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State of Emergency in Rhode Island; President Obama: Drill, Bay, Drill; Free Credit Report Rule

Aired March 31, 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: Good morning, everyone. The big stories in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Wednesday, the 31st of March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Drill, baby, drill! Drill, baby, drill!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Hey, remember this? But here's the question. Is President Obama going rogue? Embracing a Republican stand, a few minutes from now he will announce plans for oil rigs in the Atlantic.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HARRIS: OK, the Tea Party Express is moving across the country, and we are with supporters this hour in Colorado.

Plus, floods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All my neighbors down the street had U-Haul trucks yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yes, the big rain tapering off in the Northeast, but the damage is done, to be sure. Rivers in Rhode island are cresting at historic highs right now.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments and all of the day's news, right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The rallying cry for many on the right was "Drill, baby, drill." Now it's President Obama who wants to open up new areas of the coastal U.S. to oil and natural gas drilling.

The president will unveil the plan just minutes from now at Andrews Air Force Base. We will bring that to you live. The president hopes to win Republican support for climate legislation, but he runs the risk of angering environmental groups and lawmakers from coastal areas. And if you look at this new poll, many people think the environment should be a big agenda item for the administration. Once again, we will bring you the president's remarks live.

You know, they haven't seen anything like this since before World War II. We're talking about record rains leaving parts of New England under water. Major roads closed, homes flooded, residents evacuated, a state of emergency in Rhode Island.

Our Reynolds Wolf is on the banks of the river in Cranston.

Reynolds, look, we're expecting this river to crest pretty soon here, aren't we?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, Tony, originally the river was forecast to get up to about 20.2 feet. It surpassed that this morning at around 20.62 and may still get a bit higher.

Now, if you're wondering why this happens, the answer is really quite simple. We had over 15 inches of rainfall that fell during the month of March in this area, an all-time record. And then when you go back to just Tuesday of this week, we had 7.9 inches of rainfall that fell in less than a 24-hour span.

Now, when you have all of that come together, here's the result. You've got the river that's been coming up just right over there. See the trees, the line of trees off in the distance? That's right at the border of the river, and itself has come up here and, of course, has invaded a lot of these houses and swept right up here.

And I'll tell you, one thing we've been seeing over here is the back of this truck. If you happen to look at some mud flaps that are right towards the bottom of it, you can see the water has just lapped that area. We've been keeping a sharp eye on that, and that's kind of like our level here, to see where it's been going.

I'll tell you one thing that hasn't been going. A lot of cars have not been going any place, especially on these roads.

Tony, they have had parts of I-95 close down due to the rising floodwaters. The back streets like this are, no surprise. They're going to be closed off also.

A couple of other big issues that we're having, two wastewater plants, one over in West Warwick, one in Warwick itself, also been closed down. So people are advised not to use their toilets, not to do any laundry until the waters really begin to subside.

We're hoping that things should continue to get better as we make our way closer to the weekend. We're expecting the dry conditions to really come in, and the waters should begin to drop, and then the real cleanup begins.

But for the latest in the forecast, we're going to get the latest on that from Chad Myers throughout the afternoon and, of course, Jacqui Jeras through this morning.

HARRIS: Exactly. And Jacqui is telling me --

Jacqui, the river has in fact crested?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it crested at 20.79. It's now dropped to 20.78. So it's on the way down.

HARRIS: Terrific.

WOLF: Wow.

HARRIS: So there you go, Reynolds.

WOLF: Unbelievable. Good deal. Good to know. Great news to hear.

HARRIS: That's news we can use right now, breaking news right here in the NEWSROOM.

All right, Reynolds and Jacqui. Appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, one of our iReporters and her dog Leo caught between their home and the rising river. Bonnie Click (ph) says her house has been standing since the 1800s, but the danger today is very real for her. Her back yard, in fact, is just a few feet -- you can see it here -- from the river's edge. If the water keeps rising, she's looking at thousands of dollars in property damage.

Other big stories we're following for you right here in the NEWSROOM.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama unveiling plans to open up large off- shore areas to oil and natural gas drilling. Live pictures there from Andrews Air Force Base, where the president will make his announcement shortly.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us with a bit of a preview.

