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New Signs of Life in Economy?; 9 Accused of Plotting to Kill Police; Real Impact of Health Reform

Aired March 30, 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: Let's get going here. Time for your top-of-the-hour reset.

I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 12:00 in Michigan, where a ninth member of a militia group is set for arraignment today. The suspects charged in an alleged plot to kill police officers.

In Washington, a young man sees immediate results of health care reform. He gets to stay on his parents' insurance plan.

And high school seniors looking at college and a way to pay. We talk with Education Secretary Arne Duncan about brand new rules for federal student aid.

Let's get going here. Let's get started.

Signs of life in the economy. Dust off your resumes, post them, tweet them, do whatever you need to do, but get your job search engines going right now. We are getting more indications companies may start hiring soon, this time from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

He says -- quoting now -- "The economy is getting stronger. We are probably just on the verge now of what we think will be a sustained period of job creation finally."

Let's do this -- let's get straight to our Stephanie Elam in New York.

So, Stephanie, good to see you.

Yesterday, Christine Romans was reporting on the optimism among some economists over a possible pop in employment. Now we get this from the treasury secretary.

What's going on here?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. You know, some pretty promising and powerful words from the treasury secretary. No doubt about that.

In that same interview, Tim Geithner said the U.S. is coming out of this financial crisis "much more quickly and much stronger than what I believe is true for any other major economies." So that's a pretty strong way of putting it.

The U.S. has lost more than eight million jobs since the start of the recession, so job creation could be the best sign that the economy is rebounding. And we're hoping to get some solid evidence of that on Friday. That's when the government will release its closely watched monthly jobs report, and there's a lot of positive anticipation as we head into that March reading.

Even though the jobless rate is expected to hold steady, economists are forecasting that 150,000 to 200,000 jobs were created last month. No doubt about it, that is a huge number we're talking about. We haven't seen gains like that in about three years, Tony. So that's why everyone is sort of looking at this slow and steady rally that we've seen on the markets and saying that there's just sort of this movement towards the economy is looking stronger now.

HARRIS: And we're also getting some signs that the consumer -- that's you, that's me, that's all of us -- feeling a lot more optimistic.

ELAM: Yes, exactly. And this is really key, too, Tony, because, keep in mind, the consumer is two-thirds of what drives the economy in this country. We need people to spend, so it's a really important part to the economic recovery.

And a report this morning shows consumer confidence rose in March after falling sharply the month before. That signals that Americans are feeling at least a little less pessimistic about the state of the economy, even though the outlook for later this year still remains pretty weak at this point.

But the survey did find a tiny bit more hope that jobs will be easier to find. And that's moving in the right direction even if it's not that fast, right?

HARRIS: Right.

ELAM: But this confidence reading follows a government report on consumer spending that we got yesterday. And spending actually edged up .3 percent in February, so it's proving that people are feeling a bit more comfortable going out and spending some cash.

But, you know, if you're in this situation where you don't have a job, you're probably not going to spend. And that's the reason why we care so much about the report on Friday. It's our barometer on how many people are out there looking for jobs -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. So keep me honest as we go through this week here, and down the road, of course. If there is something really happening here, we're starting to get the signs. But if there is a real pop going on here, I don't want to miss it.

Stephanie, thanks for your help on this. Thank you.

ELAM: No problem. HARRIS: An arraignment is scheduled today for ninth member of a self-proclaimed Christian militia group arrested for allegedly planning to kill police in Michigan. There is an alarming look at the group's training and planning sessions available on the group's own Web site.

Our Drew Griffin reports from their rural neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are frightening videos: training for assaults, firing weapons. All the more scary to Jane and Bruce Holey, who found out about the Hutaree from news reports, went to a Web site to look them up and literally saw their neighbors practicing war on tape.

BRUCE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: There's things on the Web site showing all this training, it is obviously, we can pick out landmarks --

JANE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: Oh yes.

B. HOLEY: -- it was done in our neighborhood.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So this training or military filming that they were doing, although you didn't know it was happening, it was happening right here.

B. HOLEY: It was happening right there.

J. HOLEY: And in one shot is them walking down the street with all their guns and everything. It's like, how did we not know? It was how did we not know?

