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Jobs: The Next Big Issue?; Small Gains, Big Disparities; More Than 100 Arrested in Terror Plot
Aired March 24, 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 for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon in Washington where African-American leaders say it is time for President Obama to focus attention on jobs.
It's is 7:00 p.m. in Saudi Arabia where dozens of people are arrested in plots targeting oil installation and police.
And it is 9:00 in the Vegas burbs, where we wondered, does health care reform look different now that it's law?
Let's do this -- let's get started.
Unemployment and jobs dominate issues facing the country, and jobs are a major focus of the National Urban League's annual report on the state of black America. The group is calling for urgent action to put African-Americans and the rest of America back to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: What's important now is for the nation to embrace the idea why closing those gaps is not only good for African-Americans, but also good for the nation at large. When we have unemployed people, we also have people who could be contributing to the overall economy. That's why we strongly support a robust jobs initiative by the president and the Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Health care reform has dominated President Obama's domestic agenda in recent weeks, but the presidents says repairing the economy and creating jobs are top priorities moving forward.
CNN's Jill Dougherty joining us from the White House.
And Jill, good to see you again.
What is the president doing on the jobs issue?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, just last week you had his first, really, jobs bill. And that was $17.6 billion. It was for tax breaks for business and also infrastructure spending, which would, they would hope, spur employment. And now we asked the White House what they're looking at, next steps. And right now they're planning on a $30 billion bill increasing money to small business, eliminating capital gains tax for small businesses. And then the third point would be tax credits to retrofit houses. Apparently, that would be energy conservation.
So they know that it's very important for them to get moving on that front. You're right that a lot of the energy has been expended recently on health care. That feels kind of far in the future, but jobs are really what have to be solved very quickly. HARRIS: Appreciate it.
Jill Dougherty at the White House for us.
Other big stories that we are following for you right now.
The president is getting ready to sign an executive order that will keep existing limits on federal funding of abortion in place. He promised anti-abortion Democrats he would do that, and that helped clench the deal on health care reform.
It is full steam ahead for Republicans as they keep up their fight against the health care reform bill. Right now -- I guess that's the health care reform -- yes it is still the bill. There's still work to do.
Right now in the Senate they are battling over a package of fixes demanded by House Democrats. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell talked about the road ahead on CNN's "JOHN KING USA."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, HOST, "JOHN KING USA": A lot of Democrats are going to the floor today saying stunt, stunt, stunt, saying that you're going to force them, over the next few days, until this is voted -- and you assume the Democrats have the 51 votes they need -- to take a lot of votes on amendments so that you can get those votes recorded and use them in campaign ads.
Is this a stunt?
REP. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Well, they're the ones that needed to have a second bill to clean up, presumably, the messes they created in the first bill. It was their idea to have a second bill.
KING: So if they need a second bill, you will try to at least take the most political opportunity available to you in it?
MCCONNELL: Well, look, under our reconciliation procedure there are multiple amendments. We will be able to get more amendments on this bill than we got on the one that passed back in December.
The American people expect us to try to change this if we can. And if we can get a simple majority under the procedures that are laid out in this particular measure, we can change it and send it back to the House and continue the debate. And the debate, by the way, will not be over today. This is just the beginning of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. So what's in the new health care law? Here are a few of the bottom-line pocketbook items.
Within months, dependent children up to 26 can be included on the family insurance plan. This year, health insurance plans must pay at least 80 percent of their revenue in benefits. If they don't, they must give the customers a rebate.
Starting in 2012, families earning more than $250,000 will pay higher taxes on earned and investment income. And starting in 2018, there will be a 40 percent tax on those so-called Cadillac insurance plans. And indoor tanning services will pay a 10 percent tax.
Another case of really bad timing for Israel. The city of Jerusalem approves new homes on land claimed by Palestinians.
Word came as President Obama met Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. On the settlements issue, the U.S. wants Israel to stop building while the U.S. tries to revive peace talks, but Israel has ignored the demand. Two weeks ago, Israel announced a different housing project for East Jerusalem during Vice President Joe Biden's goodwill visit.