Suzanne, great to see you.

What specific areas is the president targeting with this announcement today?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you might recall the "Drill, baby, drill" slogan, that mantra. That came from the Republicans, McCain and Palin, during the campaign. So this is a very controversial thing that is happening that the president is unveiling.

Some areas that are going to be affected to open up for off-shore drilling include the East Coast from Delaware to central Florida, as well as northern coasts of Alaska. Now, there are some places that are off limits because of environmental concerns. Those would be from New Jersey, northward to Canada, as well as the entire Pacific Coast, from Mexico to Canada, including Alaska's Bristol Bay.

Tony, that is not going to quiet the environmentalists who have already started speaking out against this, and the senators from the coastal states who are also quite concerned about what this means from Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, you name it. And the reason the president is doing this here is because he's trying to push forward climate control legislation, energy reform.

He wants to get this done before the midterm elections. He feels strong and confident, momentum from this last week that he had with the health care reform success and Russia's summit, nuclear summit, Afghanistan, all of that. But nevertheless, this is going to be a difficult sell here.

He's trying to win over the moderate Democrats and Republicans to help him push this thing through. It's a big carrot for the oil companies. He's going to try to get this thing done.

He hinted at it, Tony, in the State of the Union, that this was something that was down the line.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. It means making tough decisions about opening new off-shore areas for oil and gas development. And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Tony, the remarks have been embargoed. He's going to be delivering them very shortly, but looking at them, there's no more than 10 minutes or so. He's going to be standing in front of an F-18 fighter jet to talk about the importance of biofuels and energy efficiency.

But make no mistake here, Tony. This is all about trying to use his momentum, his political capital that he feels confident to push toward those Republicans and those moderate Democrats to fight and win this energy reform legislation that he wants to see go before Congress before the midterm elections.

HARRIS: Well, I've got to tell you, Suzanne, you talked about the representatives who are lining up voicing concerns along -- in those coastal states. We're going to talk to Senator Ben Cardin from Maryland in just a couple of minutes following the president's remarks.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Suzanne, great to see you.

You know, they claim they are free, but often than not there are strings attached. A closer look at the credit reports and what the government is doing about them.

That's next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's do this -- before the president makes his remarks, let's talk about credit card changes. Most went into effect last month. Another goes into effect tomorrow, and it focuses on companies that market free credit reports.

You know those jingles, the commercials which really aren't free?

Ines Ferre here to break it all down for us.

Ines, does this mean the end of those commercials that free credit -- you know the ones I'm talking about.

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mean the one where the guy has got the --

(CROSSTALK)

FERRE: OK. Well, not so fast.

The new disclosure rules for television and radio advertisements won't go into effect until September, but what starts tomorrow is a rule that requires prominent online disclosures on Web sites that advertise free credit reports and then require you to sign up for monthly credit monitoring subscriptions or other services in exchange for the report. Now, folks often get confused between these free offers with strings attached and the government's annualcreditreport.com, where you can get free reports with no strings attached.

HARRIS: Yes. So what exactly does this disclosure have to say?

FERRE: OK. Well, under the new rule, any Web site advertising free credit reports has to include a disclosure across the top of each page that mentions the free report saying the notice is required by law, that you can read more about it at FTC.gov, and that you have a right to a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.

HARRIS: OK. You know, this seems like a good time to check on your credit score. How can I -- I guess is a good question here -- better manage my credit? Can you help me there?

FERRE: Yes. Well, we spoke to our friends at credit.com who offered these tips.

For the best credit, only charge 10 percent of your available credit limit or less each month. Use online banking tools to keep a close eye on your account. You know, a lot of credit issuers and banks have texts, e-mails and other types of alerts to help you keep track of these things.

HARRIS: Right.

FERRE: And also, take the time to open every single piece of mail you receive from your credit card company, Tony. And focus on that fine print where those pesky little details are usually hidden.

And lastly, remember, your credit impacts every part of your life, including your ability to get affordable loans and insurance. So it's something that you really want to stay on top of year-round.

And again, by law, ,you're entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting bureaus at annualcreditreport.com.

Should I say that with the song?

