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7.2 Earthquake Shakes U.S., Mexico; Jobless Benefits Run Out; Groundwork for a Crackdown in Afghanistan
Aired April 05, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, April 5th, opening day for major league baseball. The faces behind today's headlines.
Golf great Tiger Woods at the Masters, holding his first full news conference since he crashed his SUV and his public image.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai meeting tribal leaders and laying the groundwork for a coming assault on the Taliban.
And Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens hinting at retirement as he nears 90 and perhaps setting up a heated summertime squabble.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
OK. First up, a major earthquake hits Mexico and rattles across Arizona and California, a magnitude 7.2. That's a big one. Aftershocks still being felt.
This iReporter video taken at a store in Palm Springs captures the pandemonium just seconds after the quake struck.
Boy, look at that. The iReporter says there was glass everywhere. And you can imagine it. But no structural damage at the store.
In Mexicali, Mexico, near the epicenter of the Sunday quake, two people are dead, 140 injured.
CNN Senior Latin American Affairs Editor Rafael Romo joining me.
And Rafael, good to see you this morning.
Maybe you have some more pictures to show us. But if you would, describe what people are dealing with there.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, it's a very difficult situation for people both in northern Mexico and in southern California.
The earthquake struck at 3:40 in the afternoon as families were gathering for Easter celebrations in cities across northwestern Mexico and southern California. According to Mexican authorities, the earthquake left two people dead and about 140 injured. The epicenter was located near the town of Guadeloupe Victoria, located about 104 miles east/southeast of Tijuana, Mexico, and had a magnitude of 7.2.
Some of the first images show big cracks on local roads that created chaotic traffic situations, especially in places like Mexicali, Mexico, where the two deaths were reported. The quake also caused merchandise to fall off store shelves across the city, and there were also many buildings that sustained structural damage.
Mexicali was left in darkness. And there were many reports of water main breaks and natural gas leaks throughout the city with a population of more than 900,000.
The general hospital in Tijuana was evacuated immediately after the earthquake because people were afraid of walls collapsing. All 300 patients were taken to private clinics because the building had no water or electricity.
But Tony, the main problem right now is the damage that the earthquake caused in many buildings across the region.
HARRIS: OK. Rafael, appreciate it. Thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Out of work and out of a check, at least for now. Extended unemployed benefits temporarily expire today for more than 200,000 Americans. The Senate went on spring recess without approving the extension.
Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash live from Washington with details.
Dana, good to see you.
What was the holdup here?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really a partisan dispute, Tony, between Democrats and some Republicans who have very different philosophical approaches to this issue of extending expiring unemployment benefits. Some Republicans believe that the $10 billion price tag that the government would spend to extend these benefits should be paid for so it doesn't add to the deficit, but most Democrats, they disagree, Tony. They say joblessness, at least right now, is an emergency, and emergency spending doesn't have to be offset.
Listen to two arguments. I want you to hear this on the Senate floor. It was just before Congress went home for spring recess.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: I dare say, if a tornado wiped out a town in Oklahoma, or we had a flood as we are having some in the Midwest, wiped out a community, and we needed to rush money in and rush things in to help people, would we stand here and say, oh, no, we can't call that an emergency, that's not an emergency? That somehow we've got to come up with the pay-fors right away?
No. It would be an emergency, and we would rush in to help.
Well, for thousands of Americans who are going to lose unemployment on April 5th, it's an emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Watching the senator's voting record, it seems that everything is an emergency. Everything is an emergency. Everything.
They don't seem -- he certainly doesn't want to seem to be paying for anything. Just add it to the debt. Add it to the debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, here's a reality check for you, Tony, and that is that Senate Democratic leaders could have kept the Senate in session a bit longer and forced a series of votes to try to overcome that GOP opposition and potentially avoid this lapse in benefits, but they didn't do that. However, the Senate will have votes on Monday. Senate Democratic leaders say that they will do it a week from today, when the Senate gets back into session. But it's unclear if the Democrats will have the 60 votes they need to overcome that Republican opposition -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. OK, here we go, 60 votes again.
Dana, are we going to go through this every month?
BASH: You know, it's unclear. I mean, what the Democrats' ultimate goal is to extend these unemployment benefits for a longer period, longer term. But they haven't been able to do that.
The reality is that we are going to have these fights, probably, partisan fights, if they can't do that for a while. And again, it is really philosophical at this point. It is a philosophical difference, and you just heard those two Democrats -- two senators, a Democrat and a Republican -- explain their different approaches to this.
HARRIS: And the problem is in the Senate. The House has already passed this legislation, correct?
BASH: Right. And the House has passed it. I mean, there are philosophical differences in the House. The difference, of course, is the votes in the House, and Democrats have far more votes in the House, and they don't have a problem approving this. The Senate is where the problem is.
HARRIS: All right.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.
Dana, good to see you. Thank you.
The Afghan leader, boy, pitching a military offensive in the birthplace of the Taliban. And it is a tough, tough sell.