Three degrees and still no job. It is a reality for the jobless in America.
Photojournalist John Torigoe filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDI REDMAN, CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED: My name is Judi Redman, and currently I am unemployed. I have a degree from UC Berkeley, I have one in communications, one in social science, and one in journalism.
This is my life, my family. And we have your classic embarrassing high school pictures.
I was the first black person at Westlake-Harvard School. Who would have thought that all the time I spent being educated, getting educated, learning, and yet there's nothing I can do with it? It seems to be a detriment these days to have degrees, because they feel they have to pay you a certain amount.
I've done everything from administrative clerk to research assistant. I've been a mental health counselor. I've had my own job as communications.
This is my father when he was in the Tuskegee Air Corps. He's a Tuskegee airman in the 1st Squadron. I don't know how to put it, but I'm almost glad they're not alive to see the fact that I'm unemployed.
Sooner or later it's going to be OK again to be educated. Right now it seems to be a detriment. They're looking for people who barely got their GEDs because that's all they want to pay them.
And some day, somehow, the economy is going to turn around and they're going to go, whoa, she speaks languages, she's intelligent, she got through school. My time will come again. I just wish it would come today, seriously, because it's getting weird.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Blacks in America making small gains, but big gaps still exist. We will talk with our panel about the state of black America.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. How much would Jesus eat? It's got to be a "Random Moment of the Day."
Researchers studied 52 versions of the Last Supper, all painted since the year 1000. Computers compared head sizes of Jesus and the apostles with food portions.
What a discovery. The size of the entrees at the biblical dinner grew 69 percent over the millennium.
The plates, of course, got bigger to hold all that food. More food, more bread, the size of the loaves rose by 23 percent.
The point of all this, of course, is to say we've been overeating for centuries.
A "Random Moment," served with a side of skepticism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Small gains, but still big disparities. That is the bottom line from the National Urban League's national report on the state of black America. The report says blacks still lag behind in areas like jobs, education and health care.
Joining us now to talk about the problems and possible solutions, Dr. Michael Brooks, senior vice president of West End Medical Centers here in Atlanta.
Michael, good to see you.
Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink.
Angela, good to see you.
And in New York, Marc Lamont Hill is back with us, cultural anthropologist and professor at Columbia University.
And Marc, let me start with you. Look, Congress has passed a jobs bill. Congress has passed a stimulus bill. Is that enough, or does there need to be a jobs program specifically for black America?
MARC LAMONT HILL, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: There absolutely needs to be more done. There needs to be a jobs bill for black people. There needs to be educational reform targeted toward black people.
Now, I understand the political, you know, sort of trouble with saying this is a black jobs bill. It's hard to get a black jobs bill through. But nevertheless, we need race-targeted policy, because there are particular social circumstances that black people face that can't be met through a rising tide of races --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Like? Like?
HILL: Like in job employment. We know based on all empirical evidence that black people don't get the same access to job opportunities as white people.
Black -- and without felony convictions, for example, are three times less likely to get a job call back than white men with felony convictions. You can open create markets, you can open up markets, you can create job opportunity, but that's not going to necessarily make sure that black people getting access. Just as an example.
HARRIS: Yes, got you.
Angela, weigh in on this. Something specific targeted to African-American?
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL, POLICYLINK: We need to target the people who need the jobs most. Black people, Latino people were suffering before the recession. We were hit first and worse. And we're continuing to feel the brunt of this recession and unemployment.
We need to have an urban policy, and we are developing an urban policy that targets urban areas. We need to focus on those areas where we have high unemployment and make sure that we're doing job training, that we're getting people connected to jobs.
If we don't focus where people are unemployed in concentrated ways, we're not going to create the kind of momentum that will lead to a tipping point and get people back to work. So we need target areas of high unemployment.
HARRIS: Right. Are we talking about a return to the days of blocked grants and enterprise zones?
BLACKWELL: I don't think that we need to have enterprise zones, but what we need to have are zones of employment. We need to identify where we need to get workers and then target in like a laser. You can call it an enterprise zone, you can call it a green zone, green impact zone as they have in Kansas City. But we need to target people who need work. And many of them are African-American and Latino.