HARRIS: No, no. Don't do that. Don't do that. I've heard your singing voice.

FERRE: Oh, come on!

HARRIS: Annualcreditreport.com, there at the bottom of the screen.

Good stuff, Ines. See you next hour with what's hot on the Internet.

FERRE: See you.

HARRIS: We are standing by for remarks from President Obama. He is announcing plans to open up new coastal areas to offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

Live coverage of the president's remarks from Andrews Air Force Base straight ahead for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So the president moments from now will announce plans for off-shore oil drilling. And for not just oil, but natural gas as well. The remarks taking place at Andrews Air Force Base.

We will bring you the president. The interior secretary, Ken Salazar, right now in the process of introducing the president. And we will get to the president's remarks shortly, right here in the NEWSROOM.

But first let's get to Jacqui Jeras in the Severe Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Let's get you the president now at Andrews Air Force Base.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

OBAMA: -- green team are here: Steven Chu, our secretary of energy; Martha Johnson, the administrator of the GSA; Nancy Sutley, the CEQ chair. We've got Carol Browner, who's the White House energy and climate change director.

Please give them a big round of applause. They put in a lot of work.

(APPLAUSE)

Governor Martin O'Malley is here, the governor of Maryland.

(APPLAUSE)

Ray Mabus, the secretary of the Navy, is here.

(APPLAUSE)

Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, is here. And we appreciate his outstanding service.

Thank you, Gary.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to thank Steven Shepro, the base commander here at Andrews, and the leadership that's present from the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard.

Ken and I were colleagues in the Senate, and I appointed him because I knew that he would be a faithful and pragmatic steward of our natural resources. And as secretary, he is changing the way that the Interior Department does business so that we're responsibly developing traditional sources of energy and renewable sources of energy, from the wind on the high plains, to the suns in the desert, to the waves off our coast. And so I'm very grateful to the work that he's done, and culminating in one of the announcements that we're making today.

It's also good to see so many members of our armed forces here today. Andrews is the home of Air Force One, and I appreciate everything that you do for me and my family.

I should point out that you've got a 100 percent on-time departure record. You don't charge for luggage. So it's a pretty good deal.

And I want to thank you not only for the support that you provide me, but also for the service that you perform to keep our country safe each and every day. So I'm very grateful to all of you.

We're here to talk about America's energy security, an issue that's been a priority for my administration since the day I took office.

Already, we've made the largest investment in clean energy in our nation's history. It's an investment that's expected to create or save more than 700,000 jobs across America, jobs manufacturing advanced batteries for more efficient vehicles, upgrading the power grid so that it's smarter and it's stronger, doubling our nation's capacity to generate renewable electricity from sources like the wind and the sun.

In just a few months after taking office, I also gathered the leaders of the world's largest automakers, the heads of labor unions, environmental advocates, and public officials from California and across the country to reach a historic agreement to raise fuel economy standards in cars and trucks. And tomorrow, after decades in which we have done little to increase auto efficiency, those new standards will be finalized which will reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the pump.

So my administration is upholding its end of the deal, and we expect all parties to do the same. And I would also point out this rule that we're going to be announcing about increased mileage standards will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil overall -- 1.8 billion barrels of oil. And that's like taking 58 million cars off the road for an entire year.

Today we're also going to go one step further. In order to save energy and taxpayer dollars, my administration, led by Secretary Chu at Energy, as well as Administrator Johnson at GSA, is doubling the number of hybrid vehicles in the federal fleet, even as we seek to reduce the numbers of cars and trucks used by our government overall. So we're going to lead by example and practice what we preach, cutting waste, saving energy and reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

But we have to do more. We need to make continued investments in clean coal technologies and advanced biofuels.

A few weeks ago, I announced loan guarantees to break ground on America's first new nuclear facility in three decades, a project that will create thousands of jobs. And in the short term, as we transition to cleaner energy sources, we still have got to make some tough decisions about opening new off-shore areas for oil and gas development in ways that protect communities and protect coastlines.

Now, this is not a decision that I've made lightly. It's one that Ken and I, as well as Carol Browner, my energy adviser, and others in my administration looked at closely for more than a year. But the bottom line is this -- given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable homegrown energy. So today we're announcing the expansion of off- shore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America's natural resources.

