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Health Care Reform End Game; Paying Taxes; American Killed in Mexico
Aired March 15, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Monday, March 15. Here are the top stories for you the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need your health reform bill to help me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A cancer patient hopes to attend President Obama's health care rally in Ohio today. The White House predicting victory on a reform bill this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never saw the wind blow that hard, and I have been in this neighborhood ten years. This is the hardest I have seen the wind blow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Hurricane-force gusts raking the Northeast. Hundreds of thousands lose electricity. Seven lose their lives.
And college students hit the streets again today protesting deep, deep cuts in education. I will talk with the protest leader live next hour.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
President Obama trying to keep the pressure on Congress and sell the public on health care reform. Democrats scrambling to round up votes. Republicans and, yes, some Democrats pushing back hard. All part of the end game playing out this week.
We will get to the politics, but first what you are saying about health care reform. A recent Associated Press poll asked, what should President Obama and Congress do with health care reform? Forty-three percent of you said keep working on the current bills. Forty-one percent said start from scratch and 15 percent said, do nothing?
And this, a plea for reform from an 11-year-old boy whose mother passed away after losing her job and health insurance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCELAS OWENS, HEALTH CARE REFORM ADVOCATE: Having to pass away because you don't have the health care, because you're not as rich as some people is not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: President Obama is taking his fight for health care reform on the road again today. He's heading to Ohio.
White House correspondent Dan Lothian joins us from Strongsville, Ohio just outside Cleveland where the president will be speaking.
Dan, good to see you. What is the significance --
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.
HARRIS: -- of the president picking this town to make this pitch for reform?
LOTHIAN: And, you know, Tony, that's a very good question because I asked that question -- I posed that question to a senior administration official who confirmed to CNN that the reason in part that the president did pick this area, the Cleveland, Ohio area, is to highlight the case of Natoma Canfield.
She is the woman that we started hearing about a couple of weeks ago. She wrote a letter to the president. And he hand-delivered this letter to these insurance executives who were meeting at the White House and the president read this letter to them.
And essentially this is a case of a woman who is self-employed and saw her insurance premiums skyrocket, jumped by 25 percent. She can no longer afford insurance. So now she does not have insurance.
She had breast cancer 16 years ago. And since writing the letter she's now been diagnosed with leukemia.
Now in making plans to come here, the White House wanted her to introduce the president, but it so happens that on this very day -- and I was talking to her sister and her brother earlier -- she will be getting, according to them, aggressive chemotherapy treatments.
So she hopes to catch the speech on television, but not certain that she will be able to do that. So her sister instead will be introducing the president here today.
But, essentially, Tony, this is a president using the example of this one woman to make a closing argument, a push for health care reform.
HARRIS: And, boy, Dan, got to tell you, what does Miss Canfield think of all of this attention?
(LAUGHTER) LOTHIAN: Well, it really has -- it really took them by surprise. According to her siblings, they say that, you know, they're stunned. They said well, stunned, they said that would be an understatement.
But on the other hand, they believe and so does, you know, the cancer patient -- she believes that this has given her the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the problem. And from her perspective she very much supports what the president is doing and hopes that her story will help and lead to insurance or health care reform.
On the other hand, though, there are a lot of Americans out there --
HARRIS: Yes.
LOTHIAN: -- who aren't buying it. And in face, we saw some of them driving in here, some protesters lined up saying, kill the bill, completely against what the president is doing. So still a divided country as to whether or not what the president is doing is right.
HARRIS: Yes, divided as we are in this country on most issues, it seems.
So, Dan Lothian for us in Strongsville, Ohio. Dan, good to see you. Thank you. We will have live coverage of President Obama's remarks in Ohio. He is expected to speak just after 1:00 Eastern. And we will carry his comments once he takes the stage.
Other big stories are following for you this Monday morning in the NEWSROOM. Check your mailbox. 2010 census forms start arriving today. The headcount will determine how House seats and federal money are divided among the states.
The census director says fill them out, follow up visits for those who don't will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion.
They call themselves a mellower, less caffeinated option to tea parties. Coffee partiers say they're angry, too, but they want to solve problems without shouting. They say they are upset with Washington but don't see the government as the enemy.
