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New Jobless Numbers; Terror Trial Reversal?; Unemployment Rate 9.7 Percent
Aired March 05, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for your top-of-the-hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Across America, experts crunch unemployment stats for February. New clues the jobs recovery will be painfully slow.
It is noon at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may face a military tribunal after all.
Let's do this -- let's get started.
The economy lost fewer jobs than analysts predicted last month, a sign the jobs market may be recovering, but the process is really painfully slow. New numbers out this morning show the unemployment rate held steady in February, at 9.7 percent, 36,000 jobs were lost. Economists were expecting 68,000.
In a speech on clean energy jobs just moments ago, President Obama commented on the new report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This morning we learned that in February, our economy lost an additional 36,000 jobs. Now, this is actually better than expected considering the severe storms all along the East Coast are estimated to have had a depressing effect on the numbers. And it shows that the measures that were taken to turn our economy around are having some impact. But even though it's better than expected, it's more than we should tolerate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Let's bring in our money team to talk about the jobs and the new unemployment report. Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi, there he is. And Christine Romans in New York.
Thank you both for being here.
Ali, let me start with you. Well, ladies first. I'm not starting with you, Ali. Let's start with Christine. Let me start with your better half here.
Look, Christine, break this out for us. The jobs report for February, good and bad here. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, we still have a very big chunk of people who have been unemployed for a very long time, Tony. I mean, 40 percent of the people who have been out of work have been out of work for longer than six months, and that really is truly --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: The chronic unemployed, correct?
ROMANS: Yes, this is a problem. But Ali and I were just having a vigorous debate about this with a couple of economists who are going to be on our show this weekend, and they were saying -- one of them was saying, look, outside of that 40 percent, there's some action happening for people. There's some -- the length of unemployment is shortening a little bit by just a few days.
Now you can expect to be unemployed 208 days instead of 212 days. It doesn't seem like much, but at least it's going in the right direction. And you're seeing the big job losses slow.
But, Tony, what I'm still concerned about and I think Ali is, too, is the big chunk of people who still have to be absorbed back into the labor market. It's going to take years to do that, by anybody's guess.
HARRIS: Yes.
What are your concerns, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, my bright side is that many months ago, or a year ago, we weren't having vigorous conversations with economists like Christine talked about, we were all trying to say is this bad or is this really bad? And here, what we have is it looks like there's a big storm cloud over us, it remains over us, it hasn't moved, but there's a silver lining around it. And I'll tell you what that is.
We're not losing more manufacturing jobs, which have been the bane of our job numbers for years, not just through this recession. Temporary jobs have been increasing. We don't like temporary jobs, but they're generally a step on the way to permanent jobs. So we're seeing some of that happen.
And we're seeing, as Christine said, less time spent on unemployment. Still around six months, longer than six months, but the reality is if you're looking for a trend, it's going in your direction. It's just nowhere near being able to solve the problem. And as Christine says, recovery, we're talking about 2013, 2014, longer, before these people who have been laid off get back in.
HARRIS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. That's way too long down the road here.
ROMANS: Yes. HARRIS: So, Christine, what jumpstarts employment? I keep hearing when we get sustained sales surges, when we get sustained sales growth. What does that mean? Is that three months? Is that two quarters?
What does that mean?
ROMANS: Tony, here's the thing. Nobody knows that. It's confidence. Confidence, and it's just a feeling of well-being and an ability to take a risk in the economy.
You know, we were also talking with David Gergen on the show about entrepreneurship and innovation and all this uncertainty about all these changes happening in the economy. If you want to make a change or make an investment or do something, there are 100 reasons not to and only one or two to actually do it. So when that changes, things will get better. Right?
VELSHI: Let's say you're a health care company, you're an insurance company, you're an energy company. You want to build a new plant, you want to do something new, but you can't do something new right now because you know that there is legislation coming down.
So, this uncertainty, while it may be fantastic that we've got this activist government that wants to change so many things, that kind of change makes it hard for business to invest. And as a result, a lot of business owners are sitting back saying I'm just going to wait to see how this plays out.
HARRIS: Oh, but you can't make money -- look, you can't make money sitting on your stockpiles.
VELSHI: You can't, correct.
HARRIS: You can't. You've got to move it. You've got to put it somewhere. You've got to invest it somewhere. But here's the thing.
