "as an adjunct professor at one of these schools, the real issue isn't budget cuts. It's budget priorities. As a culture, we've convinced ourselves that education is expendable, and this attitude affects education at every level."
From Caitlyn. "I am an undergraduate student and it is a struggle for the majority of us to make ends meet. How can we be expected to succeed if we can't afford to finish college at all, let alone in a four-year span?"
And Allan says, "these people protesting the cuts to education seem to be oblivious to the fact that we are in serious economic times. To think that every other aspect of society has to tighten their belts while education can continue on like everything was fine is very narrow sighted."
Josh, where are you? How can folks participate in the conversation here?
LEVS: And, Tony, I think the ends meet, one spelled it m-e-a-t.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
LEVS: I'm pretty sure when I looked at it just now, to make ends meet is m-e-a -- but impressive.
HARRIS: I hope we spelled it correctly in the graphic.
LEVS: No, no, no, I'm just saying, when we take a look at the blog posts, sometimes that's what we get. And I tell you, it's -- we're talking about education. It fits in that.
HARRIS: Oh, my.
LEVS: Let's keep them coming, CNN.com/josh. Also Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. But, of course, you don't need to type in CNN.com/josh because what you can do at all times of the day, anytime you're near a computer --
HARRIS: Come on, now.
LEVS: Is go to CNN.com/tony.
HARRIS: Hey, now.
LEVS: And send him your thoughts, your ideas, and tell him how much you love him.
HARRIS: I'm trying to find a -- ah, nice. I'm trying to find the phone number here too, because you can also send us an I-Report or you can call us. And I don't know where the phone number is, but we'll find it and post it a little later.
LEVS: There's always later. We'll find it.
HARRIS: Appreciate it, Josh. Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: You know, first it was breast cancer. Now new recommendations on prostate cancer screenings are raising questions and causing confusion. Find out what our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has to say. That's next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy. First, the doubts about routine mammograms at age 40. Now questions about regular prostate screenings at 50. The American Cancer Society says there is little evidence routine checks make sense. The blood tests often result in false positives, and researchers say the digital exam is essentially worthless. Both can lead to unnecessary procedures that put men at risk of impotence and incontinence. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, weighed in on "AC360."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There have sort of been four big studies around the world, only one of which showed a modest improvement in survival. Three really showed no improvement in survival by getting that prostate-specific test.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: So, if it's true that there isn't any benefit for PSA testing, why should anyone get screened at age 50?
GUPTA: Right. And that's a very good question. Let me be very clear here. This is confusing, as you -- as you warned, and not everyone agrees on that, including major organizations. What you're talking about here is specifically the American Cancer Society. The American Neurological Association says people should get screened. In fact, they recommend someone get a screening test at age 40 as a baseline and they compare that subsequently to someone who gets a screening test at age 50.
But the ACS, the American Cancer Society, the news today, they're specifically saying that we're not sure there is virtue in people getting screened at age 50. In fact, the chief medical officer, who I just talked to earlier today, says he did not get screened at age 50 because he did not see the virtue.
With regard to high-risk groups, people who have a family history, and what that specifically means is the had a first-degree relative who had prostate cancer below the age of 65, brother or father, or they're African-Americans, they are considered high risk. They should get the screening test and be counseled earlier.
But at age 50, you know, if you're worried about it, if you're anxious about it for some reason, maybe you had a friend who had prostate cancer, make you have another cancer in your body and you've dealt with cancer, getting the PSA test is an option for you.
COOPER: Is there a danger, though, in getting the actual screening test? I mean what -- why -- what's the downside of getting screened?
GUPTA: So -- this is an interesting question because you have a test. Let's say it comes back elevated. What you don't know is what that mean exactly. Could it just represent inflammation of the prostate? Could it represent a very, very slow-moving cancer or might it represent an aggressive cancer? And the thing about this test is, it simply cannot provide you that piece of information. We need a better screening test or we need to know how to analyze PSAs better than we do now.
But the concern is that if it comes back elevated, it may lead you down the road, first anxiety, then biopsy and possibly treatment. And with treatment, again, you have significant potential risks -- bowel dysfunction, bladder dysfunction, sexual dysfunction. Not in significant numbers at all. So I think that's the biggest concern here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on top stories this hour.