GRIFFIN (voice-over): What they didn't know was that members of the Hutaree militia allegedly were preparing for a major battle against their own country, describing themselves as Christian warriors. They have used their Web site to declare war on law enforcement and all foot soldiers of the federal government.

According to that Web site, they're driven by biblical teachings they believe command Christians to take up arms in defense of the one true church of Christ. How attacking the federal government fits into that plan is unclear.

(on camera): To understand why the neighbors -- or how the neighbors could not know what's going on here, take a look at the neighborhood. The closest true neighbor is about a quarter of a mile down a dirt road. We're at the intersection of two dirt roads, one very muddy, in fact. This is supposedly the base of operations for this group.

(voice-over): This weekend, authorities moved in on this set of trailers in a rural corner of Michigan and arrested 45-year-old David Brian Stone, the man identified as the group's leader also known as Captain Hutaree. Stone's wife, Tina, was also arrested, as was his 19-year-old son, David Brian Stone Jr.

All told, eight members of the group were rounded up, the ninth tonight. Prosecutors allege the group was plotting to kill a police officer then set off bombs at the funeral in order to kill even more law enforcement agents. David Brian Stone's ex-wife was not surprised by his arrest.

DONNA STONE, EX-WIFE OF ALLEGED MILITIA LEADER: Yes, he's got a temper. He can get radical and he wants thing done his way.

GRIFFIN: But the younger Stone's fiancee said he had done nothing wrong.

BRITTANY BRYANT, FIANCEE OF ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBER: My fiance hasn't been in it, because we had a baby together. And once we had a baby and we got engaged, he stopped doing it for a while.

GRIFFIN: But according to their Web site, the group's members believe the end of days was coming, Armageddon, and were planning an all-out war.

(on camera): But according to the group's Web site, this group was planning for the end of days, Armageddon, and fully prepared to take part in that war.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Adrian, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, the arrests of those Hutaree militia members highlight a recent surge in homegrown militia groups. That's according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps track of hate groups.

SPLC's Mark Potok discussed the trend earlier on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: It's absolutely true that the militias basically peaked in 1996, declined over the next seven or eight years, and have been essentially quiescent ever since then, although there were a few still out there. And we just saw an enormous explosion in just the last 12 or 18 months.

RICK SANCHEZ, HOST, "RICK'S LIST": So is this a resurgence? And why?

POTOK: Well, I think the factors that are driving this are a non-white president in a country that is very unused to that, all that represents in terms of demographic change, real anger about the state of the economy, also real anger and frustration about the way the government has dealt with the state of economy. And in particular, things like, you know, multimillion-dollar bonuses for the same bankers who arguably drove the economy into the ground, and the rest of it. I think on top of that, it's really important to say that there's been a lot of mainstream pushing of very radical ideas by politicians and some commentators. So, you know, when politicians talk about Obama as a fascist, as a socialist, as a man who is setting up death panels, or political re-education camps for our children, you know, some people take that, that kind of rhetoric, literally and act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mark Potok's recent report, "Rage on the Right," say 363 new patriot groups were formed last year, bringing the total number to 512 nationwide. One hundred twenty-seven of them are militias.

President Obama signs part two of the health care reform law. Will it help America's working poor?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to see the general medical doctor or the women's health doctor, ask for a paper (ph) to see those specialist doctors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That man, the man who brings free medical services to cities across America, tells us why he thinks reform will not be a quick cure.

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, here we go again. It is a music video, a five- and-a-half minute striptease. Yes, so that makes it a "Random Moment of the Day."

Soul singer Erykah Badu peels her clothes off in Dallas' Dealey Plaza, site of the JFK assassination. Look at this.

Viewers don't see Badu fully nude, but people in Dealey Plaza sure did, including children. Badu says the video speaks to the character assassination one endures after revealing themselves. She says she was petrified the cops would show up.

Dallas police never knew, but they do now thanks to our "Random Moment of the Day." Shocking, I tell you. Shocking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The final piece of the health care reform puzzle is now law. President Obama signed the so-called fixes bill in the ceremony last hour. During the remarks at Northern Virginia Community College, the president highlighted the overhaul in the college student loan program. It shifts government funding of loans away from commercial banks to a new education initiative.

