Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Allegations of Sin in Vatican City; Kentucky Surgeon Reaches Out to People Without Health Insurance; Another 36,000 Jobs Lost

Aired March 05, 2010 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I can't believe in all the years I have known you we haven't gone to a movie together.

Graham, great stuff. We're going to keep a tab of everything you said. I'm keeping these notes with me.

Graham was about half right on all of his predictions last year. He nailed the best picture, "Slumdog Millionaire"; best actress, Kate Winslet.

Graham, good to see you. And we'll be watching together.

Be sure to join us, by the way, for Hollywood's biggest night. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" hosts A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson will be live from the red carpet on CNN, Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, for "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," "Road to Gold." Then "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" live coverage continues at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.

All right. Allegations of sin in Vatican City -- a Vatican choir member, one of the pope's ushers, and a gay sex scandal.

Morgan Neill is in Rome. Our senior Vatican analyst, John Allen, is standing by in Denver.

We're going to break it down for you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Hi. Here's what I've got "On the Rundown" this hour -- sex, prostitutes and scandal. You wouldn't think I'm talking about the Vatican. Well, just wait. We've been digging in to this story.

We're also digging deeper into the deadly shootout at the Pentagon. The shooter described as calm and emotionless as he opened fire on police officers. What motivated him?

Plus, if you don't pay attention to any economic news at all, pay attention to this. The jobs report is out and we're still shedding workers, but it also looks like employers are dipping their toes back into the hiring pool, and I'll tell you why.

Also, it's going to be an Oscar show like no other. Ten movies vying for the top prize. We've got the picks, the predictions and the pomp. First, sex scandal arrives at the pope's doorstep. A singer in an elite Vatican choir is accused of finding male prostitutes for a papal usher known as a Gentleman of His Holiness.

Now, a Gentleman of His Holiness is not clergy, though he does have contact with Vatican VIPs. He's on hand to seat people at the pope's midnight mass on Christmas. He lines up to greet presidents at the Vatican. It's kind of being an sky box usher at Yankee Stadium, except a Gentleman of His Holiness does not get paid.

And police say this guy was caught through some pretty explicit wiretaps.

Let's get to CNN's Morgan Neill, who's in Rome with this story -- Morgan.

MORGAN NEILL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. We have actually obtained a copy of the transcripts of some of those wiretaps, and according to what they seem to reveal, allegedly, a member of the Vatican choir was involved in setting up male prostitutes for an honorary Vatican usher. As you say, called a Gentleman of His Holiness.

Now, the Vatican has confirmed that 39-year-old Thomas Ehiem has been dismissed from the Vatican choir. That, after these reports emerged this week, reports that Ehiem had been finding and setting up male prostitutes for Angelo Balducci.

Now, Balducci is already behind bars. He was arrested last month on corruption charges related to his position as a member of the board of the Public Works Department.

Apparently, what happened was while police were investigating that case, they put these wiretaps in place and came across these conversations. To give you a taste of just what these conversations were like, in some of them Ehiem describes the physical details of some of these men to Balducci.

For example, he talks about two Cuban men that he describes as tall, black and beautiful. He also goes into descriptions of a dancer for state television. And in one case, a man who was studying for the priesthood.

Now, reaction here has ranged from shocked, as you might imagine, to some who just seem too jaded to be surprised anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It has an impact on the Church and an impact on all Catholics, because I, as a Catholic, feel shame, and it pushes me away from the Catholic Church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My God, nothing surprises me anymore the way things are today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I wasn't expecting something like this. I was mortified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEILL: Now, lawyers for Mr. Balducci says he is innocent of the corruption charges that he has been jailed for, but as far as this scandal goes, they simply say it's shameless for the press to publish these details, details they say are unrelated to what he's in jail for -- Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Morgan Neill in Rome.

Thanks very much for the update on this.

Let's get a little more on this story. It's not the first sex scandal for the Catholic Church. It is among those that hit closest to the home for the pope.

Our senior Vatican analyst, John Allen, is standing by -- there he is -- to put this all in perspective for us. We'll get that as soon as we come back from this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We're following a story for you at the Vatican, a sex scandal. We just heard from Morgan Neill, telling us that a member of Vatican choir was setting up, allegedly, trysts with male prostitutes for a gentleman -- an usher of sorts in the Vatican.

Let's go to our Vatican analyst, senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. He's live in Denver.