Protests and walkouts planned for more than 100 college campuses today. Students are angry over state budget cuts in education and soaring tuition and fees. Organizers put today's protests together on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The powerful House Ways and Means Committee gets a new acting chairman. Congressman Sander Levin of Michigan taking over for New York's Charlie Rangel. He stepped down yesterday amid ethics inquiries. Congressman Rangel will be Larry King's guest tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Los Angeles Police are removing slain Senator Robert F. Kennedy's blood-stained clothes from an exhibit. The shirt and jacket were featured at a homicide convention in Las Vegas. One of Kennedy's sons called it a tasteless display.
Suicide bombers are destined for hell. That statement coming from a powerful Islamic scholar. A live report straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I need you to reach out to the program. I need you to talk to me directly. A couple ways that you can do that. First of all, CNN.com/tony takes you directly to this, bam, our blog page. If you'd like to send us your thoughts on Facebook, here's what you do, TonyHarrisCNN, and post your comments here. Here's my Twitter address, TonyHarrisCNN. One other way for you to contact us directly. Talk to the show. Call us. Pick up the phone. 1-877-742-5760. Let's have more of your views, more of your thoughts on the program, CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A Muslim religious ruling, or fatwa, reverberating around the world. We brought it to you yesterday. A highly influential Islamic scholar condemning terrorism in the strongest terms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED TAHIR-UL-QADRI, MUSLIM SCHOLAR: The terrorists are the biggest enemies of Islam. Someone should stand up and the group of scholars should stand up to condemn it absolutely. To declare that terrorism is terrorism. And no good intention can make -- provide any justification to act of terrorism. No pretext, no discussion of foreign policy of certain country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy, I can't hear it enough. CNN international security correspondent Paula Newton on the story for us in London.
Paula, good to see you again. What has been the response to this cleric's message?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been interesting. And to be honest, it's resonated a lot more than I thought it would. And the reason is, this isn't anything new. But this fatwa is exhaustive and that seems to be what has caught people's attention.
You know, from some of the Muslim websites I'm reading, "I am not exaggerating if I say, this is the final word on this subject." Also, "bottom line, thousands upon thousands of people have died because of radical terrorists and just now they've decided to issue this fatwa?" So, I mean, a lot of people saying as well that, "look, it's easy to criticize, but I don't see anything to suggest any better ideas to tackle extremism."
HARRIS: Yes.
NEWTON: Also, Tony, on the streets of London today, speaking to a few people, they do seem to -- and this is Muslims
HARRIS: Right.
NEWTON: Tend to feel a sense of relief that finally someone that they trust, someone that they respect, is standing up for their religion and saying, look, in our own religion, this is wrong. There's no way to justify this.
HARRIS: OK. Here's the -- here's the follow-up, OK. Will this cleric's message resonate with young Muslims who terror groups try to recruit? I mean, and can this interpretation of the Koran compete, you know, with this whole idea of the promise of 72 virgins in heaven?
NEWTON: Well, and that's just one of the things that's promised.
HARRIS: Yes.
NEWTON: I think that what it does is emboldens people who want to stand up against them. They're armed with something now. Something that is based on the Koran. And that when those people want to stand up to other people in their community who seem to be advocating this violence for some sort of religious reason, they now feel that they're prepared. That they have some kind of basis. It's going to be translated into English.
It has to be said, though, Tony, to have real influence, you have to have now more highly influential scholars, especially from Saudi Arabia, to sign on to something like this. So we'll continue to follow it.
HARRIS: I love it.
NEWTON: But as I said, even I've been surprised that it has resonated as much really on the blogs and on the websites.
HARRIS: Yes. Boy, stay on this one for us, Paula. This -- there's something here. Paula Newton for us in London.
An active sacrifice in this troubled economy. What a California woman was willing to give up to save a co-worker's job.
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HARRIS: Got to tell you, with the economy pulling out of recession, slowly but, you know, pulling out of recession, new questions emerging about one of the main weapons used to fight it. The massive bank bailout. Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson says he felt like he was literally trying to save the world. Wow. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York with the exclusive.
Good stuff, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Tony, I can't take credit for this. And I didn't interview Paulson myself. I wish. But this was an exclusive conversation that we were at between the chairman of Morgan Stanley, John Mack, and also Hank Paulson, the former Treasury secretary. And I got to say, it's one of the most candid times that I have heard Paulson speak about the financial crisis.