Coffee Party USA says its first national event drew thousands this week out across 44 states. A CNN iReporter sent us this picture from Cup-a-Joe in Raleigh, North Carolina. Another iReporter attended a coffee party in Hill Street Cafe. That's in Oceanside, California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our poster and these are our beliefs. Civility, open dialogue, freedom, fairness, energized electorate and engagement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So wake up and smell the coffee.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Well, that's nice. Crews are working to restore power to tens of thousands of customers in the northeast after a weekend storm that dumped more than six inches of rain in some areas.
Check out these pictures from Connecticut where hurricane-force winds snapped trees and power lines.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I looked up and the tree had pretty much already gone but it began to rip the cables off. Each house you can see it tore off all that stuff over that house. And then it just snapped that telephone pole like a toothpick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And, Rob, join me on this. It looks like the Red River and its tributaries spilling out of their banks in Minnesota. Our understanding is that the floods may be just a preview of what's to come.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
HARRIS: We have people in the Fargo, Moorhead area preparing millions of sandbags for later this week. Maybe you can give us a bit of a preview of what they're preparing for. What might be heading their way.
MARCIANO: Unfortunately the preview they had was about a year ago at this time, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. Yes.
MARCIANO: You remember those dramatic floods that went through this area. Historic floods as a matter of fact. Record-shattering floods of last year and what's setting up right now which is -- well, we had a lot of rain in the fall. We had a big time snow pack which is still there now and it's beginning to melt.
So they've been seeing this coming for a good couple of weeks. They've made some precautionary measures to try and combat the rising rivers.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Appreciate, sir. Thank you.
Americans gunned down in Mexico. Could this be the work of a drug gang? It sure sounds like it. Our Raphael Romo takes a look at the increase in violence.
So let you to the New York Stock Exchange. All right. The big board working better this week than the middle of last week on. The Dow down 23 points.
We're following these numbers for you throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Can't afford to pay your taxes? Well, Uncle Sam is offering a lending hand?
Our Ines Ferre is in New York with tips on how you can get some help.
Ines, good to see you. What advice do you have for people who really right now don't have the money to pay their taxes?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, well, primarily, even if you can't pay your taxes you still have to file them. The penalty for not filing is a lot bigger than the penalty for not paying.
If you don't file your taxes, your tax bill could increase, Tony, 5 percent every month plus interest. And if you don't have a job or you don't think that you'll be able to pay your taxes, get on the phone with an IRS agent and that number is 1-800-TAX-1040.
Now here are some ways that the IRS is offering help. They are accepting reduced payments. They're postponing collection actions. They're also allowing for some missed installment payments.
The IRS also says that it's willing to help homeowners sell or refinance their homes by reducing or suspending liens so the house so that the re-fire sale can go through.
Now this outreach initiative by the IRS was started last year.
HARRIS: Well, I got to tell you, Ines, you know, tax season can be pretty stressful for people who are financially strapped. What resources, if any, are out there to help?
FERRE: OK. Well, they can take advantage of this. The IRS is going to be holding hundreds of special Saturday open houses aimed so that taxpayers can get help directly from IRS employees. The offices will be open on March 27th and three additional Saturdays in the spring and early summer.
And we'll bring you the latest info when that becomes available. And also you can also contact your local taxpayer assistance center if you need help understanding your taxes or you have some questions about new deductions that you can take.
To find an office in your area, you can go to IRS.gov. And of course, if you have any questions send them to us at CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com. And we love getting e-mails.
HARRIS: Ines, appreciate it. See you next hour, lady. Thank you.
FERRE: You too.
HARRIS: The big push is on for the Obama administration and Congress to work out a health care bill. What's in the bill? Details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Families of U.S. consulate workers in northern Mexico may be sent home. Three people with ties to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad, Juarez were shot to death following a weekend children's party -- yes, a children's party.
Two of them were American citizens. Two children were wounded. It is suspected the families were targeted by a Mexican drug gang.
CNN's Rafael Romo is here. He is the senior Latin American affairs editor for CNN.