Under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, we'll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We'll protect areas that are vital to tourism, the environment and our national security. And we'll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence.

That's why my administration will consider potential areas for development in the mid and south Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico, while studying and protecting sensitive areas in the Arctic. That's why we'll continue to support development of leased areas off the North Slope of Alaska while protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay.

There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling. But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and the long run. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake.

Now, on the other side, there are going to be some who argue that we don't go nearly far enough, who suggest we should open all our waters to energy exploration without any restriction or regard for the broader environmental or economic impact. And to those folks I've got to say this -- we have less than two percent of the world's oil reserves. We consume more than 20 percent of the world's oil.

And what that means is that drilling alone can't come close to meeting our long-term energy needs. And for the sake of our planet and our energy independence, we need to begin the transition to cleaner fuels now. So the answer is not drilling everywhere all of the time, but the answer is not also for us to ignore the fact that we are going to need vital energy sources to maintain our economic growth and our security.

Ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates of the left and the right, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling as a cure-all and those who would claim it has no place, because this issue is just too important to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again.

For decades, we've talked about how our dependence on foreign oil threatens our economy, yet our will to act rises and falls with the price of a barrel of oil. When gas gets expensive at the pump, suddenly everybody is an energy expert. And when it goes back down, everybody's back to their old habits.

For decades, we've talked about the threat to future generations posed by our current system of energy, even as we can see the mounting evidence of climate change from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf Coast. And this is particularly relevant to all of you who are serving in uniform.

For decades, we've talked about the risks to our security created by dependence on foreign oil, but that dependence has actually grown year after year after year after year. And while our politics has remained entrenched along these worn divides, the ground has shifted beneath our feet.

Around the world, countries are seeking an edge in the global marketplace by investing in new ways of producing and saving energy. From China to Germany, these nations recognize that the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the country that leads the global economy. And meanwhile, here at home, as politicians in Washington debate endlessly about whether to act, our own military's determined that we can no longer afford not to.

Some of the press may be wondering why we are announcing off- shore drilling in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Well, if there's any doubt about the leadership that our military is showing, you just need to look at this F-18 fighter and the light-armored vehicle behind me.

The Army and Marine Corps have been testing this vehicle on a mixture of biofuels. And this Navy fighter jet, appropriately called the Green Hornet, will be flown for the first time in just a few days on Earth Day. If tests go as planned, it will be the first plane ever to fly faster than the speed of sound on a fuel mix that is half biomass.

The Air Force is also testing jet engines using biofuels and had the first successful biofuel-powered test flight just last week. I don't want to drum up any kind of rivalry here, but --

(LAUGHTER)

Now, the Pentagon isn't seeking these alternative fuels just to protect our environment. They're pursuing these homegrown energy sources to protect our national security.

Our military leaders recognize the security imperative of increasing the use of alternative fuels, decreasing energy use, reducing our reliance on imported oil, making ourselves more energy- efficient. And that's why the Navy, led by Secretary Mabus, who is here today, has set a goal of using 50-percent alternative fuel in all planes, vehicles and ships in the next 10 years. And that's why the Defense Department has invested $2.7 billion this year alone to improve energy efficiency.

So moving toward clean energy is about our security. It's also about our economy. And it's about the future of our planet.

And what I hope is that the policies we've laid out - from hybrid fleets to offshore drilling, from nuclear energy to wind energy-- underscores the seriousness with which my administration takes this challenge.

It's a challenge that requires us to break out of the old ways of thinking, to think and act anew.

And it requires each of us, regardless of whether we're in the private sector or the public sector, whether we're in the military or in the civilian side of government, to think about how could we be doing things better how could we be doing things smarter, so that we're no longer tethered to the winds of what happens somewhere in the Middle East or with other major oil-producing nations?

So I'm open to proposals from my Democratic friends and my Republican friends. I think that we can break out of the broken politics of the past when it comes to our energy policy. I know that we can come together to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that's going to foster new energy -- new industries, create millions of new jobs, protect our planet and help us become more energy independent.

That's what we can do. That is what we must do. And I'm confident that is what we will do.

So thank you very much.