Plus, Rob Marciano tracking a winter storm system out West. And springtime for sure in the South. We will talk to Rob in just a couple of minutes.
But first, let's look at the Big Board, New York Stock Exchange, the Dow now.
We are in positive territory. Looking at Dow -- 11,000 here, it seems maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We are up 51 points.
Following these numbers throughout the day, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A political pursuit ahead of a military mission for Afghanistan's president. Hamid Karzai meets tribal leaders in Kandahar before a U.S. and NATO offensive in the Taliban stronghold.
CNN's Atia Abawi now from Kandahar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This room is full of tribal elders and leaders from all over Kandahar Province. One by one, men stood up to President Karzai and told him that they won't feel protected in their own land, that they don't feel comfortable turning to the Afghan government or the Afghan security forces because they don't trust them right now.
They also mentioned that they don't necessarily trust the Taliban either, but some of these members of the Taliban are from their own community. But they are also tired of terrorism, but at the same time, very a apprehensive when it comes to the upcoming offensive in Kandahar.
President Karzai barely touched on the tensions between his government and the international community, telling people this is not about pointing the finger at the foreigners. But instead, today was about pointing the finger at himself and his government and how they can help the people of Kandahar. But General McChrystal did comment on President Karzai's words that he made on Thursday.
You are the top NATO commander here. You're in charge of over 100,000 U.S. and other nations' forces. And many of these people are wondering why they are still in Afghanistan. And they are hearing the leader of the nation pointing the finger at the same international community who's here trying to help.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: I spend most of my time thinking not about what people say, but about what they do. And my partnership with President Karzai has been something that I have been pleased with and something that I have relied on as we move forward in operations. And that's reflected in his people and his government that I work with.
ABAWI (voice-over): Atia Abawi, CNN, Kandahar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. Getting the most out of your medical benefits. We have some top tips for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Back in 1995, President Clinton declared the first full week of April National Public Health Week. Well, that means today is the kickoff for the 2010 initiative.
Ines Ferre joining us now from New York with some great ideas on how we can all save when it comes to our health.
Ferre, Ines, good morning. Where do you want to start here?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
OK. Well, first, Tony, I mean, one way to save money is to make sure that as many of your medical providers as possible are in network. Now, this may seem obvious, but many of us just get so attached to one doctor, feeling that it's worth the extra money.
The truth is it, often may not be. Also, many doctors may be changing the insurance plans they accept because of sweeping changes in the health care reform. After all, they are looking to cut costs just like you.
The bottom line is your insurance company has already gone through the trouble of negotiating discounted rates for the providers in your plan. So you might as well take advantage of the savings. Co-pays and deductibles will be much higher if you go out of network -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you.
And it seems to me it would make sense to shop around for a doctor, but also to shop for good prices on prescription drugs as well, right?
FERRE: Right. I mean, the last thing that you want to do is not fill a prescription or skip doses, or cut pills in half before checking with your doctor first. Instead, you may want to try these options.
Tell your doctor you just can't afford the prescribed medication. Now, you wouldn't hesitate to talk to your doctor about potential risks and side-effects, so don't hold back when it comes to your questions about the cost of a drug either.
Also, ask your doctor about prescribing a generic that would work just as well as a name-brand drug. You can even ask your pharmacist about less expensive alternatives, too.
And lastly, Tony, mail order drugs can cut back on your spending as well. Legit mail order pharmacies can offer big savings when you take a prescription on a regular long-term basis -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, makes sense.
And last but not least, what about a flexible spending account?
FERRE: Right. You would be shocked at just how many people don't take advantage of these work-based accounts.
Now, these let you set aside an amount of money to be deducted on a pretax basis from your paycheck. The money can be used to pay for just about any medical expense, from office and hospital co-pays, to contact lenses and even aspirin. One catch though, you must use all of the funds you set aside in this account within the plan year or you will forfeit the money -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you. All right, Ines. See you next hour with what's hot on the Internet. Thank you.
FERRE: See you. Thank you.
HARRIS: And while the White House hosts the Easter Egg Roll, we're looking at some iReports from New York's Easter Parade. Look at this. The promenade down 5th Avenue featured plenty of hats -- hats for people and their pets.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Let's look take a look at our top stories right now.
You know, we're actually focusing some attention now on the New York Stock Exchange, and you can see why here. We're close to closing in on Dow 11,000. The Dow is up 52 points right now, just coming in on two hours into the trading day, the first trading day for stocks since the encouraging jobs report on Friday.
The NASDAQ -- I have got that number here somewhere.
Dan, where is that number?
Up 25 points. So we're just going to keep an eye on the Dow and see if we reach Dow 11,000 today. It's psychological mostly, but it's a big number.
Rescuers in China pulled 115 workers from a flooded mine today and are still trying to find others. Miners saying they hooked their belts to shaft walls as water rushed in. They hung there for three days until a mining cart floated by.
Wow.