Let's talk just briefly about this position. Is this -- this is a lay member. He's not a clergyman, the person for whom these prostitutes were allegedly set up.

Does this strike close to the heart of the Church, or is it just in close proximity to the Vatican?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: Hey, Ali.

Well, look, I think the practical reality is that any time you can put the words "gay," "prostitution" and "Vatican" into the same sentence, the tendency for us in the media is to go a little nuts with it. And it's important not to hype this story beyond all recognition.

What we're talking about here is a guy, Angelo Balducci, who was a very prominent Italian politician, who also has a kind of minor ceremonial role in the Vatican, who apparently was in contact with another guy, a Nigerian in Italy who has a small gig singing in the Vatican choir who was helping him arrange -- I guess we could euphemistically call them encounters. And that's really it.

So, is it embarrassing for the Vatican? Of course it is. But this is not like this was the number two guy in the Vatican power structure. I don't think it's the kind of thing that's likely to shake the papacy to its core. VELSHI: How do you expect -- and how has the Vatican responded to this? Are they dealing with it like that, saying, look, this isn't about us, the only thing these two guys had in common is if they had some connection to the Vatican, or are they dealing with it the way they need to, given that they have had other scandals that are closer to the Church?

ALLEN: Well, look, I mean, at least according to reports in the Italian press, the Vatican has moved swiftly to fire both of these two guys. Actually, being a papal gentleman is not a paid position, but they apparently indicated to Balducci that his services are no longer required, and the same is true of the choir member.

Beyond that, however, the Vatican's track record with this kind of thing -- and there have been similar scandals before. There was a case a couple of years ago when a priest who worked in the Vatican congregation was actually caught by hidden camera bringing a young man back to his apartment, apparently in the expectation that there would be a sexual encounter. That guy was fired.

But the Vatican doesn't appoint special prosecutors to do a kind of Ken Starr report about this sort of thing. Their line typically is that our teaching on these matters is clear, the sexual morality of the Catholic Church is clear, we'll deal with violations when they occur, but we are not going to launch a kind of systemic investigation. And there's no indication they plan to do that in this case either.

VELSHI: All right. Good information, John. These are people who are peripherally connected to the Church. They both just happen to hold positions in the Vatican. The Vatican has told these two guys their services are no longer wanted.

We'll follow that closely.

John Allen is our CNN senior Vatican analyst, joining us from Denver.

Good to see you again, John.

All right. As the nation grapples with health care, one surgeon cuts through the red tape, and he is our CNN Hero of the Week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: In Kentucky alone, 33 percent of working age adults lack health insurance. But Dr. Andy Moore, our CNN Hero of the Week, is taking matters into his own hands, cutting through the red tape to reach out to those in dire need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I went to go see Dr. Moore, this is what he had seen. Would you like to see it? I developed skin cancer from too much sun exposure. When I see this I just -- I have a hard time looking at this photo right now. DR. ANDY MOORE, PLASTIC SURGEON: This cancer was so far advanced, eventually it would have killed him. He felt that he could not afford to have the surgery. In this economic time, our friends and family can't wait. They need this health care now.

All right, bud. How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous.

MOORE: Yes. Well, you'd be a little crazy if you weren't a little nervous. That's OK.

Today he's now back for that operation to reconstruct his nose.

We're going to give you some joy juice to take care of that.

I'm Dr. Andy Moore. I'm a plastic surgeon.

They perform free surgical procedures on people that have no health insurance.

When I started 26 years ago, now we just simply make the call to the hospital and say I've got somebody I'm going to do for free. It became more complex with computers and HMOs and insurance company. These people don't have health insurance, and I think it's our duty to reach out and help those type of people as often as we can.

It's about what I went into medicine for. It's about taking care of people and not necessarily expecting something in return for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: So far, Dr. Andy Moore and his organization have treated more than 3,000 patients free of charge. To see Dr. Moore and his entire family working in the operating room, or to nominate someone that you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Well, if you're down on the U.S. economy, if you fear a jobless recovery or a double-dip recession, you can point to the February jobs report for backup. On the other hand, if you're an optimist, if you see job growth right around the corner, and with it real economic recovery, you can point to the February jobs report for backup.

Here's the snapshot.