Rafael, good to see you. A couple of questions on this. Any explanation, any motive so far? Can you tell me why this happened?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It is a question of the moment right now, Tony. We don't know whether these people are targeted because they were American or because they had ties to the American consulate, or simply because they attended a children's party earlier that morning.
All we know is that they were in their car. They were driving not far from the international bridge from El Paso, Texas when they were -- they were stopped by a group of armed men in a car and they started shooting.
They killed the woman who was a female worker for the consulate and her husband. There was a baby in the backseat, Tony, who luckily was unharmed in this incident.
HARRIS: Yes. President Calderon was in Juarez, if I recall correctly, in February. At that time he was responding to a massacre that left 16 dead. And he made a commitment to the families at the time to continue to fight this fight, is the quote.
Why is this such a difficult battle to wage and obviously to win?
ROMO: Well, Ciudad Juarez is what I would call the epicenter of the earthquake that is shaking called drug trafficking. What you have there is a fight between two very powerful drug cartels namely the Gulf Carter and the Juarez Cartel. It's right in the middle.
So they are fighting for territory right in Ciudad Juarez because they want to control the very lucrative drug trade into the United States. We're talking about cocaine and marijuana. And so they want to control that.
And also the presence of the Mexican military there, instead of helping, has made matters more complicated because once they capture or kill a drug lord then somebody has to fill the gap. And they start fighting all over again.
HARRIS: There is a vacuum.
ROMO: Exactly.
HARRIS: Yes. Three people with ties to the U.S. consulate in Juarez shot to death. Do the cartels really want the U.S. military, let's say, fully engaged in this fight, not suggesting that that's about to happen, but come on, that can't be something that these cartels want?
ROMO: I think that's the last thing they want. So far, the way things are, Tony, they are fighting against the Mexican army and against the Mexican police. The local police is no match for the drug cartels. They have all the money, the best weapons, military assault rifles.
So right now they really have no force that can really give them a fight. The fight is really among them and the last thing they would want is to see the FBI or the American military in any way, shape or form involved in this fight -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Something to think about when you take a look at what happened this weekend.
Rafael Romo for us. Rafael, good to see you. Thank you.
ROMO: Thanks.
HARRIS: It is a noun. It's a verb. Chances are you used it at least once already today. That's right. We're talking about Google and now a possible glitch. Why the search engine could soon be pulling the plug on an entire country?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get caught up on Top Stories now.
The president is on his way to Ohio to open his final push for health care reform. The White House predicts a bill will pass Congress this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: We're very optimistic about the outcome of this process. I think people have come to the realization that this is the moment. And if we don't act now, there will be dire consequences for people all over this country in terms of higher rates, in terms of being excluded from health care if they have pre-existing conditions, or are being thrown off of their health care if they become sick.
Dire consequences for small businesses who are being priced out of the insurance market today. Individuals who are being priced out of the insurance market today. We just saw rate increases announced in California, up to 39 percent. Illinois, 60 percent. This is the future if we don't act. And I -- the sense of urgency has overtaken the process here.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: The House minority leader says Republicans will try all procedural tactics to stop the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: There is a number of steps in this bill where they are double counting the savings. I just think that's inappropriate.
Listen. The American people want us to do something about the cost of health insurance. This bill will raise the cost of health insurance. According to CBO and all the outside estimates is that if you already have health insurance you're going to pay more under their proposal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. The Senate version of a financial overhaul bill will be unveiled today. Banking committee chairman Chris Dodd says the bill prevents from firms growing too big to fail. It also creates a consumer protection agency and regulates derivative trading. The House has already passed its bill.
And the electricity is back on across most of Chile today. A blackout left 90 percent of the country in the dark last night. A transformer failed causing a domino effect on the nation's power grid. It was already weakened already by last month's earthquake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A critical week in the fight over health care reform and a look at the process and the politics here. Democrats say they're confident they'll get the votes to pass the legislation, but they're not there just yet.
Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar live from Washington.
Brianna, good to see you. Maybe we can start here. What is actually happening today? What's happening?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, can you hear the arm-twisting, Tony? Can you hear it?