And thanks again to all of you who are serving in our armed -- armed services. You are making an enormous contribution, and this is just one example of the leadership that you are showing.

Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: OK, there you have it. The president announcing plans to open up new areas to offshore oil and natural gas drilling. Some lawmakers, democratic lawmakers have real concerns about this proposal. Senator Ben Cardin from Maryland, the land of pleasant living, is one of those lawmakers with real concerns. He is up next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama's plan to expand offshore oil and gas drilling is certain to draw fire from environmentalists and some democrats. One democrat who has real concerns about the plan is Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, my former Congressman when I was living in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Ben, good to see you. Thanks for your time.

SEN. BENJAMIN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Tony, it's good to be with you.

HARRIS: You know, Senator, you are one of ten senators who signed onto a letter sent to your colleagues crafting climate legislation. In that letter, you raised several concerns about the environmental impact if offshore drilling moves forward to legislation. Voice some of those concerns for us here. Where do you stand on this?

CARDIN: Well, Tony, first, let me say, we do need a comprehensive approach to energy and the president laid out a comprehensive approach. It includes renewables. It includes nuclear. It includes drilling.

What I object to is expanding the offshore drilling. To me that's extremely dangerous. We already have tens of millions of acres available for exploration of oil that the industry can do. But when you expand it to offshore drilling, there's always a risk of spills. We know that. Spills can be devastating to the seafood, to the fishermen. It can be devastating to the property owners.

The Chesapeake Bay is critical to our region, and I'm very concerned about the impact it could have on the Chesapeake Bay.

HARRIS: Well, OK, so you clearly have done the risk/reward analysis here. And certainly there is risk if the leasing and drilling and the harvesting and the oil of the gas is done in a haphazard way. But, you know, jobs in this sector would be nice with a 9.7 percent unemployment rate, wouldn't you agree?

CARDIN: I can tell you the number of jobs that are associated with our fishing industry and our seafood industry. The number of jobs with tourists that come into our region, Ocean City, Maryland, and if that beach got an oil spill what it could mean to Maryland's economy. This is a double-edged sword, and I think we need to understand that.

HARRIS: Well, but can you have both? Can you do offshore oil drilling responsibly and protect the fishing industry? Can you do both?

CARDIN: There are areas that you can do offshore drilling. We do it today. So there are areas that are acceptable. I think it's just too high of a risk when you talk about the impact it could have on the beaches of Maryland and on the Chesapeake Bay.

Now the president indicated that there will be environmental studies. I'm going to urge those environmental studies to take a look at the risk that I'm talking about. And I think if you do, then -- we know spills happen with offshore drilling. It happens, even the most responsible drilling. That risk is high for Maryland.

HARRIS: Too tough an issue to take on for democrats after health care?

CARDIN: Well, energy policy, we need to get a comprehensive energy policy for our security and for our economy and for the international responsibilities we have on global climate change. I strongly support that. I think we can have a comprehensive bill that still protects our shores from offshore drilling.

HARRIS: And to make the drill down, sorry, on that point a little deeper here, it really makes sense right now, and I'll have you expand on it, to have a comprehensive energy strategy look. With China and India, gobbling up contracts all over the world right now for oil and we're still years away from transitioning further away from oil, it really makes sense to do more offshore drilling, doesn't it?

CARDIN: Well, I think the president said it himself. We have less than 2 percent or 2 percent of the world's reserves. We use more than 20 percent of the world's oil. We can't drill our way out of this. We need to use less energy, we need to develop alternative and renewable sources. I believe nuclear is part of the equation for independence and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. I don't think we can drill our way out of this problem.

HARRIS: Yes.

Senator Cardin, great to see you, as always. Thanks for your time.

There are six applicants looking for every available job. When is the jobs picture continuing to improve? A panel will weigh in on that topic next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, at this point you're certainly familiar with these numbers. The U.S. has lost more than 8 million jobs since the recession began. Economists predict Labor Department numbers due on Friday will show 190,000 jobs added this month. That will be the first increase since November of last year. Contrast that to this, a new report out this morning from ADP says private sector employers actually cut 23,000 jobs this month.