Thirty-six thousand jobs were lost in February. That's fewer than people expected, but it does bring the toll of jobs lost since the beginning of this recession to 8.4 million. The unemployment rate remains unchanged from January. It is still 9.7 percent. But I never want to dump a lot of numbers on you and let you fend for yourself. So, here's what's important about what we learned today from Washington in that jobs report.

The 36,000 jobs lost, that figure is substantially less than economists had expected. In fact, there was a drop in the number of long-term unemployed. And for the sixth straight month, temporary hiring is up.

OK. That's the ray of hope. Let's look at the other side of things.

Almost 15 million Americans do not have jobs -- 14.9 Americans are unemployed. There is a rise in involuntary workers, people who have part-time jobs because they can't get full-time jobs. And with part-time jobs, you generally lose benefits. And the average work week gets slightly smaller, which means people who work on an hourly basis are actually getting fewer hours.

That's your glass half full versus your glass half empty. We did see a rise in what's called underemployment, those people who would like to work full time but have to settle for part time.

Let's talk a little bit more about this. I want to bring in Ted Gilliam. He is the CEO of Adecco. He's the head of North American operations for Adecco.

I think I just gave you a promotion, Tig, but it's always a pleasure to have you here.

TIG GILLIAM, HEAD OF NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS, ADECCO: Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: Let's talk about this, this rise in temporary workers. A lot of people say we don't want temporary jobs, we want good quality, full-time permanent jobs with benefits.

Why would we be celebrating the six-month increase in temporary jobs?

GILLIAM: Well, let me debunk a couple of myths there.

First of all, all temporary jobs are not low-level jobs. In fact, half of our business in North America is professional skills. It's IT consultants and finance and accounting skills. It's legal, medical skills. So it is a balance across the skill set, and temporary jobs are important because that's a precursor to an improvement in the overall jobs market.

VELSHI: Now, tell me about that. Historically, that's been the case, right? When we come out of a recession and there have been a lot of jobs lost, one of the first areas of movement you see is an increase in temporary jobs.

Why is that? Because companies are not sure yet? They're not sure how much they want to commit, so they are putting their toes in the water?

GILLIAM: It's the first place companies go to get access to the additional resources they need and to give themselves flexibility to be sure that their business and the overall economic recovery is going to hold. And we see that occurring usually first in product-related industries where companies need to rebuild inventories and they need help with manufacturing and transportation logistics. And then we see it bleed over into areas like the higher-skilled jobs like finance and IT and legal.

VELSHI: We talked to other people who have said, well, we have seen this going on for five or six months now. If that were really the case, if that were really the pattern, that you start with these temporary jobs and, ultimately, you start seeing more full-time jobs added, why wouldn't we see that by now?

GILLIAM: Well, let's play that back through the last recessions.

In the '80/'81 recession, 12 months into the recovery we had both temporary job growth and permanent job growth. In the '90/'91 recession, it took to the 24-month mark before we had both temporary job growth and permanent job growth. And in 2001/2002, you had to go out to the 30-month mark before you got to a half-year period where we had both temporary job growth and permanent job growth. And in 2001- 2002, you had to go out to the 30-month mark before you got to a half- year period where we had both temporary job growth and permanent job growth.

So over the last few recessions, the time lag has been extending and it is unrealistic for us to expect the switch to turn immediately to significant permanent jobs growth.

VELSHI: So, as you see it, I am sure you are not happy with the unemployment situation, but you're not thinking that there is something about the way jobs are coming back in the market that is alarming to you just yet? In other words, you are not thinking about a double-dip recession or a lot more job loss.

GILLIAM: I am not pessimistic about the jobs recovery. I think your summary earlier was terrific. We need to see the average work week improve, that shows that people with jobs are getting the hours that they want. We need to see the temporary work numbers continue to rise, that shows that employers have needs for additional resources, and then that will turn into long-term sustained job growth.

VELSHI: Because each one of those people who gets that temporary job then has money to pay, they have taxes that they can pay, they can spend money and that is sort of where the cycle starts again.

Tig, tell me, whether it is geographically or by industry, what are your trends showing you? Where there is hope and growth in the jobs market in America?

GILLIAM: Well, it is clear overall that construction is still not the place to be and construction showed again to be a big drag on the overall jobs number. If I look specifically at our clients, we have obviously seen the big increase that has come with the supply- oriented chain jobs.

But throughout this recession, we have continued to see strength on both a permanent and temporary job basis in health care and in information technology. And I think you see some of that playing through in some of the productivity numbers we saw this week where companies have been able to produce a lot more with a lot less.