VELSHI: Chicken or the egg.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
So here's the thing, Christine. Are we talking about needing a new bubble here? The president, last hour, was talking about the green economy and green jobs and the energy sector. Isn't that the new bubble, and isn't that something that potentially is sustainable beyond, say, the 10 years of the housing bubble?
ROMANS: Look, Tony, you have to create 8.5 million green technology jobs just to absorb all the manufacturing and other workers who lost their jobs in the recession. And you have to create 100,000 to 150,000 jobs every month just to keep up with the working age population coming in. That's an awful lot of jobs. I haven't seen no forecast that you're going to have --
HARRIS: So you need a big sector, correct?
VELSHI: Yes. You could probably --
ROMANS: Is green technology going to create 10 million jobs? I don't think so.
VELSHI: Well, but let's say it can create two million jobs. I'm just inventing that number. The rest of the economy can deal with the 100,000 and 150,000 jobs a month that Christine says we need on a sustained basis.
HARRIS: There you go.
VELSHI: But there has to be something, there has to be some growth area. We know energy will be part of it and we know health care will be part of it.
HARRIS: Health, yes.
VELSHI: But who's making big investments in those areas right now without knowing what legislation is going to be in place? So, you might see that once health care legislation is put to bed, one way or the other, you might actually see a bit of an uptick in spending as companies say, all right, we know how this is going to look, we know what the roadmap is, let's start putting some money into it.
HARRIS: That is terrific.
Do I have to wrap it now or can I keep going? Sonia (ph)?
I've got to wrap it.
ROMANS: Blame it on the producers, Tony. Blame it on the producers.
HARRIS: There you go. There you go.
I know you guys will be back next hour.
VELSHI: It's Sonia (ph), for everybody who's concerned.
HARRIS: Yes. Thank you, guys. We appreciate it.
Ali and Christine will have much more on this, a vigorous debate, as you heard alluded to just moments ago, on "YOUR $$$$$." That's tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And they'll be back next hour in Ali's show.
Some other top stories we are following for you right now in the NEWSROOM.
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks could face a military trial after all. The White House may reverse a decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in civilian court.
White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us live with details.
And Suzanne, good to see you.
What is the new thinking that's taking shape here?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Tony.
Well, a senior administration official says that now these White House advisers are considering recommending that they try the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, in a military court, not a civilian court, in New York City. Now, if this happens, Tony, this would be an about-face for the administration on two fronts. First, the location of the trial. Secondly, the nature of the trial itself.
The White House has been under incredible pressure. New York officials say we don't want this trial in our back yard, in Manhattan, because of logistics and security. There are also a lot of members of Congress, mostly Republicans, who have been saying, look, if you want to close Guantanamo Bay detention facility, we want to make sure that you try these guys in a military tribunals or commissions setting that is much more strict when it comes to suspected terrorists.
Now, I spoke with the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, earlier this morning. Here's what he was willing to say, what he said. He said that, "We are evaluating this based on New York City logistical and security concerns on trial in federal courts."
This is very different, Tony, than what we heard from the attorney general, Eric Holder, back in November, when he expressed why it was that he was making the recommendation that he was.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Justice Department has a long and a successful history of prosecuting terrorists for their crimes against our nation, particularly in New York. Although these cases can often be complex and challenging, federal prosecutors have successfully met these challenges and have convicted a number of terrorists who are now serving lengthy sentences in our prisons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Tony, senior administration officials are emphasizing that no final recommendation has been made or given to the president, so the president hasn't made a decision. But just the mere fact that you've got folks who are talking to me and other media outlets, they certainly are seeming to prepare the American people and potentially their critics for what's down the line, which could potentially be a real reversal here -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, floating that trial balloon.
Already there is criticism? What are you hearing, Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Very strong criticism, Tony. This from the ACLU, their Web site. This is attributed to their executive director.
He says, "If the stunning reversal comes to pass, President Obama will deal a death blow to his own Justice Department, not to mention American values. If the president flip-flops and retreats to the Bush military commissions, he will betray his campaign promise to restore the rule of law, demonstrate that his principles are up for grabs, and lose all credibility with Americans who care about justice and the rule of law."
Tony, I should let you know I asked the White House if they had any response to this. They said, no, they didn't. They're going to let Gibbs' statement as it is.