HARRIS: Yes.
Michael, weigh in on this. Does it sound to you like a return to the days -- I'm thinking the '90s -- when we were talking about these enterprise zones and blocked grants.
DR. MICHAEL BROOKS, WEST END MEDICAL CENTERS: I'm not sure blocked grants are the answer at all, either. I think we need to focus more on community-based action, community-based health care. In other words, get patients into areas where they can get health care and get jobs, and create jobs in those areas where people live.
HARRIS: You see the employment issue and health care linked. Explain that to me.
BROOKS: Well, education status, economic status and health all runs together.
HARRIS: Yes.
BROOKS: If you look at African-American --
HARRIS: Doesn't it start with education and jobs?
BROOKS: It starts with education and jobs. When you look at only 46 percent of blacks have sponsored health insurance by their employment companies, it all reports back to good health. And you cannot have jobs without having good health. You cannot have jobs without proving your economic status in this country.
HARRIS: Yes.
Marc, let me come to you on this next one. I've got to tell you, I hate the idea of asking the government for anything, and I know you do as well. But you know the president is talking about another jobs bill.
What does -- in the words of Marc Morial, who is calling for a robust jobs package, what does that mean to you? The administration is talking something in the order of a $30 billion bill, credits, incentives, helping small businesses. Does that look and sound like a robust jobs package that could help African-American?
HILL: It does sound like that.
BROOKS: Well, It does. The first --
HILL: Go ahead.
HARRIS: No, Marc, go ahead. HILL: Well, first, let me say, you know, I don't have a problem getting things from the government. We are citizens of this nation. And somehow African-American people can develop a philosophy where they have to choose between doing for self and getting what they're entitled to as citizens of a democratic government.
We should do for self, but the government owes us something. We pay taxes. We're citizens, and we need that.
As far as a robust jobs bill goes, I think that we need tax incentives for businesses to encourage them to hire the most vulnerable and desperate people, many of whom are black and Latino. We need relief for people who are unemployed right now to extend benefits and to keep unemployment benefits extended.
We need to create opportunities to produce new jobs and new ideas. What we really need to do is create the infrastructure for the next big idea. We saw the dot-com boom. We need the next big idea to encourage employment for all Americans, but particularly black folks.
HARRIS: Right.
Angela, let me have you weigh in on this.
I don't like the idea of asking the government for much because I think we're more often than not going to be disappointed by the government. But moving forward with this next big idea, this initiative, are you hearing anything in what the White House is talking about now that seems to make really good sense in terms of helping African-Americans create jobs and to be entrepreneurs and to hire?
BLACKWELL: There's a lot that makes sense.
First, we need to focus on youth. And I know they're talking at the White House about really expanding the youth job training and the youth summer jobs program. That will make a big difference.
Next, we need to understand that the black agenda is the green agenda, really investing in green jobs, investing in communities that are the older housing stock. The $5 billion in weatherization money really needs to get used, and we need to expand those programs to connect black people to green jobs.
We need to understand that public transportation is green in every way. And anything that gets black people associated with construction for public transportation, operating, those are green jobs.
The big ideas are, take the infrastructure investments that we're starting to do, target communities where we have high unemployment, get blacks and Latinos getting trained for jobs and in jobs. This big idea will be a big idea not just for blacks and Latinos, but for America.
HARRIS: Wow. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
HARRIS: Angela, that's quite a soapbox. That was good.
Michael, let me have you weigh in here.
In your sector, what's the next big idea that you think that African-Americans should be looking to, pointing to, and making inroads in?
BROOKS: In my sector it's going to be in the area of health, educating young African-American kids about opportunities in jobs and health care, whether it's on the entry level, where it's positions, support staff, in order to improve and work on the health reform bill. There's going to be a lot of opportunities for employment as we expand access for Americans to get health care.
HARRIS: Yes.
Marc, last one to you. How does the legacy of slavery and segregation impact on continuing progressing, closing the equality gaps that we see in this country?