And what was interesting is he said, I literally felt like the economy, if one more bank failed after Lehman Brothers, if a big bank failed, that we would fall into a financial Armageddon. That we would fall into another great depression. We would see 20, 30 percent unemployment, as we did during the Depression. He said, that is what we were trying to save the American people from during the big bank bailout, but that's not how Americans saw it. Most of Americans, at least. And he said that they made one big mistake in the bank bailout. I want you to hear how he explained it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY PAULSON, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: One of the things they missed was the anger in the American public that -- that all of us missed because we never made the connection between Wall Street and main street. I was never able to communicate that I certainly didn't go -- I wasn't trying to bail out any bank or an investment bank. The reason that we did this was because of the American people were going to pay the price if the system collapsed. And that wasn't -- that point wasn't made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: The point certainly wasn't made. And it's not clear, Tony, if it has been made yet, even by the current administration. And I will say, that Paulson pointed out, he said, compensation, especially those bonuses on Wall Street, he said, compensation has been, quote-unquote, out of whack forever really and that it continues to be so. And that's where a lot of this outrage is coming from. To hear him speak candidly about that, that was fascinating, Tony. HARRIS: That is fascinating. You know, you made the point, let's circle back to it, has the current administration been any better at making the argument that the bailout of Wall Street was really for main street?
HARLOW: It's a great question. You know, under President Obama, we've seen a different attack at this than under the Bush administration, of course. The current administration wasn't in the depth of the financial crisis, as President Bush's administration was. You heard President Obama earlier this year saying that some on Wall Street are, quote-unquote, fat cats. You didn't hear that from the previous president.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
HARLOW: And you see this administration trying to push financial regulatory reform through Congress, unsuccessfully so far, saying we need a consumer protection agency and only this reform will really help the American consumer. But yet we don't have that through Congress yet. We have the Volcker proposal saying, don't let banks that take in customer's deposits trade them for their own means, for their own personal gain. Again, just a proposal.
So you do see a different way of approaching it from this administration, Tony, but the outcome so far is indifferent. There's no fundamental change for the American people since the height really of the finance crisis. He had a lot of interesting things to say on that point and more. You can see a few clips from that interview all right there at CNNmoney.com.
HARRIS: I love that.
HARLOW: But interesting to hear him being pretty open about this situation.
HARRIS: Oh, yes. And he has said in congressional hearings that if we hadn't taken the steps we took, unemployment today would be about 25 percent.
HARLOW: Absolutely. Absolutely.
HARRIS: Pretty -- yes, yes, Poppy, great stuff. Appreciate it. Thank you.
HARLOW: Thanks.
HARRIS: You know, we have heard so many discouraging stories about jobs and the economy, but this one is sure to lift your spirits. A California woman steps up to the podium during a city council meeting and gives up her job so another employee won't be laid off. Patricia Overy made the sacrifice so a 60-year-old woman in the finance department could stay employed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA OVERY, SACRIFICED JOB: I thought that I could cope with the loss of a job perhaps better than some of my co-workers.
CARY KEATEN, LATHROP CITY MANAGER: When this came up, she -- a very selfless act on her part she felt it was something that her and her family could take on rather than another fellow employee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So Overy says she hopes her community will survive the difficult economy and that there are better times ahead.
How to help a child who has seen a sister die or his home destroyed in an earthquake? The healing power of art through the eyes of the children of Haiti, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: You know, Haiti is still coping with the aftermath of that horrific quake. Therapists there are using crayons and paint to help kids heal. Our David McKenzie reports now from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They've witnessed unspeakable tragedies. Their homes collapsed, their relatives killed, their world turned upside down. Now, Haiti's children need to heal. And art is showing the way.
MCKENZIE (on camera): All of these kids have been living outside of their homes in tents, including Davidson. He says he likes to come here to draw and to hang out with other kids. And that's a nice way for him just to relax.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The art therapy program is run by Kakalia (ph) University. It was flattened by the quake. But the students and faculty wanted to do something to help the area's affected children.
"I'm drawing a woman," she says, "who was standing in front of the house looking through the window during the earthquake."
The woman is her. Psychologists believe that art therapy can help children express traumatic events through paintings better than words.
MCKENZIE (on camera): Some of their paintings are really tragic. This is Insly (ph) and he's drawn the story of what happened to him in the earthquake. This is his house, and here is his sister, who was flying a kite during the earthquake. The house collapsed and his sister died.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Many children depicted their loss in paintings like this. But some of the younger ones just enjoy a break from their reality. Andrew Maron, a senior, whose own house was destroyed, says working with children also helps him heal.
"This is what I'm studying," he says. "And this is what I love. There's nothing better than doing what you love and helping children by giving them support that they need."
The university admits that it's only a small step, but it's an important one to help the kids of Haiti to just be kids again.
David McKenzie, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And for more on how you can help the people of Haiti and Chile, just click on the CNN.com/impact.
Let's take it to the next level. It is go time. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, it's good to see you, as always. Thanks so much.