And we don't have a chance to ask them additional follow-ups here. There was a briefing scheduled for 12:30 today. It was pushed back to 3:00. Now we're told it's been canceled. They said this was because of scheduling issues. Don't know what those scheduling issues are, Tony, but whatever they are, it certainly gives this White House more time to hone its message -- Tony.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.
Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
What can get Americans back to work? Where are the jobs going to come from? We are digging deeper.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, the latest report shows the economy lost 36,000 jobs last month. Not as bad as expected, but what does that really mean for the future, the big picture here?
Thomas "Danny" Boston, economist at Georgia Tech, joining me to break out the jobs report.
Good, bad, what are your thoughts on it overall?
THOMAS "DANNY" BOSTON, ECONOMIST, GEORGIA TECH: My thoughts is that, you know, actually, it's the best report that we've had yet, which sounds strange. And the reason I say that is because the economy really absorbed a huge shock in terms of the weather, and it's still standing, and so that means that the recovery is really taking hold.
HARRIS: You believe that?
BOSTON: Yes, I do. It's kind of like a prizefighter in the ring, and you give him your best shot and he's still standing.
HARRIS: Overall, how deep is this unemployment picture in this country? Are we talking about the 10 million people who lost their jobs since the start of the recession in 2007? Is it more like the 8.3 million, 8.4 million that the White House touts?
Where are we here?
BOSTON: It's deep, because you have the official figures that don't include individuals who are discouraged. And there are about 1.2 million workers who are actually discouraged in the labor market. And so, meaning discouraged, that they've stopped looking for jobs.
And then on top of that, you also have about eight million workers who are part time but want to be full time. So you've got this massive amount of underemployment, and then you also have the discouraged workers and what we call marginally attached workers, 2.5 million. And so, the numbers are beyond what was actually reported.
HARRIS: Right. You know, I want to get to some demographics here. And then, ultimately, give us some thoughts on what would jumpstart jobs again.
Last month -- I think we prepared some graphics here -- men experienced 10 percent unemployment, no change from the month before. Women had eight percent unemployment. That's up from -- maybe just a hair from the previous month. Teenagers who are experiencing it, it seems here, the lion's share of unemployment, 25 percent, are actually starting to do a little better here.
African-Americans, the unemployment numbers went down -- that's pretty good -- from 16.5 percent to 15.5. But that's still -- wow. White unemployment, virtually unchanged, at 8.8 percent. And Hispanic unemployment went down a bit here.
So, really, Danny, what jumpstarts job growth?
BOSTON: You have to have something that is a catalyst. And I --
HARRIS: I say it's a bubble. I say it's the next bubble. And I say it's the energy sector. The president was just talking about it last hour.
BOSTON: Right.
HARRIS: The green economy and energy jobs at least has the potential, doesn't it, to extend beyond, say, the 10 years of the real estate bubble, however long the tech bubble lasted?
BOSTON: Absolutely. And you're right about that. It is a long- run cure, but not a short-run solution.
HARRIS: Yes.
BOSTON: So, it takes time to commercialize all of those kinds of technologies that we have in the green sector, and so that's going to take a while. But short of that, we have to find something that galvanizes the optimism of businesses and consumers so that they move back into the market and stop hoarding money.
HARRIS: Well, what do you think that is? BOSTON: Well, I don't know.
HARRIS: If we could figure it out, right, I mean, we'd be moving again?
BOSTON: That's right.
HARRIS: But here's the thing -- we've got some consumer spending. The outlook for consumer spending is improving.
We keep hearing that if we can get some sustainable sales growth, some sustainable sales growth, then we can start hiring again. Well, if consumers start spending more, is that a way to get some movement?
BOSTON: Yes, exactly. And let me tell you what a part of the solution is.
One of the reasons that households and businesses are so hesitant to spend and are hoarding cash is because they feel that if they run into some type of situation that they haven't accounted for, they can't go to the bank and borrow money. Regulations are tight. Right? Banks are sitting on money, so that a small business owner feels that, well, look, if I want to invest, hit a wall (ph), where is my parachute?
HARRIS: Yes.
BOSTON: And so, unless we solve that problem, unless we give businesses and households the confidence --
HARRIS: Right.
BOSTON: -- that there is some place that they can go and borrow money, then we can't get it going.
HARRIS: OK. Thanks for your time here. I'm going to see you next hour. You're going to teach me up a little more.
Danny, appreciate it. Thank you.