HILL: Well, I think we still have a deep and dark legacy of white supremacy that normalizes black suffering. Somehow black people's suffering, black people's misery, black unemployment, black poverty never seems to strike the American consciousness in the same way that white misery does.
So, in some sense, we have to whiten the face of poverty. We have to whiten the face of unemployment for America to understand that we're in urgent times.
But the other thing here that we see during slavery is that black folks, even in the midst of the most absurd circumstances, never stopped believing in America's democracy. They never stopped believing in America's promise.
And so our work now continues, but we have to continue to fight for America to live up to its democratic possibility. And I think we can do that. And I think we will do that.
HARRIS: I'm glad you made that pivot.
And Marc, thank you so much.
Angela, great to see you and to meet you.
Michael, you as well.
Thanks to all of our guests. Thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, dozens arrested in an alleged terror plot. Our Nic Robertson will join us with a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Saudi Arabia busts up a major terrorist offensive. Officials say they've arrested more than 100 people accused of plotting attacks on police and oil refineries.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is following developments from London.
Nic, what have you learned?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Saudi officials say that in October last year, they busted a small group of people that they then followed the leads from that small group, and it led to rounding up 101 different people over the past five months. They say 47 of them are Saudis, 52 are Yemenis, one Bangladesh and an Ethiopian.
But this is part of a large network, they say, that was conspiring against Saudi Arabia, planning, they say, to attack policemen. They found them with weapons, ammunition, communication equipment, video recording equipment, computers, a lot of equipment. And they say -- the Saudi authorities also say that they have busted two other cells, two six-man cells that were planning suicide missions against Saudi Arabia's oil terminals.
Saudi Arabia has typically been making these types of announcements a long time after the fact. It does two things for them.
One is, it doesn't make it look as if the Saudis are always dealing with an al Qaeda problem. And the other is that they get a lead, they can follow it, much the same as intelligence agencies do around the world. They want to exploit all the information they can get from the people they arrest, keep everyone else in that group in the dark so they can try and round them up.
And that's what they seem to have done here. And the group who were going to attack the oil terminals, they say they were connected to al Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula. That is a Saudi-Yemeni part of al Qaeda.
HARRIS: That was my next question, whether or not this group has been tied to a known terrorist operation. And obviously the answer to that is yes.
Nic Robertson for us.
Nic, appreciate it. Thanks for the update. Thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: We are heading to the CNN Stimulus Desk for fairytales with Josh Levs. Would you believe a lot of stuff you hear about stimulus spending just isn't true?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Time now for a visit to the Stimulus Desk. The chairman of the government board that keeps tabs on stimulus spending says there are a lot of myths out there.
Josh Levs has been looking into that.
Josh, what are these so-called myths?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Tony, if you really came out swinging, this man whose job it is to be the nonpartisan watchdog says some people are hyperventilating, in his words, with some of the things that they're saying about the stimulus. And in the end, it's all about our money. Right?
I mean, it's $862 billion. We're all paying interest on it. It will affect our nation for years or decades to come.
Let's take a look at what he's talking about right here. These are a few of the things he's complaining about.
First of all, you might have heard this, Tony, that billions of dollars have gone to phantom districts. What actually happened there was that early on in the reporting, some recipients of stimulus money gave the wrong district numbers. So when people looked into it, they were like, oh, that doesn't actually exist. So, it came across looking as though it went to the middle of nowhere.
He says no money has gone into any black holes. He also complains that this board, the recovery board that oversees the stimulus, he says a lot of people think that they're really just an arm of the Obama administration. He says they're not, they're totally independent.
But the thing I want to spend the most time with you on, Tony, is this right here. Take a look, this idea that $250,000 has been spent more every job created from the stimulus.
His complaint is something you and I have talked about before. And what he says is that you can't just go by total number of dollars spent and how many jobs created so far.
His name is Earl Devaney, and what he says, basically, I'll just give you the basic idea. He says you've got to think about the roads, you've got to think about the people who are spending the money that's been spent out there. He says it's not that simple.
But the problem is, it really in a way is, because, after all, this is a jobs bill. So I'm certainly not going to apologize for looking at how much money has been spent, how many jobs has been created.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. It's a measurement. It's a metric.