HARRIS: I can feel it.
KEILAR: You can feel it all the way from Atlanta. Well, that's going on right now, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
KEILAR: You've got Democrat leaders who are trying to coral their Democrats to get enough votes for this health care reform package maybe by the end of the week. And also today what we have is the House Budget Committee that is paving the way for this to move forward through that controversial process of reconciliation. Because, right, Tony, normally what you would do is the Senate passed a bill. The House passed a bill. They're very different. Normally they'd hash out their differences, come up with a final bill, send it back to the Senate and the House for a vote.
Democrats can't do that because they're going this alone without Republican support. And now that Senator Brown is in from Massachusetts, a Republican, they just don't have those 59 votes in the Senate.
So what they're trying to do is, by the end of the week, the House would pass the Senate bill and there is a lot in that Senate bill that House Democrats disagree with. So what they do is they would pass a package of changes, send it back through the Senate through the process of reconciliation where they only need 51 votes. A simple majority instead of that all-important 60 threshold.
HARRIS: Perfect. That was so good. OK. What can we expect in regard to changes, Brianna?
KEILAR: A couple of big changes. One is that they're going to be adjusting in the Senate bill how you pay for this -- that tax on those high-end Cadillac plans? They're going to increase the ceiling so that it hits less of these plans.
Another adjustment they're going to make is they're going to drop that so-called cornhusker kickback, that thing that was negotiated with a Nebraska senator, Ben Nelson.
HARRIS: Yes.
KEILAR: That would allow the federal government to pick up the full tab for Nebraska's Medicaid expenses. That was something that caught a lot of flak. They're going to get rid of that.
But there's a couple of things they can't deal with because with reconciliation you're dealing with money issues, budget issues. You can't deal with the abortion language issue, you can't deal with the issue of whether illegal immigrants would benefit from this so they won't be able to touch that through these packet of changes.
HARRIS: Now let's look at -- maybe you can walk us through the politics of this. Who's in? Who's out?
KEILAR: This is all Democrats. Republicans aren't in at all that we know of at this point, and they are hitting Democrats hard saying you're going to have to go ahead and pass the Senate bill first before you can make changes to it.
And they're saying this is going to cost Democrats, especially in those red states. This is going to be costing them their jobs.
They say that Democrats are ignoring what Americans want. But the way Democrats see it, Tony -- at least a lot of them -- is they promised that they would pass health care reform and they need to deliver. That even if they're going to catch some flak for doing this, they'd catch a whole lot more if they don't deliver on this.
And on this issue of reconciliation, Tony, we had an idea that this was going to take this route. We had an idea that health care reform might take this route. The idea of reconciliation was inserted into the budget that was passed last year by Congress. This was their last resort and this is what it's come to.
HARRIS: Isn't that something? Now we were on a call with you this morning just working out the details of this hit here and you said, oh, by the way, I'm passing another story here, some flooding in the D.C. area. We've got some tape here. And you can do the narration over this.
What did you see on the way in?
KEILAR: Yes, well, this I believe is -- is that Old Town? That's -- OK, so this is maybe -- this is the Potomac River. And I live right in Alexandria right across from D.C. and I'm driving in, talking to you, planning this live shot, and I look at the route that I normally jog along and it's almost under water.
OK, there's little Old Town right there.
HARRIS: Right.
KEILAR: You see this is George Washington's hometown, Robert E. Lee's hometown and there's actually hatch marks there because Old Town floods quite a bit.
HARRIS: Yes.
KEILAR: Luckily, I understand, you see it's just up to the doorsteps.
HARRIS: Sandbags. Are you kidding me? Sandbags.
KEILAR: Yes. We may have escaped with less damage than we've had in the past.
HARRIS: Oh, man.
KEILAR: Pretty serious, though.
HARRIS: So you're covering one story and you stumble on another. Brianna, good to see you. Appreciate.
KEILAR: Good to see you.
HARRIS: That's good voiceover work there, too.
All right, the big push is on for the Obama administration and Congress to work out a health care bill. What's in the bill? We're going to stay on this. What's in the bill? Details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: So, what are some of the particulars in the 2700-page bill? Here are some of the highlights. About 31 million uninsured Americans would get coverage with premium lower than current private insurance.