VELSHI: I had a great conversation with David Gergen, and you know him, our senior political analyst here at CNN. And he made an interesting point that we hear of in the economic world and that is that companies, particularly, you know, large industrial companies might be ready to spend and hire people, but there is an uncertainty around all of these debates about legislation, whether it is health care or energy legislation, that is preventing them from making the investment, because they don't know how things are going to go.

Do you have any take on that?

GILLIAM: Absolutely. Well, there are some things that we already know. Most states are already out with the changes to their state unemployment insurance rates as a result of the recent depletion of their unemployment insurance funds. That is a real incremental cost increase to employers. There still is significant uncertainty, especially around health care and payroll taxes in terms of the impact that could have on employment, so I think that's more of a psychological factor than it is a real direct financial factor in their decision making.

But one other point that you made there, Ali, is that the jobs recovery is not just going to come from the large companies. And in fact, when the job market improves, I expect to see 70 percent of those jobs created in small and medium-sized businesses. And so it is very important that we see some clarity for those sorts of businesses on where the policy issues are going to land.

VELSHI: And where the do you think that clarity needs to be? Is it about health care or is about taxation? What is going to make small and medium businesses, which have traditionally been the growth engine for jobs in this country, really want to get in there and say, this is a great time to start hiring people back?

GILLIAM: Well, I think health care and taxes overall are big issues. They are big issues not just from the company's point of view, but we still need to see consumer confidence improve. Remember, a big part of the growth of our economy has got to come from that 70 percent that is consumer spending. And consumer confidence has not reached a sustained level of growth that gives the businesses confidence that their recovery is well in hand.

VELSHI: Take great pleasure talking to you, as always. Thanks for being with us.

Tig Gilliam is the head of operations in North America for Adecco.

All right, we are learning new details now about the man who sparked a deadly shootout at the Pentagon. We have been digging into his background, we will bring you what we have right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right, who is this guy? Investigators are looking into the history of John Patrick Bedell. He's from California and he's identified as the gunman who wounded two police officers at the Pentagon yesterday. We are just learning new information about him. First, here's a closer look at what happened.

Thursday evening, Bedell left the Pentagon Metro subway station and walked about 59 feet to a Pentagon security checkpoint. Authorities say he pulled a gun out of his pocket and opened fire when two officers asked him for identification. Officers Jeffrey Amos and Marvin Carraway shot back with semi-automatic weapons. Lots of bullets were fired, but Pentagon officials say it took less than two minutes to subdue Bedell who was about 50 feet at that point from the Pentagon entrance. You can see it here.

Pentagon Police say surveillance video shows Bedell seemed emotionless through the entire ordeal. He died earlier today from gunshot wounds, while the officer Bedell shot -- the two officers Bedell shot suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

Now we are just learning that Bedell's parents warned authorities that their son was upset and might have a gun. San Benito County, California Sheriff Curtis Hill tells the Associated Press that the parents of John Patrick Bedell filed a missing persons report and were worried about his mental stability. After reading an email from their son to an acquaintance, the parents told deputies they were also worried he had purchased a gun.

His parents had reported him missing on January 4th, one day after a Texas Highway Patrol officer had stopped him for speeding, apparently on his way to the East Coast. Bedell returned home to his parents' home on January 18th, telling them not to ask any questions about where he had been. His father, Oscar Bedell, told the deputies his son then left again and they did not know where he had gone.

Let me bring you up to speed on the top stories we're following here at CNN.

Nine more airports will be getting new body scanners in the coming months designed to better detect hidden explosives. There are in addition to the three new scanners that will go online Monday at Boston's Logan Airport and the one that will be up and running next week in Chicago's O'Hare.

In Santiago, Chile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is surveying earthquake damage and promising international support. Officials are still struggling to determine the human toll of Saturday's magnitude-8.8 earthquake, but they estimate that reconstruction will cost about $30 billion.

And in D.C., President Obama will meet with the president of Haiti, still struggling after the deadly quake there. Some 200,000 people were killed in the January earthquake, the recovery has been slow going at times.