LEVS: The most important measurement there is.
HARRIS: Yes. OK, so how many jobs has the stimulus actually created?
LEVS: Yes. All right. This is where I get to go a little "Schoolhouse Rock" on you.
And we're going to talk finally about how the administration is defining how many jobs come from the stimulus. So before we look at the funky picture, take a look at these names.
These are the three kinds of jobs they say come from the stimulus -- direct jobs, indirect jobs and induced jobs. Now, the picture is what's going to show us what these jobs are.
Here's the idea. All right, you pay someone who build a road, right, wherever you live. That person is getting paid. That's a direct job.
That person, in order to do his work, needs some concrete. A company that makes the concrete gets paid, so then they can pay their people. That's an indirect job.
Then he is getting paid so he can go to the grocery store and buy food for his family. That is what the administration calls an induced job.
So what they've done is, with a lot of studies, they've done a big broad guesstimate. And they've said they think two million jobs can be attributed to the stimulus.
The problem is even those own studies say we're never going to know. It's very broad. It's a lot of guessing going on.
There are some conservative critics who say no way. If the money weren't in the stimulus, it might be in the private sector in some places, doing better. So we're never going to know for sure.
But that, Tony, is how the administration comes up with that figure that we hear all the time.
HARRIS: And here's the thing. When no one else was spending, when private corporations were not spending, when credit seized up for everyone, the federal government was the only entity throwing money into that system that you've just described for all of us.
LEVS: Well, it certainly is factual that a huge number of economists were saying that spending was the way out of it. Some complain on the other side, by the way -- some on the left say the administration didn't spend enough, soon enough.
So, you are seeing that. But, yes, absolutely, it's true that a lot was done, the spending was called for.
Let's show everyone how they can weigh in. We've got my screen here.
HARRIS: Yes, please. LEVS: One of the reasons that we offer this is because there's such intense feelings. We're talking about the blog, CNN.com/Josh, Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. Or, the best Web site in America, CNN.com/Tony, to weigh in with your thoughts on how the stimulus is doing for the country so far.
HARRIS: You crazy man. Josh, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: Winds of change that would breathe new life into a dying region. I am talking about the ones mighty Rust Belt and the sorely needed jobs now being cultivated there by wind farming.
CNN's Joe Johns has more in this latest installment of "Building Up America."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This used to be steel country USA with its towering pollution machines. But now, new jobs and the clean energy sector, putting people back to work, going green all at the same time.
The U.S. subsidiary of a company based in Spain, Gamesa USA is manufacturing enormous windmill blades at this Pennsylvania plant, shipping them all over the U.S.
Ron Sanders is the plant manager.
(on camera): How many of these do you guys make a week?
RON SANDERS, PLANT MANAGER, GAMESA, USA: We're moving back up to produce more at 11 blades per week.
JOHNS: And at your lowest point during the recession, how many were you putting out?
SANDERS: Just five per week.
JOHNS (voice-over): Sanders got a break from the recession by coming here to work. He used to work for an automotive supply plant that fell on hard times.
SANDERS: I had been in automotive for almost 30 years. As the industry declined, I found myself having to leave the employer that I was working for at the time. So in December of '08, I left. And then in June 2009 I started here with Gamesa.
JOHNS (on camera): Two hundred thirty people work at this plant, 24 hours a day, five days a week. And building just one of these blades is a huge job. They can weigh 15,000 pounds, 45 meters long. It takes almost 24 hours to build just one.
(voice-over): And there are other people here who might have been out of work but for the appearance of these green jobs. Ed Burnat had jobs at three different steel plants before it all dried up. He's grateful to be working here.
(on camera): So what's better? Steel working or this?
ED BURNAT, WIND TURBINE BUILDER: I don't want to say.
JOHNS: You go where the work is?
BURNAT: Sure, you have a family. You have to feed your family. You do what you have to do.
JOHNS (voice-over): It took about three months to figure out the new job and less time to see one of the upsides.
BURNAT: Most of the guys that work here like the idea of it being green. We like the idea of this, cleaning our environment up. A lot of people here are, you know, like that idea.