BOSTON: All right.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hollywood is getting ready to shine at the Oscars, and this year diversity is taking center stage. We are talking about it with "Essence" magazine editor -- there she is -- Angela Burt-Murray. She is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Hollywood's biggest night, the Academy Awards, are Sunday. This year's nominees seem more diverse than ever. As African-American continue to make their mark in the movies, "Essence" magazine held its annual Oscar luncheon to honor some of the current stars and the legends of black Hollywood. Joining me to talk more about the African-American influence on film, "Essence" magazine's editor-in-chief, Angela Burt-Murray.
Angela, it is great to talk to you. We don't get an opportunity to do this nearly enough.
ANGELA BURT-MURRAY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you. Thank you so much.
HARRIS: It's great to have you here.
BURT-MURRAY: Good to be here.
HARRIS: So tell me why "Essence" chose to honor the amazing women that you honored at the luncheon. Let's start with the amazing Zoe Saldana. You gave her the Star to Watch Award. Tell us why.
BURT-MURRAY: Well, Zoe Saldana is just a phenomenal actress. And, you know, her middle initial should be "B" for "blockbuster."
I mean, this is a young woman who has been in "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Star Trek," and then obviously her amazing performance in James Cameron's "Avatar." I mean, this young woman's future is so incredibly bright. And it was just a wonderful opportunity to talk about all the achievements that she has and also to just look forward to more amazing projects from her.
HARRIS: Yes. I think she's got a couple of films coming up here in short order.
BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Explain the Power Award going to, again, the great Queen Latifah.
BURT-MURRAY: Yes. Well, I mean, Queen Latifah just keeps coming back with amazing performance after another. And also, she's a businesswoman. She's a motivational speaker. She's an author.
She produces her own projects. She stars in her own films.
I mean, this is a woman who really creates her own blueprint for success. So she's an incredible inspiration to so many women around the world. She's inspiring not only because of her work, but also the confidence that she brings to every aspect of her career.
HARRIS: Smart, smart, smart.
BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely.
Gabby Sidibe, and this is -- wow, this is an obvious one. Talk to us about Gabby and her breakout performance.
BURT-MURRAY: I mean -- absolutely. I mean, Gabourey Sidibe has given the most heartbreakingly beautiful performance of the year. And for this young woman who was a virtual unknown, her very first performance, first time stepping in front of the camera, she has delivered a heart-stopping performance in the film "Precious."
And, you know, her future also looks so incredibly bright. So it was beautiful to hear her in the room yesterday to talk about what this day meant to her and to be able to see all of her heroes in the room, from Cicely Tyson to Angela Bassett. So many extraordinary women.
HARRIS: You know what? Mary J. Blige, songstress of the year.
BURT-MURRAY: Yes.
HARRIS: How about a couple of lines on Mary J. Blige, please?
BURT-MURRAY: Well, Mary J. had two incredible songs last year for powerful projects. She had the "Stronger" song for the Lebron James film, "More Than a Game." She had a strong on that soundtrack, "Stronger." And then she also did a song for the soundtrack of "Precious."
So, not only has she been creating the soundtrack to women's lives, but she's also contributing to some of our most important projects, like, again, that documentary and the film "Precious." So, it was wonderful to be able to pay tribute to her as well.
HARRIS: Angela, let me give you about a minute to work on this next question here. You know, 20 years ago, when I was about 5 years old --
BURT-MURRAY: Five?
HARRIS: -- I was working for "Entertainment Tonight" and interviewing the stars of black Hollywood. And the frustration then was, where are the good roles for black actors? When will Hollywood be truly colorblind in the most culturally, racially, ethnically diverse country in the history of the world? And when will black Hollywood become the deal-making, green-lighting, producing -- you know where I'm driving here?
BURT-MURRAY: Yes, absolutely.
HARRIS: Are those still the questions being asked? I mean, look, you get great access to black Hollywood.
BURT-MURRAY: Yes. I mean, definitely, we're seeing the same issues that you were just talking about.
I mean, when we talked to the women that were in the room yesterday at the "Essence" luncheon, a lot of them are still talking about the very real barriers that still exist in terms of having that autonomy to green-light projects, to be able to bring more authentic African-American stories to the screen. Certainly, we've seen, you know, a lot of progress.
I mean, Tyler Perry is doing amazing things, and he really calls his own shots, is able to produce whatever projects he wants to, but we need more people like that. And in particular, we need more African-American women directing, producing at the studios, calling the shots, and casting more black women in exciting roles. So there's still a lot of work to do.