All right, when we come back, where is he? There he is, right there. Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent, who, by the way, gave me this lovely tie that I am wearing today. Every day at this time, we talk to Ed Henry with "The Ed Henry Segment." This is -- he's got people, you may not have known this, but Ed has people and his people are getting him ready to do the "The Ed Henry Segment" for you when we come back.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Ed and I have been apart for a couple of days, but he is back. He is back at his perch at the White House, and this is time for "The Ed Henry Segment." He is our senior White House correspondent, but he does a little special stuff for us. He actually did something very special for me, I am wearing the tie.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's pretty nice, right?

VELSHI: It looks really good, doesn't it? I really like it.

HENRY: I saw you earlier and I thought it fits in with the Georgia peach theme, kind of orange now that you're in Georgia and you left New York. And I hope you like the gift.

VELSHI: Well, let me tell you, one of the things I've noticed since leaving New York, is a whole lot less coverage about this whole trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others. I mean, that was a big, big New York story because people were, you know, on one side of the thing. Some people thought he should have a civil trial at New York court and other people thought, we can't pay for all this security to have this trial in New York.

Tell us what's going on now?

HENRY: Well, it is a big, big struggle for this White House, because a couple of months back, you'll remember, the attorney general, Eric Holder, very boldly went out there and said, look, we are going to have this trial, it's going to be a civilian trial, it's going to be in a civilian court, and the mastermind of 9/11 is going to be tried in New York City.

Since then, there has been such a backlash, not just from republicans, but also some democrats in New York State saying they are worried about security issues. They're just worried about the whole situation. And there was this story in "The Washington Post" this morning suggesting that the White House is ready to reverse its own attorney general, Eric Holder, on this and end up trying Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and maybe other terrorist suspects in tribunals in the military like the Bush administration did.

I can tell you, I just got off of the phone with the top official at the American Civil Liberties Union who was saying he is getting more and more frustrated, because he thinks this White House is behaving a lot like the Bush administration on these war on terror issues. I just spoke to some senior White House aides who insist no decision has been made yet and they think this is kind of being blown out a bit out of proportion.

But I think when you take a step back, it really just shows how this White House has been under fire on all angles. There's another example where some of their own people on the left are getting frustrated with them like they have on health care with some of the compromises, that maybe too many compromises are being made on the war on terror as well.

VELSHI: Now this conversation sounds like -- I mean, you're an insider to some degree, you get access to a whole lot of people. It sounds like the White House is not having this conversation all that openly just yet?

HENRY: No. I mean, look, they are trying to sort this out. And let's acknowledge that these are very difficult issues about where you are going to try these terror suspects. No easy answer.

VELSHI: There are two distinct issues, right? There's the civilian court versus a military tribunal and the different rules and standards of those courts, and then there's the security issue of where you hold such a trial.

HENRY: Absolutely. And you know, when Eric Holder announced that they wanted to do these as civilian trials, he was very clear in saying that this is a chance for the U.S. to step up and show that the rule of law is there and that we are better than the terrorists essentially. And I think what this White House runs a risk of is running the allegations now that the politics of the situation are sort of forcing them to reverse themselves and not let this go forward in civilian court.

So this is something to keep a close eye on.

VELSHI: Ed, where does Robert Gibbs stand? Is that the room that you're in there? The press room?

HENRY: Yes, he's normally right here. You know, Robert, today, was supposed to have his briefing around t 3:00, in just a few moments, but it turns out he's a little bit under the weather today, so he canceled it. I was joking with some White House aides a little while ago, does he have the GITMO flu or maybe he didn't want to -- I was making that up. Maybe he didn't want to take some of these tough questions today.

But they say, in all seriousness, that he just didn't feel well. He'll be back at it on Monday. We have all been there. A couple of weeks ago, I was out for a few days, I didn't feel well either.

VELSHI: We had a nice time the other night, you and I, at a basketball game.

HENRY: We did. You know, this is a favorite thing. After we had that little surprise appearance on your show there in Atlanta, then we got a chance to go for a little while to the Atlanta Hawks' game. It was pretty good seats, because of some of our bosses there and they -- we were right up there.

And the best part, I think, there was two funny moments. One was, at the end of the game when this Atlanta Police officer came up to you -- and if we have that picture, we can pull it up, I tweeted it.

VELSHI: It is like looking at myself in uniform.

HENRY: The police officer comes up to you and says to you, basically, I got all of the guys in the office who say I look exactly like Ali Velshi. The guy has got, I should point out, no hair and he has glasses that look exactly like you. It is like a dead ringer, he looks like your older brother.