JOHNS: Creating green jobs is something the president talks a lot about, but to tell the truth, the U.S. lags behind Western Europe in windmill production and use. So in the end, the real job may be standing up the windmill industry in the U.S. so it can create more jobs, more energy, and compete in the global market.
Joe Johns, CNN, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: No beans about it, Starbucks spends more on, A, health care, or B, coffee? Think about that one.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: CNN is your source for money news. Just check out CNNMoney.com. The terrific work of our money team. The headline story there at CNNMoney.com right now is "tanning salons burned by health care." Yes, there is a tax included on tanning salons in the health care legislation, now law. The tax doesn't kick in until 2080. CNNMoney.com.
Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange. Three hours into the trading day. The Nasdaq is down 14 points. But the Dow, so it's a down day so far, down 22. We're following these numbers throughout the day for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Businesses big and small are paying close attention to health care reform and what it means for their bottom line. Starbucks is one company that wants to see the system change. The coffee giant says it spends more on health care than it does on coffee beans. Did you know that? CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York.
And, Poppy, you got a little more on Starbucks and health care, don't you? POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. Yes, I mean, who would guess that they'd spend more on health care than on coffee beans.
HARRIS: Yes.
HARLOW: The reason behind that is they spend $300 million a year on health care for their employees. Why? Because they give it to their employees. Anyone that works there, even behind the counter, the clerks, if they work 20 hours or more a week.
We went to Seattle where, of course, Starbucks is founded. We sat down with this man, Howard Schultz, he's the CEO there, to ask him a lot of questions. And one of them is, why do you provide this health care for the company? What we found out is it goes back many decades and it's pretty personal to him.
Take a listen to what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: I grew up in Brooklyn in the projects, with is subsidized housing. My parents were great working class people. But at the same time, you know, as we grew up, I think realized that we were not the privileged few. We were on the other side of the tracks.
And I think what I felt as a kid and what stayed with me as I was trying to build Starbucks is to ensure the fact that any insecurity or lack of respect that someone would feel as a result of where they came from should somehow be refined on how the company would treat its employees. And I just felt very strongly that we couldn't bring the company to where it needed to go if we did it on the backs of our people if.
Now given the fact that we're in the middle of the health care debate, what I feel really proud of is that we didn't turn our back on our people. We kept the benefit. And it will cost us almost $300 million this year.
HARLOW: So what do you think then, Howard, when you look at the debate going on in Washington right now over health care for more Americans?
SCHULTZ: The fact that between 40 million and 50 million Americans don't have health insurance, in my view, is the -- it's kind of the fracturing of the humanity of our country. It doesn't feel like. There's no reason why we should be so far behind.
HARLOW: And you spoke with the president.
SCHULTZ: And I have spoken to the president. This is a run-away train. And we're on a collision course with time if something doesn't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: All right. So there you heard him say something needs to change in terms of health care reform. Well, that interview was just a few days before we did see health care reform pass in the House and become law, Tony.
But what's interesting is, this company, and he said they spend $300 million a year on health insurance. That's not even for all their employee. It's estimated to be roughly 40 to 50 percent of their employees. But the cost is not sustainable for the company and he wanted to see change. We'll see if this is enough.
But interesting to hear that perspective from a company that spends that much on health care. And because of how he was brought up and the struggles that his family had, he says he just -- he won't abandon the health care plan no matter what it costs the company -- Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, yes. Poppy, that was terrific. That was terrific stuff. You've got more of it on CNNMoney.com?
HARLOW: Yes, more of it right here on the site. Yes, he was very impressive. You know, you don't expect to hear that often from a CEO. But he's dedicated to the health (INAUDIBLE). You can see more of it on the site.
HARRIS: Yes, so let's do that and let's get more of that. You've got more that we can get on the air maybe tomorrow?
HARLOW: No problem.
HARRIS: All right. Let's do that. Poppy, good stuff. Appreciate it.
HARLOW: You got it.
HARRIS: Try telling the folks in Colorado it's springtime. Parts of the state will have to dig out from almost two feet of -- Karen McGinnis, what is going on here?