For those of you who already have coverage insurers will be banned from placing lifetime limits on coverage or canceling policies except in cases of fraud. And insurance companies will be required to apply 80 to 85 percent of income from premiums directly to health care.
That's what's in the bill.
Well, President Obama and Democratic leaders pushed for health care reform. Critics are pushing back.
Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is following that part of that of the story. I know he's happy to be out in Washington right now for a couple of days and then (INAUDIBLE) back.
Paul, what about pressure some members of Congress are facing these days?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And immense amount of pressure from both sides, Tony. You and Brianna were just talking about this.
HARRIS: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: It's all about the Democrats now because we assume that no Republicans are going to vote in --
HARRIS: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: In favor of this bill. What do they have a problem with? Some of these Democrats who may not vote for it? Well, you heard Brianna talk about immigration and you heard her talk about abortion.
There are some socially conservative Democrats who have problems with the Senate bill that say it doesn't go far enough in preventing federal taxpayer money for providing for -- well, providing for abortion services.
Some Democrats have problems, they say the bill is too tough when it comes to illegal immigration and it's too tough on illegal immigrants getting health care.
Others, some fiscally conservative Democrats, Tony, who think the bill is not going to bring down the deficit. And there are some fairly progressive Democrats, Tony, they don't think the bill goes far enough. So there are problems with some Democrats. We're keeping a count.
HARRIS: So these are Democrats who are having issues with the bill drafted by Democrats, and is there any sense that they are willing on principal to scuttle health care reform for their individual issues?
STEINHAUSER: Well, as you mentioned, there is so much pressure from the White House and from Democratic leaders on these lawmakers to come on and vote with the party, because they realize they need to get this done. And if the White House does not get this done, this is their signature domestic issue other than the economy. They could gain a bit of a political problem.
HARRIS: So tell us about the ad war that is being waged right now. It is all-encompassing, it seems like.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, remember, back in August, September, October when the airwaves were flooded with ads on health care reform? Tony, they're back.
HARRIS: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: And we are seeing ads on both sides from industry and advocacy groups that are in favor of health care reform ads or against it.
Mark Preston, our political editor, he put out a nice wire on the political ticker. He said up to $1 million a day, this week, will be spent on ads. This week alone, each day, Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. And how about the role of activists? What role are they playing in the debate right now? I'm thinking about tea party folks? We're talking about coffee party folks, and there was something last week, you'll recall with Howard Dean?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, remember that last week. Howard Dean and his group, which is in favor of health care reform. We saw them marching in Washington. And they were pretty loud and made their statements. Well, tomorrow, on the other side, you're going to see a more conservative tea party activist in Washington and they are rallying against the bill and their voices will be heard as well. Both sides trying to influence lawmakers -- Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. Paul, appreciate it. Thank you.
How long are you here? We need you back in Washington covering all of this for us.
STEINHAUSER: Flying back tonight.
HARRIS: Yes. It's good to see you. Thanks, Paul.
Google may have had it with China. Here's the deal. We are hearing the company is likely to pull the plug on its search engine there after a long, drawn out battle over censorship.
Christine Romans joining me from New York.
And, boy, Christine, look, all signs point to Google actually pulling out. We're even hearing that some advertisers are starting to buy other Internet sites there in China. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Baidu, the big competitor of Google in China. No, Tony, the company is not commenting. They will not officially comment on this. But all signs point to a very big, maybe irreparable rift between China and Google. This is the latest round in the back and forth as you'll recall that began back in January when Google said it would pull out of China if China wouldn't allow them to offer an unfiltered Chinese search engine. That threat coming after cyber attacks, you might recall, that originated from China on Google and about 30 other big companies.
So this is negotiations between the two have been ongoing for some time here. But it looks as though we are close to a final decision on this, Tony.
HARRIS: I mean, is this serious? I mean, that is a huge -- we talk about China all the time here. But that is obviously a huge market. Is this a little brinksmanship here, or does this really look like a situation where Google could pull out?