As for the main health care reform bill, the president says it's not perfect, but it is a major step forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I've said before, and I've repeated this week, the health insurance reform bill I signed won't fix every problem in our health care system in one fell swoop, but it does represent some of the toughest insurance reforms in history. It represents a major step forward toward giving Americans with insurance and those without a sense of security when it comes to their health care. It enshrines the principle that when you get sick, you've got a society there, a community, that is going to help you get back on your feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: These new changes will expand health insurance subsidies for lower and middle income families. It also is aimed at making higher education more affordable. By investing more than $40 billion in Pell Grants, that will ensure all eligible students receive an award.

The new law also expands the existing income-based student loan repayment program. That's so Americans can afford their student loan payments. And it includes $2 billion over the next four years for community colleges to develop, improve and provide education and career training programs.

I think we covered that. All right.

Some families are already seeing benefits from the new health care reform legislation. Among them, one with two young adult children who have significant medical issues.

CNN's Kate Bolduan has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sugar?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robin and Stuart Miles-McLean say they felt the impact of the new health care law almost immediately.

ROBIN MILES-MCLEAN, MOTHER: There's a big difference. Yes. I can imagine it's a big deal for a lot of families.

BOLDUAN: Why? Start back 11 years ago.

R. MILES-MCLEAN: Jake slipped and fell off a high dive at a local pool and landed on the pool deck, on the concrete pull deck, and sustained a skull fracture and severe traumatic brain injury.

JAKE MILES-MCLEAN, SON: I cannot -- I keep collection.

BOLDUAN: Despite great progress, Jake still needs assistance, visits with doctors four times a month, with physical therapy twice a week. His younger sister Haley, a college student, also suffers from a significant medical condition, fibromyalgia.

HALEY MILES-MCLEAN, COLLEGE STUDENT: Which means I have chronic aches and pains especially in my joints.

BOLDUAN: So far, both Jake and Haley have been covered under their father's insurance through his job with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.

STUART MILES-MCLEAN, FATHER: I would feel very fortunate that I did have good insurance and we haven't really sat back and thought about, well, gosh, if we suddenly have to pay for all of this tomorrow, how much would it cost? But if we did, yes, it would be devastating.

R. MILES-MCLEAN: And this is coffee.

BOLDUAN: And devastating may have been right around the corner because Jake, now 21, was going to be dropped from his parents' coverage next year. As it the case in many states, their dependent coverage extends only until age 22. The family estimates that would likely double their out-of-pocket expenses to close to $30,000 a year.

But this provision of the health care law changed that, extending the age for dependent coverage to at least 26 years old nationwide.

President Obama in Iowa this week is trying to win more support for health care reform said this extension is one of the first benefits to kick in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because if you start your lives and your careers, the last thing you should worry about is whether you go broke just because you get sick.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: The black tea (ph) caffeine.

S. MILES-MCLEAN: It does have caffeine and I don't want you bouncing off the walls.

BOLDUAN: The Miles-McLeans know they still face many challenges ahead but now, they say, there's at least a little more time to figure it all out.

(on camera): What does, then, four extra years mean for you guys?

R. MILES-MCLEAN: It's just a huge relief. Some extra sleep, some not laying awake at night going -- oh, my gosh, how are we going to do this?

BOLDUAN: It's breathing room?

R. MILES-MCLEAN: Breathing room.

BOLDUAN: Employee benefits experts say this is one of the most significant and immediate changes in the new law. Experts saying with so many young adults falling within that gap between their parents' coverage and having their own insurance, the result could mean higher cost for companies and potentially higher premiums for employees.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, he has gone from wrestling anacondas to tackling America's health care problems one patient at a time. Stan Brock mobilizes hundreds of volunteers to provide free dental care, eye care and medical checkups to America's working poor and underinsured. They show up by the thousands at his clinics.

Before founding Remote Area Medical, Brock was the co-host and producer of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" in the 1970s.

Man, I grew up on that show.

Stan Brock joining us live now from Knoxville, Tennessee.

And Stan, it's good to see you.