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And let's get you caught up on top stories now.
President Obama signs an executive order dealing with abortion this afternoon. It bars federal money for abortions under health care reform beyond what current law already allows. It is part of a deal with anti-abortion House Democrats.
And more than 100 people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia. An official with the interior ministry says they were planning attacks on police and oil refineries.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: It isn't exactly what we wanted, but we'll take it. We are start to hear that more often about the new health care reform bill. Ted Rowlands is in Nevada asking some small business owner what works and what doesn't.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada, is historically a hotly contested congressional district. Freshman Democrat Dina Titus represents Henderson. She was an 11th-hour yes vote for health care reform.
REP. DINA TITUS (D), NEVADA: I think there are more important things than my re-election and the health of people in this country would certainly be one of those.
ROWLANDS: At the Cupcakery (ph), 20-year-old Jerry Lynn (ph) and 22-year-old Cameron (ph) are pleased. They'll now have the option to get health insurance through their parents' policies until they're 26. Something Cameron may do because he has no coverage at all.
But what about the business owner, Pamela Jenkins, who does offer insurance to her full-time employees?
ROWLANDS (on camera): Potentially, down the line, it could cost you more money. Your thoughts on that.
PAMELA JENKINS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: It could, but it could also give us great tax credits for covering our employees. I already provide health care. So, for me, I don't see it as anything detrimental. I see that I'm already shelling out major, major bucks to these huge insurance carriers. So if we can get a change, I'm for the change.
ROWLANDS: One of the groups that will see an almost immediate effect from the health care reform are the folks that have pre- existing conditions and were denied health care. This is Glenda McCartney. She went without health insurance for eight months. She says she's very happy that there are changes now. The reason, you say, is because living without health insurance was a nightmare. Give us a window into that.
GLENDA MCCARTNEY, DENIED INSURANCE FOR PRE-EXISTING CONDITION: Well, living without health insurance was terrifying. I had to drive more carefully, eat more carefully. Everything I did in my life was with the thought that I had no health insurance and could not get sick. And that was for eight months. And it was just -- I was on edge all the time.
ROWLANDS: You say this bill isn't everything, isn't that great, but you're pleased with it.
MCCARTNEY: I think the bill will take work and I think it will take work for some years to come. But the fact that all Americans will be covered and, especially for me, those people without -- that had pre-existing conditions. ROWLANDS: But not everybody here is for it or happy that the health care reform bill passed. This is Dr. Joe Heck. He is a practicing emergency room physician. He is also running for Dina Titus' seat in the third district in Nevada.
JOE HECK (R), NEVADA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: There are a lot of problems with this bill that ultimately will do nothing to curtail the spiraling cost of health care.
ROWLANDS: But something should be done in your opinion?
HECK: Sure. I think if you talk to any physician they'd say, look, we need some reform. It's very hard taking care of patients in this current environment. But those same group of physicians will say, this is not the right thing to do. There's not enough in there to make this work, to be able to take care of the people that are going to get this new entitlement.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Different opinions from people with different life experiences who will all be directly affected by health care reform.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Henderson, Nevada.
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HARRIS: Let's take a look at some of the stories generating buzz over the Internet. They are the stories many of you are talking about. Ines Ferre joining me again.
What's hot? What are folks talking about, Ines?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, what's heating up between Google and China? You've heard about this. Who blinks first? Well, one day after Google decided it would no longer censor search results in China, the Chinese government counters that move by partially blocking access to the site. Most Google users in mainland China are experiencing difficulties making searches. It's like a never-ending saga.
HARRIS: Yes. I got a sense that something's going to be done here. There's going to be some resolution to this thing. We'll get an understanding.
Health care reform. The new law. I know a lot of people are talking about that and looking into the law a little deeper. And there's something in here about tanning salons and burgers, really?
FERRE: Burgers and tanning salons. Tax the tanners, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
FERRE: Tax the tanners, right. OK. Well, this is part of the health care reform. And part of that reform includes taxing tanning salons. They'll be charging 10 percent for tanning sessions to folks. The Indoor Tanning Association saying, quote, "it's a crummy, crummy way to make tax policy."