So what is the reality of the job market? Joining me to dig deep or that subject, Paul LaMonica, editor-at-large at CNNMoney.com. Paul, good to see you.

PAUL LAMONICA, CNNMONEY.COM EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: And Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute. Lakshman, good to see you.

LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC ANALYST: You too.

HARRIS: Let me start with you in fact. So what is the truth, based on your analysis of where we are with this labor market? So, the private sector still shedding jobs, the public sector is adding jobs, what's going on here?

ACHUTHAN: Well, look, I mean, we're recovering from a recession. And actually, truth be told, we're recovering faster than we've recovered from recent recessions.

The problem is, as you were saying into the lead-in, that we have such a big hole. We lost well over 8 million jobs. So recovering is a great thing, but it doesn't mean you're recovered. It's going to take years and years of a growing economy in order to create the jobs, the new jobs that we lost in the last couple of years. And that's why one of the reasons why even though we'll get some positive jobs growth, a lot of people will say, so what, I still hurt a lot.

And there's another reason, which is that you have a whole hunk of people, big hunk, 40 percent of the unemployed people are long-term unemployed. The types of skills they have, construction or manufacturing and things of this nature aren't easy fits with the economy right now.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Paul, let me have you weigh in.

What gets the private sector hiring again? We understand that the public sector hiring is filling some of the gaps here, but what gets the private sector hiring again? A real growth spurt in the existing sector? A new bubble without the negative implications of that? And what are your thoughts about how long it will take to get millions back to work again?

LAMONICA: Unfortunately, I think it will take several years before we have those millions of jobs coming back. Really, what needs to happen is a continuation of what's slowly starting to happen. The economy seems to be gradually getting better, not so strong that people will feel great about it.

But if consumer spending can increase then companies may have more confidence to look at their payrolls and say, hey, we're producing more goods now, we need people to produce them and do all the things associated with that.

The problem, though, I speak to a lot of people who think this could be a slingshot expansion jobs as the expansion gets better.

HARRIS: What does that mean? What does that mean?

LAMONICA: What that basically would mean is that all it would take is just a couple of good months of consumer spending before companies realize, hey, the economy's getting better, we cut so deep during the recession, we need to hire people back.

But at the same time, productivity is up, so you might have a lot of companies that have gotten used to doing more with less kind of get greedy and just say, hey, let's just work the existing employees to the bone cause what are they going to do, try and find another job. Good luck with that.

HARRIS: Isn't that the truth, Lakshman? We've gotten to this place now where we've lost -- we've gone from 108 million private sector jobs now compared to say 109 million ten years ago. Isn't the truth here that many of those lost private sector job, many of them in manufacturing just won't come back? We've just become more efficient and more productive?

ACHUTHAN: Well, you think about it, just roughly with the numbers we have here, we've lost roughly 8 million jobs and the economy is growing at 5.5 percent, 5.6 percent. So we're putting out more with 8 million less people and so productivity is up.

But what we're seeing, the real rub here and the displaced people who are saying what recovery are you talking about? Because I hear from them. You know, we see GDP growing, we see some sectors of the economy adding jobs, but there's a huge hunk that are being left behind. There are construction workers because the housing bubble is gone and it's not coming back. The commercial real estate side is very weak and not coming back. So if you had ten workers there two years ago now you might need one or two at best. And manufacturing, as you pointed out, ten years ago, we had 18 million factory workers in this country and now we had 10 million or so. And what you see is that when we have a recovery, when we finish a recession and start a new recovery, basically we stop losing manufacturing jobs, but we never regain them.

And the really, really big problem here, there's a huge problem that needs to be put out there that which is that -- both Paul and I have said that it will take a number of years, many years to regain what we lost. The problem is the odds of a long expansion like we had in the '90s or even in the 2000s or in the '80s, the expansion has been going down rather rapidly. We're probably going to have a few, maybe three, four, five years --

HARRIS: Why, why, why, why, why, why? Why do you think that is?

ACHUTHAN: Why, why, why?

HARRIS: Yes.

ACHUTHAN: Well, one thing's obvious to everybody. The boom and bust cycle is back, right? You're getting these big recessions and big booms -- up and down, a lot of volatility. That's one reason why you have more recessions.