You know what? We have spent a lot of time, a year. This is a massive, right, health care reform law that has been subjected to really months and months of debate, political fighting, protests across the country? It's been signed into law with great fanfare. We saw it again today, but you say it is not going to do much at all.

Really? Why do you say that?

STAN BROCK, FOUNDER, REMOTE AREA MEDICAL: Oh, I don't know that I actually made that statement. I think that this is a quantum leap in the right direction, to provide health care for those millions of people who don't have it.

There's going to be a period of adjustment, I believe the president said earlier today, to some of the rules. And much of it will not take effect until 2014.

However, what I would say is not what's in it, but what is not in it, which should be very, very significant. And that is, for some extraordinary reason, in this country a doctor, a dentist, a nurse, a veterinarian, duly licensed in one state, is not allowed to cross state lines to provide even free care to the needy public.

HARRIS: Yes.

BROCK: And this is a measure that would cost the government and the taxpayer nothing, and one that I have addressed in front of two committees in Congress. But nobody seems to be taking any notice of that.

HARRIS: Well, Stan, look, aren't the regulations in place because you want to protect the public from bad or maybe even bogus doctors?

BROCK: Well, we've seen hundreds of thousands of patients, and we've had something like 46,000 volunteers in the field. And we haven't had a single case of malpractice against any of our providers. So I think that that's a non-issue.

A doctor who is licensed, or a dentist in one state, taking the same exams at a fully accredited school, ought to be able to cross state lines to provide free care to needy patients at no cost to the patient, and the doctor is not receiving any remuneration. There are 800,000 medical doctors in this country, 170,000 are dentists, countless optometrists. Let them cross state lines to provide free care.

We changed the law here in Tennessee in 1995 to facilitate that. And I must say that right now they're debating that issue in California and Connecticut, and it's a step that really needs to be taken.

HARRIS: No, you're right. You're absolutely right. The debate is going on right now across the country.

But back to the bill that is now law, do you believe that -- it sounds like you do -- that this is a step in the right direction that could potentially, down the road, make your work in this area obsolete?

BROCK: Well --

HARRIS: I'm sure you wouldn't mind.

BROCK: Of course. We need to be back in the places where we were traditionally, places like Haiti, where we are at the moment, of course, and other parts of the world. But what is going to happen is that when you see the 1,000 people that are gathered at one of our clinics and say, for a show of hands, who is here to see the dentist, everybody's hand goes up. Who is here to see the eye doctor to get a pair of glasses? Everybody's hand goes up.

There is a great gap in this country. And I wonder if these laws are going to address it. And that is dental care not only for children, but for adults, and vision care and eye glasses, because those are two things that are absolutely not affordable for the vast majority of Americans.

HARRIS: Stan, very quickly, you mentioned Haiti. What's your view of it? What are you seeing? How much really difficult work lies ahead for that country?

BROCK: Oh, it's just absolutely overwhelming. When I arrived in Port-au-Prince just shortly after the earthquake, it really looked like it had the time before when I was there before the earthquake. Then, of course, you see the toppled buildings here and there.

So the country has always been an absolute basket case. And now they've got absolutely nothing.

In the first few weeks that we were there, the groups that we were working with did over 800 surgeries, over 200 amputations. The recovery from this ordeal is going to go on for years and years and years. HARRIS: Well, we're happy you're there and lending a hand.

Stan, it's good to see you again. Thanks for coming on the program.

BROCK: Well, thank you very much.

HARRIS: We'll talk again soon.

Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Russian police released these murky pictures of the women they say were responsible for yesterday's horrific subway bombings. Thirty-nine people died after consecutive explosives went off inside two Moscow subway stations. Police are searching for suspected accomplices. They believe they accompanied the female suicide bombers when they entered the subways.

Bad weather is keeping rescuers from reaching a missing hiker. Twenty-six-year-old Thomas Bennett (ph) is believed to be stranded near the summit of Mt. Shasta in northern California. He has been missing since Sunday.

We will get another check of your top stories in 20 minutes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. We want to get you to CNNMoney.com, of course, because CNN is your source for the latest money news. CNNMoney.com and our terrific team there doing wonderful work for you every day.