HARRIS: Boy, Angela, terrific work. It's great to see you.
BURT-MURRAY: Great to see you, too.
HARRIS: Yes, it's great. And let's get you -- the next time you're in Atlanta, let's get you on the set with me, all right?
BURT-MURRAY: All right. Thanks so much.
HARRIS: Would love to see you here.
All right. Have a great weekend.
BURT-MURRAY: Bye-bye.
HARRIS: To read more stories that matter to all of us, pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands right now, or go online to CNN.com/whatmatters.
And, of course, CNN will have all of your Oscar coverage. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" will be live with two very special Oscar shows this Sunday, March 7th. Coverage begins with A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson, live from the red carpet, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, right here on CNN. Coverage continues live on HLN at 11:00 Eastern.
Earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Japan. Is the Earth trying to tell us something? Are these disasters connected?
We are digging deeper in a fact check.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Massive earthquakes in Chile and Haiti and another strong one today, a magnitude 6.5, near Indonesia. No word of injuries there. You know, it seems the whole world is being shaken to the core these days. I mean look at this. These big quakes have a lot of people wondering what is going on. Are they related? Should we all be worried? CNN executive producer, Suzanne Simons, and meteorologist Chad Myers, have done some fact checking for us.
Suzanne, let's start with you. You found some pretty mind- blowing numbers here on all these quakes.
SUZANNE SIMONS, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Yes, it's always good to step back and get a better sense of context, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
SIMONS: Are we just covering them more? Are they just more bigger ones?
HARRIS: Right. SIMONS: But the U.S. Geological Survey estimates actually, Tony, that there are several million earthquakes every year, but a lot of those are so small that they don't even register. Now, the National Earthquake Information Center does locate about 50 of them every single day, though. And those big ones, like we've seen recently, those that measure about an 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale, those usually only occur about once a year.
HARRIS: About once a year.
SIMONS: Yes.
HARRIS: OK. So let's do this. Several million a year.
SIMONS: Yes.
HARRIS: Chad Myers, I know you're with us.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST. Sir.
HARRIS: And, Chad, where are most of these quakes taking place?
MYERS: They are taking place in boundaries where what we call plates.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Literally parts of the earth that are floating on top of the molten lava, the magma, that's down below. That's still floating. That's still moving. That's enough movement that these plates are sliding.
Here, hold on, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Sure.
MYERS: My producer is -- my producer is just a genius. We're going to go over here. I have all these informational screens I can get all from one screen.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: Every little line you see is a plate.
HARRIS: Let's get closer on that now.
MYERS: And then all the words right there, I'm going to slide it there, "ring of fire." Here's the Aleutian Trench, the Hawaiian Hot Spot, the East Pacific Rise. Everywhere that you see the black line, that's a potential area for a quake. Right through Haiti, clearly, and all the way down through Chile.
Now let's go back to where I was here on -- this is the Google Earth machine coming back up. There we go. Cool. And the U.S., all the way down to Chile.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Two hundred and sixteen dots on there. You know what they all are?
HARRIS: What are they?
MYERS: Well, 215 are aftershocks. That one, that big one right there, that's the original quake. And so we say, are they connected? Absolutely they're connected. They're all part of that same break in where the plates came together, that plate broke. It's like you have two pieces of rock and they're stuck together.
HARRIS: Got you.
MYERS: But yet one's moving one way and one's moving the other way and it's OK until you lose that and then it slips. And that's what happens, an earthquake. It slips.
HARRIS: Well, let me ask you, I mean you can see that those quakes there along the coast of Chile, you can see where
SIMONS: Are connected.
HARRIS: They are connected.
SIMONS: Right.
MYERS: Absolutely.
HARRIS: But we're talking about Taiwan. We're -- I mean, honestly, we're talking about Japan.
SIMONS: Right.
HARRIS: We're talking about near Indonesia now.
SIMONS: Haiti.
HARRIS: Haiti.
SIMONS: Right. Right. Right.
HARRIS: So to both of you, are all of these quakes somehow related. And, Suzanne, you take it first.
MYERS: You go first.
SIMONS: Well, most of the experts that we talk to say no it's coincidence.
HARRIS: That's a crazy coincidence.
SIMONS: When you've got huge ones like that that aren't aftershocks
HARRIS: Yes. SIMONS: That that is coincidence. But, Chad, prove me wrong.