ROMANS: No. We were wondering this brinksmanship back in January. A lot of people watching this say that, look, the Chinese want to be able to censor Google, and Google does not want to be censored. And that is the bottom line here.
What the Chinese are saying about this, the Ministry of Industry and Information, this is what the minister there said. "I hope Google can abide by China's laws and regulations. It is irresponsible and unfriendly if Google insists in doing something that goes against China's laws and regulations, and it would have to bear the consequences for doing so."
That's a direct challenge to Google, Tony. That is the Chinese government saying, look, we believe in social harmony. Part of our social harmony means that we need to be able to filter -- filter what people have access to. We need to be able to -- and, you know, in some cases, this happened to Yahoo.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: We need to be able to know who are the people who own these accounts. That's something that makes Google very, very uncomfortable. And remember, Google is not the dominant search engine there, anyway.
HARRIS: That's right.
ROMANS: Baidu is.
HARRIS: That's right.
ROMANS: So it's got this tricky -- this tricky position where there is this huge, the fastest growing Internet market in the world, right?
HARRIS: Right.
ROMANS: But at the same time what is the damage to Google's identity if it continues to allow itself to be censored?
HARRIS: That's a great point. All right, Christine, appreciate it. Thank you. Good stuff.
ROMANS: Sure.
HARRIS: Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first ever dot com Web page, Symbolics.com. So that got us thinking about technology and stuff.
Of these three innovations, which one has had the most impact on your life -- the building of the interstate highway system, the blanketing of the U.S. with coast-to-coast television, or the introduction and spread of the Internet?
If you would, just go to our blog, CNN.com/Tony, then take our quick vote.
The good news is you have a job. The bad news is your job is helping unemployed people find work in this economy. A Birmingham career counselor shares her fears, frustrations and triumphs right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Got to tell you right now almost 15 million Americans are looking for work. 9.7 percent of us cannot find a job. Behind the numbers are real people with real stories. And we found our story today in Birmingham, Alabama. That state is suffering with unemployment at 11 percent.
Yvette Fields knows that painful reality well. She's a counselor at the Birmingham Career Center.
And Yvette, thanks for being with us today.
What are you saying to the numbers of people who are coming into your office looking for help? How are you counseling them, and where are you sending them to hopefully find new work?
YVETTE FIELDS, BIRMINGHAM CAREER CENTER: First of all, I'd like to say good morning.
HARRIS: Good morning.
FIELDS: I think the first thing we tell them is that they must have an updated resume. There are a lot of participants who are looking for employment who have not looked for a job in several years because they have been working. And some of the companies that they were laid off from, corporate America, had never laid off in the last couple of years. So they are needing to update their resume. And our center encourages them to be prepared in doing that. You must review your contact information and start networking.
HARRIS: I mean, that sounds like good advice for folks right now, even if you have a job. I mean, you know, with the shakiness of the economy and the job market, it sounds like good advice even if you have.
How do you guide people to handle the wide spaces, the empty spaces in the resume. Hey, I haven't worked for six months or whatever else. How do you handle that on a resume?
FIELDS: Well, we are encouraging them to tell the truth and explain pretty much in detail what have you been doing in your job search. Literally, it is a job trying to seek a job. And in that, we have had persons unemployed for almost two years.
HARRIS: Really?
FIELDS: And so in that period of time they are looking for work. And sometimes we tell the customer depending on who it is that they need to take a job, if offered.
HARRIS: Yes, you mentioned someone being out of work for two years in some cases.
FIELDS: Yes.
HARRIS: It makes me think, is there a particular case, maybe an individual whose story has really touched you and perhaps even keeps you up at night? Because we were talking in the break. This is tough on you and your counselors, isn't it?
FIELDS: It is. It's very tough. Because when they come to us, they explain they're having family problems, marital problems. When you have financial problems, it affects the entire family. And so in doing that, we tell them that, you know, it's not just about you. It's not your fault. Some of them don't know how to handle discouragement and rejection. And we try to tell them that that's part of the process of trying to find a job in these economic times.
HARRIS: Those are good words. Those really are.
Manufacturing is leading the job losses in your state. Do you think jobs like that are ever going to come back any time soon?