But the other funny part we should tell everyone was the fact that Sanjay Gupta was there as well. And at one point on the screen above the basketball court, they were telling us that they were going to put us on the screen.

VELSHI: Right, and we were all ready. You and me, were ready to go, Sanjay was in the middle.

HENRY: Right, yes. I'm in Atlanta, I'm not usually here, all of a sudden I'm in the big screen and they're going to say, Ed Henry is here from the White House. And instead, up in big lights, it said, Sanjay Gupta from CNN on the PA announcement.

VELSHI: I think we have that. Do we have that, Kelly (ph)?

HENRY: Showing a picture of all three of us, bestially said, Sanjay Gupta of CNN is in the house tonight, and you and I were looking at each other like -- ?

VELSHI: Right, so we're looking at the picture on TV. So imagine, that this is what we thought was going be on the big screen, but when it got on the big screen, it was basically Sanjay with what looked like two bodyguards on either side, that would have been us.

HENRY: Two random guys, yes.

VELSHI: Two random guys with Sanjay Gupta.

HENRY: I think this goes to show what we've known for a long time, we can have a lot of fun with this segment, but --

VELSHI: It's really -- yes, we are not in the league as Dr. Gupta. They announced it. It was like, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in the house with these two guys on either side.

HENRY: And I was waiting for, with somebody else, but it stopped.

VELSHI: No, no, it didn't come. HENRY: It ended. And you know what was really painful? What was really painful was that after they just used Sanjay's name, they left it on the screen for about 20 or 30 seconds all three of us, so we were just sort of hanging there.

VELSHI: Right, right, waiting.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: -- waiting with that disappointed look on our faces like, hey, you aren't going to say anything about us.

HENRY: Yes, come on.

VELSHI: We have to stick together, Ed. It is just going to be us.

HENRY: Appreciate it.

VELSHI: All right, good to see you.

Ed Henry, "The Ed Henry Segment" and follow Ed, EdHenryCNN, follow me on Twitter @alivelshi.

When we come back, we're going to talk about the Oscars with our "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" team. They are standing by to tell us what we can expect and the fun we're going to have.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: That's what a lot of people are going to be heading in on Sunday night to the Oscars thinking, I got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night.

It's going to be a good night for our two hosts of HLN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson. A.J. is in New York -- miss you A.J., used to see you every day at least a few times. And Brooke, you guys are going to be covering.

Look, we are coming into your world for this one. Tell us what you think will happen -- Brooke.

BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, you know, it really is going to be an exciting night, Ali. And first of all, I want to start it off with a couple of showdowns.

First, let's talk about the Best Actress category. We have got Meryl Streep going up against Sandra Bullock here. And this one is really fun, because A.J. and I disagree on this. I think that Sandra Bullock is a near lock for her performance in the "Blindside." They both won Golden Globe, but Sandra Bullock won the Screen Actors Guild Award, and who votes on the Screen Actors Guild Award? The actors. And the largest voting wing in the Academy that will be voting for Best Actress is the actors. So I think Sandra has got this one. She is well respected by the peers, and she will take it home.

VELSHI: And, A.J., you're thinking it's going to be Meryl Streep? Meryl Streep on your side.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, here's the thing, Ali, the only reason I made a decision here is cause somebody said you have to make a decision.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, I love Sandra Bullock and really, honestly, I'm really proud of her. And we saw here at the Golden Globes, we saw the humility and the fact that she is truly humbled by the fact that everybody has accepted her as a dramatic actress. So I'm actually rooting for here.

However, Meryl in "Julie and Julia," I mean, what an incredible performance. She has been nominated 16 times, has won two Oscars in her career. I'm going to put the edge toward Meryl, but really it's a pretty neck and neck fight here, Ali.

ANDERSON: It is. And, Ali, they've actually has a faux feud over the course of the awards season. Sandra Bullock leaving Meryl Streep a voicemail to "watch your back," Meryl Streep sending Sandra dead orchids. Sandra sending Meryl then some liquor saying, "toast to white trash." So they have had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

VELSHI: And listen, that's a faux feud, what is the feud really like between Katherine Bigelow and James Cameron? Is that a real one, because they've got two movies up against each other for Best Director.

ANDERSON: They are friends. They say they are buds. Yes, "Avatar" up for nine Academy Awards, "The Hurt Locker" also up for nine Academy Awards. They're going to be going head-to-head for Best Director, they say they fully support one another and that if one wins, the other will be cheering for that person.