MYERS: No, I just know that sometimes coincidences are pronounced coinky-dink.
HARRIS: Really?
MYERS: And sometimes earthquakes can be so large, that they move the entire earth. We know that this 8.8 quake actually made the day go faster because it's -- because the earth is kind of smaller now and so like a skater bringing her arms in, the earth spinning faster because the earthquake, because the solid mass is a little bit closer to the center.
I think some of that movement could be making some of these. But they're not directly related from one to the next. It can happen, and it does, that if it -- you shake it at 2:00 and that wave and that shake finally gets to Japan at 3:00 and then Japan has the quake --
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: Certainly those were connected. But we just haven't seen that time/distance continuum on any of these being enough and proper to be connected.
HARRIS: Good stuff. I'm fighting back a cough, so Suzanne's going to handle the tease for me.
SIMONS: Yes, and do the rest of the show for him today.
MYERS: She's doing the rest of the show for you (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) the show.
SIMONS: Yes, that's right, we'll just push you right out.
MYERS: Hey, Tony, you're done, have a nice weekend.
HARRIS: I'm done. Bye. You're on.
SIMONS: All right, thanks so much. Tony is going to be back in just a second and he's going to be talking about what millions of people are going to do to find a job.
HARRIS: Oh, that good.
SIMONS: You might be one of these if you don't get your voice back, right?
HARRIS: Oh, that's good. We're back in a moment.
SIMONS: Our Ines Ferre is finding out.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we're at an employment center here in Yonkers and we're speaking to job speakers who are acquiring new skills to stay competitive. That's coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Look, you saw a couple of stars of our CNN Money team at the top of the hour and Christine Romans and Ali Velshi. Ali will be back in just a couple of minutes in the CNN NEWSROOM. We love to direct you to CNNmoney.com at this time of day, just so that you have access, always. You're just a click away from the latest financial news and analysis. CNNmoney.com.
Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange now for a Friday. Better than three hours into the trading day and we're in positive territory. We've been like this all morning. The Dow, as you can see, is up 81 points. And the Nasdaq -- Jen, help me with that, up 25? Up 25 points. Yes, up 25. Follows these numbers throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You know, even though the unemployment rate held steady last month, almost 15 million Americans are out of work. CNN's Ines Ferre has been talking to people who are looking for work. She joins us now from a job center in Westchester, New York.
Great to see you, lady. What are folks saying to you?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're looking for jobs and they're coming here and looking for resources, too. And, look, Tony, this is just one of the job listing folders that they've got here that's listing civil jobs, jobs in all sorts of industries. And here are the stacks of them. And they can come here to the job center and use computers, talk to counselors, take workshops.
And today we're talking to Russell, who came this morning to use the fax and also the Internet. And, Russell, your story is really interesting because you've been out of a job for a year and a half, correct?
RUSSELL BARRETT, JOB SEEKER: Yes, I have.
FERRE: And you were in the mortgage industry.
BARRETT: Yes.
FERRE: And now you decided to switch to another industry. Can you tell us about that?
BARRETT: Well, I came here one day to -- just to do some job searching and my counselor, Lynn Carr (ph), knows some of the skills that I had and thought it might be transferred into something teaching. So I never thought about teaching before. And it was something that really I thought I wanted do to mold young minds and help young people. So it's something I'm really aggressively going after, much to her help. She really helped me out on that one.
FERRE: And how long was this teaching scholar -- what you received, this education, teaching education? BARRETT: Well, I went back to school, after 30 years, and it was really -- it was something for me that was really eye opening. I hadn't been back to school in a while. It was -- it was really challenging, but I did pretty well and got a 4.0 in the process for my first semester back.
FERRE: Well, congratulations. That's great.
BARRETT: Thank you.
FERRE: And May is when you're ending this course?
BARRETT: Right. I'll be a graduate for a teaching assistant. From there hope to get my bachelors and then ultimately my masters and teach full time.
FERRE: Wow, that's excellent.
Tony, you know, one of the things that I've been hearing here from the counselors is that what they're trying to do is pair up people's skills with any job openings.
HARRIS: Smart, yes.
FERRE: And if they don't have those skills, maybe transfer the skills into a new industry.
HARRIS: Yes, that's smart.