Also, chain restaurants, Tony, with more than 20 locations will have to include calorie information next to the food item on the menu. So you'll be getting that calorie count on your burgers and such.
HARRIS: Yes. So what is the story, we were talking about it this morning, about being able now, in some cases, to use a reel (ph) to apply to college?
FERRE: Yes, that's like past our time, right?
HARRIS: Yes. You know what.
FERRE: I didn't mean to say that.
HARRIS: That's nice.
FERRE: No, but it's true. OK. Tufts University offers a new way for students to introduce themselves to the college board on YouTube.
HARRIS: Wow.
FERRE: Listen to this report from Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you want, Tufts is what you want.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What does this, this, and this have to do with getting into college?
EVAN RENAUD, TUFTS APPLICANT: I hope the admissions officers will like notice it. Be like, oh, hey, this guy is really cool.
CHO: Tufts University near Boston is now accepting personal videos as part of the application process. Among the first in the nation to do so. Not to replace essays, grades or SATs, but as a supplement. The videos are not required, but students are, well, getting into it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do the right thing. Accept this Israeli. I'll bring the girls like Barnum & Bailey.
CHO: Already almost 1,000 students are taking part, out of the 15,000 applications they received. Some on YouTube have been viewed by thousands. Demonstrating creativity in animation, wilderness survival skills.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm making a lightweight, reusable oven out of a cardboard box, some turkey pans and some tinfoil.
CHO: And in Rhaina Cohen case, a twist on a familiar phrase, walk a mile in my shoes. In her case, literally. RHAINA COHEN, TUFTS APPLICANT: I wasn't trying to come off as, you know, Imelda Marcos and say I have 3,000 shoes, but I just wanted to show a bit of who I am. I think that's what the goal is with applications in general, that these are humans looking at files filled with so many papers and they're trying to discern who are you, would I want to meet you, would I be intrigued by you.
CHO (on camera): What does the YouTube video provide for an admissions officer that the application doesn't?
MARILEE JONES, FORMER MIT DEAN OF ADMISSIONS: Well, you really get to see these applicants in their adolescent best. I mean you see their cleverness and you see their goofiness and you see who they are as human beings. And this is the point.
CHO (voice-over): Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT, calls the personal videos refreshing.
JONES: It's very easy to fall in love with someone in one minute. It's also very easy to get turned off. So what these students are doing, by providing these videos this year, is a very high wire act. They're taking huge risk, which is why I love them.
CHO: Showing a kind of intellectual chutzpah to go along with the other credentials.
(on camera): Can you tell me range what you got on the SAT?
COHEN: Out of 2,400, I got a 2,300.
CHO: You got 2,300 out of 2,400 on your SAT. Oh, my gosh. You didn't need that video.
(voice-over): For others, a place where playing with fire can be a ticket to college.
RENAUD: Everyone else probably talks about community service or being a varsity athlete. And so I thought fire (INAUDIBLE). Like they're the only thing I know that I do that nobody else does.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I think you'll get a kick out of this. Getting by on sky miles alone. Out of a job and out of savings, he would have been out on the street if he hadn't spent so much time up in the air. Photojournalist Gab Ramirez has a pretty remarkable story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM: I was managing corporate development for a firm in the bay area and helped them acquire their largest competitor and they said thank you and sent me packing.
I lost my house about two months ago. I did a lot of traveling in the software business for firms needing clients. So I had accumulated a lot of miles. When I accumulated them, I was hoping it was going to be for something a little bit more, you know, like trips to Hilton Head to play golf or wine country, or maybe Europe or something. But turns out that I'm using them to put a roof over my head.
I found after a while that you could use United and Delta points on a sliding scale. It's like, for example, one of the hotels is, for example, let's say, 6,000 points a night. But then if you throw in $20 a night, it will go down to maybe 4,500 points a night. With 170,000 miles, that would last me about, you know, a little over 30 nights or so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, can you believe that?
All right, time to take it to the next level. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, thank you. You have yourself a great afternoon.