If you want the latest financial news and analysis, it's CNNMoney.com.

Let's get you to the Big Board. Coming up on three hours into the trading day.

The Dow, as you can see, is up -- it's pretty much flat, isn't it? Up five points. The Nasdaq I believe is down one. So at least at this point not a whole lot happening with stocks.

We will follow these numbers throughout the day for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Have you mailed it back yet? The deadline for sending in your Census form is just two days away. To get young people to participate, one organization is using technology and free music.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS (voice-over): Be counted, represent, the latest campaign from Voto Latino with a simple goal -- getting young Latinos to fill out the Census form. STEVE ALFARO, ONLINE DIGITAL DIRECTOR, VOTO LATINO: We're trying to make it cool and sexy so that people -- the kids will want to, like, oh, I want that, or I want to participate, or they'll get curious.

HARRIS: The target, the millennial generation, those who came of age in the year 2000.

As an incentive, the organization is offering 25 free song downloads from iTunes for those who fill out the form. The campaign is also utilizing other mediums popular with young people -- text messaging, YouTube and social networks.

ALFARO: It's easy. Like, on Facebook, people just share. It's just one click, send it to all their friends.

HARRIS: The effort has the support and partnership of LULAC, one of the oldest Latino civil rights organizations in the country.

BRENT WILKES, LULAC NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: There used to be much more of a ground, on the street, campaign door to door, networking the old fashioned way. Nowadays, a lot of it is done virtually, through chat rooms and through Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook. It's incredible how even text messaging has been a tremendously useful tool to mobilize this new millennial generation to things like the immigration marches and now, of course, working on the Census.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going to affect my generation's future.

HARRIS: A three-part public service announcement has gone viral with several thousand hits on YouTube. It has also enlisted the star power of some of Hollywood's popular musicians and actors like Rosario Dawson.

ROSARIO DAWSON, ACTOR: If you don't count yourself now, imagine how much your community is growing. And then add another 10 years to that when you actually can (ph). That's 20 years of population. That's entire generations of people being born and being not counted.

That's really important that you go, hey, that $400 billion that's up for grabs, I want some of that. I deserve some of that. That came out of my parents' paychecks and that's supposed to go towards my future.

HARRIS: The 2000 Census estimated there are upwards of 35 million Latino-Americans across the country, which is why organizations such as Voto Latino want to make sure young Latinos stand up and be counted.

ALFARO: It's for all of us, not just the Latino community. I mean, that's what we're focusing on, but there are other organizations that are helping spread the word for other communities as well. The word's getting out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right, music from the free iTunes downloads include genres ranging from religion, to Latin, to hip-hop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, for months, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" has been investigating allegations of abuse within the Church of Scientology. Not only does Scientology deny all the allegations, leaders say the people making them are out to destroy the church. Next hour, we will have a story of what those making the allegations say happened to them and the church's response. But first, this hour, a brief overview of the church from CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Church of Scientology was founded by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard in 1954. It stated goals to help people, quote, "live in a civilization without insanity, without criminals, and without war where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights."

Members pay to take courses designed to help them work through issues from their past and reach a higher state of consciousness. L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986 and now this man, David Miscavige, is the leader. He oversees a religious order responsible for church management called the Sea Organization. Members sometimes wear naval style uniforms and dedicate their lives to the church.

Scientology has opened some 170 churches across the globe and claim 10 million members worldwide. Church spokesman Tommy Davis.

TOMMY DAVIS, CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY SPOKESMAN: David Miscavige is responsible for the current renaissance that the church is experiencing. And the fact is, the church has doubled in size in the last five years and has flourished under his leadership.

COOPER: The American Religious Identification Survey, however, cites much lower numbers. According to its survey, the number of self-described practicing scientologists in the U.S. actually dropped from just 55,000 to 25,000 from 2001 to 2008.

Last year, a French court found four church leaders and the church itself guilty of fraud for pressuring its members to pay large sums of money for questionable financial gain. The court imposed fines on the church of more than $1 million and French church officials were handed suspended prison sentences.