The other reason is because this pace of growth, how fast we're able to grow during each expansion has been getting weaker and weaker for decades. And that's happening to a lot of mature economies, not only the U.S., but it's very evident in the U.S. So much so, that the last expansion from 2001 to 2007, it was the weakest growth rate for the U.S. economy on average since World War II. So that's a long- standing trend, too.

HARRIS: Let me get Paul in here for one more here.

What are we looking at? Before the recession, we were at -- we were looking at full employment of about 5 percent. What are we looking at as the new standard of full employment. Is it 5.5 percent? Is it 6 percent? What are we looking at here?

LAMONICA: It might even be higher than 6 percent, unfortunately. You keep in mind, after the 2001 recession, the peak of unemployment was I think 6.2 percent or 6.3 percent in 2002 and 2003. So we are now at 9.7 percent, so we are at a much higher rate and that may or may not be the peak.

And then you throw in all of the, quote/unquote, "underemployed people." There are a lot of people out there who have given up looking for work who don't get counted in the official unemployment numbers and people that are working part time that would prefer to work full time that don't get counted as well. So the number of people that are without a real well-paying job that can get them and their families by is much higher than the headline number.

HARRIS: Gentlemen, that's good stuff. Lakshman, appreciate it. Come on back and see us again. Paul, as always, you're welcome here. Gentlemen, good discussion. Thank you very much.

Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, you know, almost every time the president speaks this group has something to say. We check in with tea partiers ready to rally in Colorado. We're back in a moment.

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HARRIS: OK, this just in. We expected this news today, and so it is. Former First Lady Barbara Bush was released from Methodist Hospital in Houston after undergoing a series of tests. The doctors believe Mrs. Bush, who is 84 years old, may have had a mild relapse of her Grave's Disease, that's a thyroid condition. You may recall, she was first treated for the condition in 1989. We're told the former first lady is alert, talkative and appeared to be getting stronger actually as she was preparing to return home. So good news for the former first lady, the Bush family. Barbara Bush, out of the hospital and feeling better.

The tea partiers are quite vocal about what they see as government interference. They're gathering right now in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our Ed Lavandera is there.

Ed, good to see you. You know, offshore oil drilling is the topic of the morning. Now, that seems like a position the Tea Party folks could actually support the president on. What about it?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting that actually this announcement comes on this day here in Grand Junction, Colorado, where the oil and gas industry is such a prominent industry. So obviously, this would be kind of a good place to take the pulse.

The rally here, the Tea Party rally, scheduled to start here in a few minutes this morning. But before we've gotten started, we kind of try to get the pulse a little bit of the people that were -- a few people here this morning as that announcement was being made to get their thoughts. We'll play a little bit of that for you to get a sense of what they're saying.

HARRIS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON TOWNSEND, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: He has given us an administration of radicals that have an agenda and they want nothing but big government and, no, there is nothing he can do. He's already proven his stripes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And, Tony that seems to be the theme that we hear over and over. We kind of did a similar thing yesterday as the President Obama had made kind of overtures to the Tea Party group, saying there was some people he could win over with some support, especially focusing on the deficit group. You really kind of hear that same theme over on this particular issue as well. There's, in their view, such a deep level of mistrust that they just don't think that the president would follow through on exactly what he's saying. So I think that kind of speaks to the levels and the degrees of mistrust that tea partiers have with this president.

HARRIS: Yes, it runs deep.

All right, Ed Lavandera for us. Ed, great to see you. Thank you.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: I need you to reach out to the program, talk to me directly. A couple ways to do it. First of all, CNN.com/Tony takes you directly to this -- bam -- our blog page. To send us your thoughts on Facebook, here's what you do. Tony Harris, CNN. Here's my Twitter address, tonyharrisCNN. Call us. Pick up the phone. 877- 742-5760. Let's have more of your thoughts on the program. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.

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HARRIS: And here's what we're working on the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Was she bullied to death? We're learning new details in the hanging death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. A friend tells us why and how she was allegedly targeted by her classmates.

And we're looking at the fallout of the health care vote. Brianna Keilar is in the home town of a democratic representative to get reaction to his yes vote.

We're back in a moment.

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