Ines, what is he going to be teaching? Is he going to be teaching finance when he gets his, you know, his work done, his course work done? What is he going to be teaching?
BARRETT: Well, hopefully, you know, the inner city schools where some of the kids really need some practical experience along with trying to mold those minds and bring some of the academics to them as well.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, sir. Now that's terrific. Boy, we need you in the classroom. We certainly need more African-American men in classrooms across the country. We're going to be talking about that very subject next week here in the NEWSROOM.
BARRETT: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Russell, good luck to you.
Ines, good to see you. I know you're there
BARRETT: Thank you very much, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, good luck. Keep us posted, will you please, sir?
BARRETT: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: Stop what you're doing right now. Take a look at this number. Can you figure out this website? Hurry, hurry, hurry, 10 billion and ticking up. Is it the national debt? Funny, funny, funny, my credit card balance or what? That's so funny. The answer next in your top stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Quickly now, let's get you caught up on our top stories.
A potential reversal for handling the 9/11 terror cases. A senior administration official says White House advisers are close to recommending a military instead of a civilian trial for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
President Obama in Arlington, Virginia, last hour talking green energy and job growth. He noted February's job figures are better than expected, but added they are still, in his words, more than he should tolerate.
Twitters passes a milestone, hitting 10 billion tweets. We can't show you the celebrated message, though. It's from a protected user, meaning the tweet is private. Huh. Twitter broke the 5 billion-tweet mark just four months ago. At its current rate of use, it's estimated the 20th billion tweet will happen in July.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen told you about outrageous medical bills and now you are telling her your horror stories. We've got them for you next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Getting answers for you. CNN's "Help Desk" is committed to helping you during these difficult financial times. Our Stephanie Elam has been reading your e-mails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Doug Flynn, a certified financial planner and founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, and Donna Rosato, a senior writer at "Money."
Thanks so much for being here.
All right, the first question comes from Souleymane. "I am overloaded with debt, credit cards and other loans. I have paid my minimum balance on my credit cards for more than three years. How can I get debt free and what type of program do you recommend?"
What do you think, Donna?
DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR WRITER, "MONEY": Well, a lot of people are struggling with credit card debt these days. The best thing to do when you're thinking about how to get out of credit card debt is, first of all, stop using your credit cards. You know, stop digging that hole.
ELAM: That's (ph) basic.
ROSATO: It's hard. If you really feel tempted, you know, maybe just don't take them with you when you're going out. Some people go as far as putting them in a block of ice. But then you want to start paying them down. And the best -- there's two philosophies on how to do it.
We usual recommend, start with the highest interest rate credit card first. Those are the cards that you're going to be paying the most interest rate over the long term. If you can start paying that down, you know, pays less interest over the long term. If you have a number of cards and a couple with small balances, you can get a real psychological boost by wiping out a couple of those smaller credit card balances.
So I also feel like it's a lot of a behavioral issue. Stop using the cards. Start paying them down. And if you can knock out a bunch of them, it's going to be easier to tackle that debt.
ELAM: Yes, that's true, if you get somewhere into it.
All right, our next question is from Lawrence. He writes, "I'm 55 years old and in good health. Do you have a formula for knowing when to take a lump-sum payment versus a monthly pension check?" That's a dicey one, Doug. What do you think?
DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well, there's no magic formula, but when someone's 55, the first thing that comes to mind is that this -- that's probably a reduced pension number. You usually get a reduction for not waiting until 60 or 62. But whatever the number is, one of the places you can go to compare how that -- what you're going to get from your provider, versus what's out there, is to go to immediateannuities.com. That's a good place you can punch in how much your lump sum would be and what you could get elsewhere as a comparison.
The problem I see is, he really needs to get the information on, if he waited until 60, if he waited until 62, or whatever his Social Security time is, because retiring at 55 in these days is a very aggressive goal and you might be getting a very low payment for the rest of your life. And really, if you have all of that information, what I would recommend, is you probably take all that info, along with your longevity, history, and your family, and go to a qualified financial planner who specializes in this. They can crunch all the numbers for you and come up with what's the best solution for you in your unique situation. It's a little more complicated than a magic formula.
ELAM: And it might just give them the incentives to actually just let that money sit there until he gets to the right age.
FLYNN: Yes, he could roll it over and continue to defer it, which is also another good thing to do.
ELAM: All right. Well, thanks so much, Donna and Doug.