My money here is going to be on Katherine Bigelow and I don't know if that's because I am a woman and maybe I just want another woman -- it would be the first time a female director has won this award at the Oscars.

VELSHI: Where do you think that award is going, A.J.?

HAMMER: Yes, I actually think it will go to Katherine Bigelow. Best Picture is actually an area where Brooke and I seem to have a little disagreement. I think it is anyone's race there between "Hurt Locker" and "Avatar." But I think, as far as the Best Director, I think Katherine Bigelow pulled off such an astonishing accomplishment with this film and again, to finally see a woman get this honor I think this is the due time and I quite honestly don't think it's going to hurt James Cameron's career if he does not win.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: All right, this is going to be fun to watch. Tell me about the -- yes, good point. Tell me about the hosting duties this year, little bit different.

ANDERSON: Yes, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin are co-hosting the big night. This is pretty -- this is unprecedented actually. These two guys have worked together on the small screen and the big screen. Steve Martin actually nominated for an Emmy for his guest-starring role on "30 Rock." They also kind of went head-to-head in the movie "It's Complicated."

They have a lot of fun these guys and they told us they are going to joke around a lot. That Alec says he wants to err on the side of being dignified for the Oscar audience. But I really hope e doesn't do that. I hope they just bring the laughs, Ali.

VELSHI: What do you think, A.J.?

HAMMER: I got to say something about Alec Baldwin. I think it's terrific because obviously he has shown us all his great comedic chops since he joined up with "30 Rock" and it has been such an enormous part of that show's success.

However, it's a little ironic to me that a guys who has said, you know, I'm basically done with show business once "30 Rock" is over, he's hosting the biggest show business show on the planet this weekend. I mean, I think that's pretty incredible. But I think they'll both be amazing, obviously.

ANDERSON: I think that may be a negotiating tactic for Alec. We keep hearing that from him.

(LAUGHTER)

HAMMER: You think?

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Either way, whatever happen, it's going to be fun for you. We love watching you guys on this. It is going to be fun for you and your viewers. You have a pre-show and post-show on Sunday.

HAMMER: That is right. We are going to be --

ANDERSON: Yes, we do, 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

HAMMER: -- right here on CNN.

ANDERSON: Yes.

HAMMER: I will let you take it, Brooke.

ANDERSON: And 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.

Sorry we've got a little bit of a delay. I apologize for the crosstalk.

But yes, two live shows. We're really excited about it. Special shows, we will be right there live on the red carpet, Ali.

HAMMER: Yes.

VELSHI: We are really going to enjoy watching it with you and watching the whole thing.

Thanks so much to you, Brooke. Great to see you, we don't see you enough these days. And, A.J., miss you. Miss seeing you in New York. We will be watching you both.

Be sure to join us. Hollywood's biggest night, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" hosts A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson live from the red carpet Sunday night right here on CNN 7:00 p.m. Eastern for "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: ROAD TO GOLD." Then "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" live coverage, as Brooke said, continue 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN. We're going to enjoy watching that.

Stay with us. When we come back, I am going to give you my views on today's unemployment report and how things could get better for this country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time for "The X-Y-Z of It."

Today's jobs report was a half a glass and depending upon how you see the world it was either half full or half empty. The unemployment rate stayed the same. We lost jobs, but we didn't lose as many as economists expected. Forty percent of the unemployed have been unemployed for more than six months, but the length of time a person stays unemployed shrank a bit and the manufacturing sector, ground zero for job losses for the last decade here in America, actually saw jobs added, just a few added.

The longer this country loses jobs, the more frustrated people get, and some of that frustration is focused on the government. Well, the government can't really create jobs. It can create an environment for businesses to create jobs. That environment is one of certainty allowing businesses to invest in people, in buildings, in projects that will provide good-paying, long-term jobs to people.

Economists say most of the American jobs of the future will be in sectors like health care and energy, both traditional and alternative energy. Well, these are heavily regulated industries, and they should be. But they are also surrounded by uncertainty about legislation and regulation. How does a power company pull the trigger on a new plant when that don't know whether Congress will impose new fees and taxes on carbon emissions? How do you build a hospital when no one seems to know what the future of health care reform will be?

You can't have jobs without degree or certainty or security, and that's what employers and the rest of us are looking for.

And now for somebody who has got no problems with certainty, here is Rick and "RICK'S LIST."