In the U.S., after years of battling the IRS, the church was granted tax exempt status in 1993. The church operates many anti-drug programs and recently church volunteers flew to Haiti to help with relief efforts after the devastating earthquake. The church is a vocal critic of psychiatry. They've even opened an anti-psychiatry museum in Los Angeles.

For years, the church has reached out to well-known performers and caters to their needs with a celebrity center in Hollywood. Kirstie Alley and John Travolta are long-time scientologist, as is Tom Cruise.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Being a scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else. As you drive past, you know you have to do something about it because you know you're the only one that can really help.

COOPER: Cruise is so close to church leader David Miscavige, he asked him to be his best man at his wedding. Here's Cruise praising Miscavige at a Scientology event in 2007.

CRUISE: So I say to you, sir, COB (ph), we are lucky to have you and thank you very much.

COOPER: But the man who used to be Tom Cruise's counselor, or auditor in Scientology parlance, says not everything is as it seems with David Miscavige. Marty Rathbun, who used to work directly under Miscavige, says there's been a culture of violence within the leadership of the church. A culture encouraged by David Miscavige himself.

MARTY RATHBUN, FORMER SCIENTOLOGY INSPECTOR GENERAL: He treats his subordinates in all of international management like slaves in a slave camp and literally -- and beats them down.

COOPER: It's a claim the church vigorously denies. Church spokesman, Tommy Davis, says, yes, there was violence in the church but he blames Marty Rathbun for it, as well as some others now making allegations against David Miscavige.

DAVIS: First of all, the allegations are absolutely untrue. There's nothing of the sort as they are describing by Mr. Miscavige.

COOPER (on camera): David Miscavige has never kicked somebody?

DAVIS: Absolutely not.

COOPER: Never punched somebody?

DAVIS: Absolutely not.

COOPER: Never strangled anybody?

DAVIS: No. Never, never, never, never. Absolutely not.

COOPER (voice-over): In a moment, we'll detail the fascinating claims, counter claims and turmoil surrounding the Church of Scientology.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: OK, Anderson Cooper's look inside the Church of Scientology continues in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Hear what former church members have to say about violence at the top and the church's response that only those former members were abusers. That's at 1:30 Eastern Time. And, of course, you can watch this special series every night this week at 10:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

The president sealed the deal, signing a package of changes to health care reform. It expands health insurance subsidies for lower and middle income families, but it also overhauls the college loan system making it easier for students to get loans an repay them.

Parts of the Northeast are brace for more rain. There are concerns of possible flooding, especially in Rhode Island. State officials say they could be in for high waters at historic levels. The worst flooding in 50 years.

You know, it is never too late to clean up your credit. CNN's Poppy Harlow is at "The Help Desk." Today's advice deals with the dangers of joint credit cards and rebuilding your score.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: All right. Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get your answers to financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at bankrate.com, and Beth Kobliner, a money columnist at "Redbook" magazine.

Thanks for being here, guys. Appreciate it.

BETH KOBLINER, MONEY COLUMNIST, "REDBOOK": Great to be here.

HARLOW: Let's get to some questions. Rick wrote in. This is a tough one. Rick said, "I have a joint credit card with my brother. It's maxed out at $7,000. I have nothing to do with this credit card other than the fact that I'm the primary on the card. My credit score is 750. My brother's credit score is very low. He's not responsible with his bill. Is it possible for me to get my name off the card?"

He is, of course, afraid it's going to hurt his credit score, Beth.

KOBLINER: Unfortunately, this is a really tough one.

HARLOW: He's stuck.

KOBLINER: Well, he is stuck. Rick is completely stuck with this debt. He is his brother's keeper because it's a joint account. It's one of those cases that, you know, Rick has a great credit score. He doesn't want to ruin it. So probably he has to bite the bullet and pay off this debt. To get rid of future debt, he may want to either close the account, although that could hurt Rick's credit score a little bit himself by closing the account. However, he may want to just take his brother off the account for future -- since Rick said he's the primary on the card, he may be able to take his brother's name off the account and then use it for the future.

HARLOW: Right, good point. KOBLINER: But the bottom line is, the dangers of joint accounts, co-signing loans, particularly with family members. You have to be careful.

HARLOW: You have to know what you're getting into.