"The Help Desk," all about getting you answers. So send us an e- mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com. We might just have the answers to your question right here next week. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It's on newsstands now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, this week we have been telling you about some of the outrageous costs connected to health care. Now it is your turn. CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is back with responses to her series, "Health Care Prescription for Waste."
Boy, you could do this for the rest of your days here at CNN. I mean all the waste and whatever else and people are weighing in big time, aren't they?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, hundreds of people responded to this.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: Everybody it seems has a story about some ridiculous charge on their hospital bill. So let's get right to it. We have two examples right here.
We had a viewer who wrote in who said, I was in the hospital with my child and she needed some Tylenol. Two ccs. So that's what you're seeing right there. That's two ccs of Tylenol. The cost, $128 for two
HARRIS: Are you kidding me?
COHEN: I am not kidding you. This is what the viewer told us, $128 for two ccs of Tylenol.
And here's another one.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: I know your kids are big, but you recognize this?
HARRIS: Yes. Oh, yes.
COHEN: A pacifier. A pacifier.
HARRIS: The binky.
COHEN: Some people might say it's worth its weight in gold because it will calm a child down.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: But this one is worth $121.
HARRIS: Someone actually got -- come on.
COHEN: Someone got a bill for $121. And, Tony, to make it even worse, when a paci falls on a hospital floor, the nurse doesn't just wash it off. They open a new one. So this child had 11 pacifiers and so the bill came to --
HARRIS: Oh, come on!
COHEN: $1,331 for pacifiers for this child's hospital stay.
So those are just two of them. One of my favorite ones was a guy, a man, who got charged for a pap smear. Can't do a pap smear on a man.
HARRIS: This is -- you said that like I didn't know that.
COHEN: Well, I just wanted to make sure -- I just wanted to make sure that we were clear on that.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, we were perfectly.
COHEN: OK, you got it.
HARRIS: Crystal clear.
COHEN: OK. OK, Tony.
HARRIS: All right, let's get to an e-mail from -- that came to us at CNN.com. And here it is. Want to read it to you. "All I can say is we need to standardize costs across the board, then no one can set prices that are as outrageous as these." So, Elizabeth, here is the question, why don't the hospitals and the insurance companies standardize costs?
COHEN: Well, I think what this person is trying to ask is, why doesn't the government step in and do it, right? I mean industries don't tend to set prices. I mean they -- I suppose some would say they shouldn't do that.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: But having the government come in and stay, all right, you can only charge, you know, $2 for a pacifier or whatever, is the kind of government intrusion that a lot of people protest, right?
HARRIS: Ah, right. You're right.
COHEN: You and I the whole -- all summer we heard people going on and on about this.
HARRIS: Did we ever.
COHEN: So, you know, the way it works now is it's a free market economy and if you can get away charging $121 for a pacifier, that's what happens.
HARRIS: Oh, come on. That's outrageous. It's just crazy.
All right, Elizabeth, good to see you. Have a great weekend.
COHEN: Good to see you.
HARRIS: You know, tired of rising costs and shrinking budgets, students and teachers take their messages to campuses across the nation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: How about this? About 200 students and teachers at a California middle school rallying against education cuts. It was just one of dozens of protests in 33 states. This demonstration -- we'll see it here in a second -- at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, not quite as peaceful. At least 15 were arrested when a protest over tuition increases spun out of control. Back in San Diego now, we hear a teacher's perspective on all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been here for about six years and I've watched the sort of steady decrease in the quality of work of my students. They don't have the time to put as much effort into their work as they could if they didn't have to work several jobs at the same time while going to school full time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And now to the phones we go to hear what some of you think about the budget-cut protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: The cost is too high. Students can't get jobs. Students need a way to be able to get work and pay back their debt and it's not working.
CALLER: What are they saying when it comes to costs? Because most colleges, you're lucky if you get a professor in the classroom.
CALLER: I graduated from (INAUDIBLE) high school, and I've already gone one semester without going to college. I don't have the funding. My parents can't pay for it.
CALLER: If they would lower their fees, the students would be able to afford it. You'd get more of an enrollment, you know, from these poverty levels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, you can keep the conversation going by calling the T. Harris Hotline. Just making it up on the fly. And the number is right there on your screen.
It is go time for a Friday. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the man, Ali Velshi!
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Get those phones ringing off the hook on the T. Harris Hotline. You have yourself a fantastic weekend, Tony.