FIELDS: I think they will come back, but I don't think any time soon. It's going to take businesses a while to develop a new area where they can come back and restart and retool and try to begin again. I think at this point we're at a point where there are so many people unemployed. We have over 200,000 unemployed here in the state of Alabama. And it's very difficult to say, but some of those jobs will not return.
HARRIS: Yes. You made me think of this last question for you before I lose you here.
What's happening to the folks whose unemployment benefits are simply running out? What do they do?
FIELDS: They are able to file for an extension. We've had several people here that are on extensions. And they have been on extensions for several times. They may have three and four extensions regarding unemployment. But we do tell them if they come in contact with an employer who wants to hire them, they need to go to work. That's very important.
HARRIS: Yes. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future here?
FIELDS: I'm optimistic.
HARRIS: You'd better be.
FIELDS: I think we're going to have a turnaround. People just need to realize that it's not at our pace. And what's going to happen is we may not find a job paying the same amount of money we made at the previous job.
HARRIS: Yvette, it's good to see you. Thanks for taking the time.
FIELDS: Good to see you, too. Thank you.
HARRIS: My pleasure. And checking our top stories now. Folks in the northeast are cleaning up after a powerful weekend storm. Winds of up to 75 miles per hour uprooted trees and downed power lines. At one point, more than 500,000 customers were left in the dark.
Actor Peter Graves has died from an apparent heart attack. Graves is best known for his role in the TV series "Mission Impossible." He would have celebrated his 84th birthday this week.
The U.N. chief getting a firsthand look at Haiti's sprawling 10 cities. He is making promises on behalf of the world.
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HARRIS: Reassuring Haiti. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is back in earthquake-devastated Port-Au-Prince. It's his second visit there since the January quake. It killed more than 200,000 people and left more than a million homeless. His message now -- the world has not forgotten you. Details from CNN's Sarah Sidner.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon came to tour this camp in Port-Au-Prince. It's the largest camp for displaced earthquake victims. Some 40,000 people live here. And he came to see the conditions. He knows there are problems. He knows there are still hundreds of thousands of people that do not have proper shelter, and he talked about some of the issues and some of the ways the U.N. could help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Funds for schools, infrastructure, roads, ports and power. For the foreseeable future, the government will need international assistance simply to cover its payroll, teachers, police, doctors and nurses, civil servants and basic services.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: A bit earlier in the day, the U.N. secretary general had some time to speak with Haiti's president Preval to discuss some of the issues here. But neither would answer questions about money. Number one, how much money Haiti would ask for, and how much money the U.N. would be able to give. And whether there is plenty of trust as Haiti has been a government that is long been accused of having problems with corruption.
In the end, on March 31st, we should know the answer when the final plan is put in front of the United Nations in New York.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And CNN's Anderson Cooper is live from Haiti. As rainy season approaches, are things any better for the post earthquake homeless? Don't miss "AC360" live from Haiti. That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
You remember the guy who took that wild ride on a San Diego freeway? Well, today, there are all kinds of doubts about a Prius that supposedly sped out of control.
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HARRIS: I need you to reach out to the program. I need you to talk to me directly. A couple of ways 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.
Here's my Twitter address, Tony Harris CNN.
Call us. Pick up the phone, 1-877-742-5760. Let's have more of your thoughts on the program. CNN Newsroom with Tony Harris.
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HARRIS: You know, stocks have been holding steady for the past few weeks, but that doesn't mean the economy is in a holding pattern as well. On the contrary, in fact, there are quite a few signs of life in corporate America. That usually means a lot of M&A activity. And maybe that's what we're talking about. I don't know. But here's Stephanie Elam in New York with details.
Stephanie, good to see you. Good morning. Good Monday. What's happening on the street?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. We have a merger Monday. And that's something we used to see a lot of a few years ago. And really just kind of petered off. Now we have some more to tell you about today. And that's a good sign.
Phillips-Van Heusen, they're planning to buy Tommy Hilfiger for cool $3 billion. The deal will create one of the largest clothing companies. I know you like the Tommy Hilfiger.