KOBLINER: Yes.

HARLOW: All right. And Terry wrote in this question. Terry said, "my husband and I lost our business and declared bankruptcy a year ago. Currently, we are both employed -- "that's good -- "and made all our home mortgage and car payments on time. We'd like to rebuild our credit. Are there any prepaid cards that can report to the three credit bureaus?"

Greg, so they want to build up their credit now that they've got work and they can pay their bills?

GREG MCBRIDE, SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM: Well, prepaid cards don't typically report to the three major credit bureaus. So -- and they can also be loaded heavily with fees. So another alternative would be a secure credit card. The way this works, you make a deposit that's equal to your line of credit. Typically after 18 to 24 months, card issuers, if you've handled that card responsibly, will give you your deposit back and then convert that to an unsecured card. And we have a list of those secured cards at bankrate.com.

HARLOW: At Bankrate. And when we look at the interest rate on those, is it typically a lot higher?

MCBRIDE: Well, much like other credit cards, it's in -- the interest rates are higher than say somebody with a great credit score, but it's a lot better than what you would get because of the fact that you've got that security. You've made that deposit. So some of the terms can actually be pretty competitive.

HARLOW: And building back up your credit.

MCBRIDE: Great way to build up the credit.

HARLOW: Good answers. Thank you so much. Appreciate it, guys.

And "The Help Desk," of course, all about getting you answers. Send us an e-mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com. We might answer it right here next week. You can also pick up what you see right there on your screen, the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It is on newsstands right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Poppy Harlow, good stuff. Thank you.

We are taking a closer look at the student loan provision in the health care law. Education Secretary Arne Duncan joins me live coming up in just a minute. It's right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Changes to America's student loan program are projected to save 61 billion tax dollars over the next 10 years by eliminating banks as middle men. But you know what? Some critics say that will eliminate jobs and the bill doesn't go far enough to help Pell grants. Joining me to talk about all of this is U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan live from the White House.

Good to see you, Mr. Secretary. It's about time you ended up on the big program. We appreciate it. Thank you.

ARNE DUNCAN, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: Thanks so much for the opportunity. Good to have -- thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Well, let's start with some of the criticism of the education provisions in the health care law and then you'll tell us why you think it's a good idea. We've got several Republicans, and a few Democrats, saying the changes amount to a government takeover you've heard this -- of the student loan program. What do you say to those who say you are essentially eliminating a private industry?

DUNCAN: That's simply not true. We will originate the loans. All the money that we're using to subsidize banks, we're going to invest in students. This is the right thing to do. As you said, north of $60 billion. Increased Pell grants, increase money for historically black universities and minority-serving universities, increase money to reduce loan repayments on the back end, simplifying the FASA (ph) forum. We're going to send millions more students to college in the years ahead and make it much more accessible and affordable for them. This is the right investment to make. Stop subsidizing banks. Invest in students without going back to taxpayers for another dime. It's a remarkable opportunity.

HARRIS: You're not just getting congressional push back. Sallie Mae is one of the banks servicing these loans. And Sallie Mae says it will be forced to fire 2,500 workers. And I've got to ask you, at a time of 9.7 percent unemployment, is this a good idea?

DUNCAN: Well, there's money in the bill to maintain jobs. Sallie Mae, quite frankly, has had a very sweet deal for a long time. And again, think about $60 billion as taxpayers, as citizen, do we want to continue to invest in banks or to invest in our nation's young people, in education. And thanks to the president's leadership and Congress' tremendous courage, we, as a country, are doing the right thing here for students. We have to educate our way to a better economy. As you know so well, going to college has never been more important. It's also never been more expensive. And our nation's families have never been under more financial duress. This is the right idea at the right time.

HARRIS: It may be the right idea, the right time, but could you have done more? Here's the question. The bill gives -- and correct me on my numbers here. Keep me honest $36 billion to the Pell grant program. But some say this represents a missed opportunity to get more students into college that the grants will fall far short of the inflation rate. Do you think that perhaps this was a missed opportunity? That you could have actually done more?

DUNCAN: No, we used every single penny we could, again, $61 billion. In fact, we're going to index the Pell grants to the rate of inflation. And so this is a great, great opportunity. I don't worry just about our nation's juniors and seniors. I worry about our nine and 10-year-olds who are, you know, hard working, committed, want to go to college but mom or dad might lose their job or take a 30 percent pay cut. We can look those students in the eye now around the country and say, if you work hard, if you do the right thing, that opportunity's going to be there. These Pell grants change students' lives to invest over $30 billion in increase in Pell grants. Again, it's just simply a remarkable opportunity.

HARRIS: OK. I know that you're about to launch an initiative to get black males in to schools teaching kids across the country. I want to have you back when you launch that program. And I'd like to have your commitment to come back on the program right here, right now. Do I have that, sir?

DUNCAN: I would love the opportunity. As a country, as we want to recruit this next generation of teachers, across the nation, only 2 percent -- only 2 percent of our nation's teachers are African- American males. Something is dramatically wrong with that picture. We have to work very hard to fix it. And I'd love to come back and talk to you in depth about that.

HARRIS: That is a date. Mr. Secretary, appreciate your time. Thank you.

DUNCAN: Thanks for having me.

HARRIS: A teenager bullied and allegedly driven to suicide. Nine fellow students are charged, but there is a twist, the teachers may have known all about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. And now for a look at some of the topics generating some buzz over the Internet, Ines Ferre joining me again. What do you have here? What's hot?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Well, we're looking at the story on CNN.com. Do you have questions about the universe? The makeup of the universe? Well, in Geneva, scientists successfully collided two proton beams at high energy, Tony, using what's called a large hadron collider. You remember a couple of years ago some folks thought, well, using the device would create a black hole that would swallow the world or even maybe help people travel through time.

Well, more realistically, scientists hope to eventually recreate the big bang theory to learn more about the building blocks of the university and its smallest particles.

HARRIS: Wow.

FERRE: Way over our heads, but this is cool stuff. HARRIS: Yes, way above my -- hey, great. It looks pretty cool, though. And we're hoping that the white jackets know exactly what they're doing, we trust.

This next story really is, Ines, a nightmare for parents with kids in school.

FERRE: Oh, yes, definitely. You can't help but shake your head about this one. Nine teens charged for bully that led to -- allegedly led to a suicide. Jackie Bruno from affiliate WWLP has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACKIE BRUNO, WWLP REPORTER (voice-over): This is the home where Phoebe Prince lived and died. On January 14th, her younger sister found her hanging in her stairwell. Now, District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel has revealed new information about what may have pushed Phoebe over the edge.

ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It appears that Phoebe's death on January 14th followed a torturous day for her in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse.

BRUNO (on camera): According to the district attorney, the day Phoebe committed suicide, she was bullied relentlessly. It started in the library when she was studying, continued into the halls and then a ball was thrown at her on her way home. Now, six teens have been indict by a grand jury on a variety of charges, including violations of civil rights, criminal harassment, and stalking. The two males are being charged with statutory rape. That means they'll face a court and could receive jail time if convicted.

JULIAN SUAREZ, STUDENT: That's about right. I mean the girl killed herself, so it's one thing like when you just harass somebody and they're all right with it, but then it's another thing when the girl actually kills herself and take it to like that level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bringing the legal system in, you know, may add a little more weight to the -- behind this whole idea of trying to eliminate school bullying.

BRUNO: None of the faculty or administrators are facing any criminal charges, but the district attorney did say the harassment of Phoebe Prince was common knowledge among the students and staff. She said more needs to be done to educate people about bullying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, I don't know what you do. This has been a problem for so long in schools. And what do you do? You just hope -- you hope that the parents are being proactive about this. More importantly, that the educators are being proactive about the problem and trying to set up system that if this starts to happen, if it becomes a problem, that folks have a plan of action, right?

FERRE: Yes. Exactly. HARRIS: OK. Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.

FERRE: Yes. Thank you.

HARRIS: Let's do this. Let's get you to New York City. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the man. There he is, Ali Velshi.

Doctor.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Not the same without being right there with you, Tony, but you have yourself a great afternoon.

HARRIS: We miss you. Thank you, sir.

VELSHI: Thank you, my friend. I miss you, too.