HARRIS: Come on now.
ELAM: Phillips-Van Heusen already owns Calvin Klein and Izod. That's what they are, a behemoth of a company. And this is good news for both sides in this deal.
Also, today, Pepsi is boosting its annual dividend, and is planning to buy back up to $15 billion of its own stock. Pepsi shares are up one percent. Phillips-Van Heusen, their shares are up nine percent right now. But as we've seen in the past few weeks, the Dow not really doing much of anything. Just a little below, a little below. And then pretty much ending by around the flat line. So the Dow right now off 38 points, 10586. Nasdaq off 20 points at 2347.
Mr. Harris?
HARRIS: Well, we have known that corporations have been holding on, squirreling away lots of money on the sidelines here. What does all of this sort of M&A activity mean for the broader economy, Miss Stephanie?
ELAM: Well, this is good, Tony. It shows us that things are looking better. All of these moves together, the takeover, the raising of the dividend and the stock buyback, they showed that Van Heusen and Pepsi have confidence in the current and future business environment.
Merger acquisition activity is something we saw a lot of before the recession. You remember that? You've always had some sort of deal we were telling you about. We got pretty quite on that. But then it came to a standstill because companies just like people, they didn't want to make any deals unless they were sure that the outlook was good. So they were holding on tight to their money. Now merger and acquisition activity is picking up again.
Think about it this way. Just last month we saw Pepsi buying its biggest bottler. The same goes for the dividend boost and the stock buy back. They're coming back.
And a few weeks ago, Wal-Mart, which is the world's largest retailer, raised its dividends. That's another good sign. This is what we want to see because it's confidence that's there. And because of this, it could turn out that companies have confidence, they're doing better, they do a little bit more hiring. Then if they hire, people who get jobs, and then they go out and spend money, and the economy is driven by two-thirds -- the economy is driven by people spending.
HARRIS: And they can pay their mortgages. It would be another nice sign if we could get more and more of those companies investing in new ventures. That would be really nice as well. Stephanie, good to see you.
ELAM: Yes, because also -- that also creates more jobs.
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HARRIS: You're right it does. See you next hour, Stephanie. Thank you.
ELAM: OK. Thanks.
HARRIS: And here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
Rally time at the Georgia state capital. College students unite against cuts to higher education funding. I'm going to talk to one of the organizers, next hour.
Plus, our "Building of America" series. We will take you to a downtown and sweet home Alabama.
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HARRIS: Well, it's a PR nightmare for Toyota, but was it dreamed up. An investigation casts doubt on a driver who claims his Prius took him on a runaway ride. It happened on a san Diego freeway one week ago today.
Toyota and the driver's attorney plan separate news conferences this afternoon.
Here's Susan Candiotti.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A draft congressional memo seems to take some steam out of Jim Sikes' self-described wild ride in his 2008 Prius. It even had 911 and the California Highway Patrol running to his rescue.
JIM SIKES, PRIUS OWNER: The gas pedal felt kind of weird and it just went all the way too fast.
CANDIOTTI: Sikes relived it for our Ted Rowlands.
SIKES: And I was in the 80s somewhere. And I kept hitting the brakes, kept hitting the brakes. And it wasn't slowing down at all. It was just accelerating.
CANDIOTTI: Yet after two hours of trying to duplicate what happened on Sikes' own car and another exact model, federal investigators and Toyota came up short. A draft memo says, "Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down." Experts say that's a key safety feature of the car.
So if Sikes says the accelerator was stuck and he was pressing hard on the brake, why didn't his car slow down?
PETER VALDES-DAPENA, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Maybe what was happening was not that his engine was overpowering the brakes, but his brakes were incapable at that point of overpowering anything.
CANDIOTTI: The same memo says his brakes were worn out. It doesn't say whether they were that way before or after the incident. A Toyota investigator told congressional staff it does not appear to be feasibly possible both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time. What does that mean for Jim Sikes?
VALDES-DAPENA: It is possible that he's a liar. It is also possible that he simply misunderstood what was happening with his car.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Sikes says he is sticking to his story, and adds that his lawyer will have more to say about this later today.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