Tiger Woods goes head to head with the media today at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Reporters are free to ask about the scandal that has engulfed Woods' personal life. The news conference begins at 2:00 Eastern. You will see it live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Tiger Woods returning to professional golf. He is at the Masters today, just finishing up a practice round.
We will take you live to Augusta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. In about two and a half hours, Tiger Woods plans to answer questions from reporters at Augusta National. Masters officials hope the news conference sort of tamps down the voyeuristic interest in Woods' personal life.
Samantha Hayes live now from Augusta.
And Samantha, you know what? If you would, describe that scene out there. The Tiger galleries are always huge.
How would you describe the scene out there today for Tiger in his practice round?
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I like that you used "galleries." I have covered golf for a while, and that term always kind of -- gallery what?
HARRIS: Yes.
HAYES: Yes, the spectators today, hundreds of them, watching Tiger Woods. A very friendly crowd as Tiger broke the ice in his first formal practice round this morning with Fred Couples.
This is why, Tony, he chose Augusta National. He knew the crowd would be polite, and he likes the tightly-controlled atmosphere.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYES (voice-over): In pursuit of a fifth green jacket, Tiger Woods hit the greens early and often both Sunday and Monday morning. It is a familiar and friendly place for Woods, which is why he may have chosen the Masters for his return to professional golf.
CHRIS VERDERY, GOLF PRO, RIVER GOLF CLUB: This makes sense. People really love him here in Augusta. He's been wonderful for the Masters, for the city of Augusta. And everybody's excited to have him back. HAYES: While Augusta is accustomed to hosting one of the biggest events in sports every April, the sordid drama now associated with Woods is new.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels like -- at least at the onset, and obviously we're very early in the week -- a very different kind of a Masters. People are almost waiting, anticipating something is going to happen.
HAYES: The four-time Masters champion recently admitted to multiple extramarital affairs.
Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhayer says the spotlight is less on the sport and more on the spectacle.
MAYOR DEKE COPENHAYER, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: TMZ, "Entertainment Weekly" and "People" magazine, along with "Extra" are, once again, just typical calls that I don't get come Masters week.
HAYES: As a star athlete, Tiger Woods is supported in Augusta. Lots of folks are rooting for him.
DICK BENCK, MASTERS TICKET HOLDER: I love his golf, and that's what we're here for. That's what I like to see, and I really don't care about his personal life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYES: The pressure really isn't on until Thursday. Nevertheless, Tiger Woods seemed to be enjoying himself during this morning's practice round. He was waving at people who were cheering him on, seemed to smile more, too. What may be more daunting, though, Tony, for this golfing superstar is his upcoming news conference with more than 200 reporters.
Reporting live, I'm Samantha Hayes. Back to you.
HARRIS: Can't wait for that. Yes, Samantha, appreciate it. Thank you.
And Tiger Woods' news conference from the Masters live, coverage in the CNN NEWSROOM at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
You know, you have been telling us what you would ask of Tiger Woods at this news conference today. Now Golf Channel correspondent Jim Gray tells us what questions he would ask. He joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, authorities in Mexico are checking damaged houses and other buildings today following a major earthquake. The magnitude 7.2 quake struck yesterday, it left two people dead in Mexico and rattled parts of California and Arizona. Seismologists say the quake could also trigger more quakes in the coming days.
CNN talked with Bill Nye, "The Science Guy," about the causes of quakes and aftershocks and possibly predicting them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL NYE, "THE SCIENCE GUY": As soon as the rifts start to shift, they keep shifting and indeed, the energy from one can trigger another. It's very, if I may, intuitive. Once it slips a little, it keeps slipping for awhile. Now, what's awhile? A day, a week; less than a month but more than a few hours. And so, yes, after you get one earthquake, apparently the way the earth is set up, you get a few more over the subsequent days.
I have been in Seattle when there was a big one in 2002. There was a big earthquake and then there was aftershocks for many days after that. Mount St. Helen, Washington, earthquakes after volcanoes. Hawaii, earthquakes every time there is a volcano.
But in California there is a big fault people make jokes about, but it runs through California and into Mexico, and that's the one that's slipping. And it's certainly going to slip again, if not tomorrow, if not in the next week, soon enough.
But you know what's going on now, people are talking about using the motion detectors, the accelerometers in everybody's laptop. It would be very noisy. You know, you'd pick up a laptop -- OK, you have to drop those data out, you have to eliminate data, but if you have enough coarse or not very well -- not very sensitive data, if you have many, many of those data then you can sort out the waves.
So it could be possible that in the next few years, say 15 years, after an earthquake occurs in a place that's well understood, there would be time to warn people a few hundred miles away, a few hundred kilometers away. That's possible. It's an intriguing idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes, yes, it is.
All right, let's go to Rob Marciano. I know you have at least one more iReport for us and a lot of folks send you questions about earthquakes, don't they?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes, all the time. It's a fascinating topic and what's most frustrating about it is they are unpredictable. What bill was getting to is, you know, on paper that may work, but these things move relatively quickly. So I don't know how feasible that is. We're still struggling, as both scientists and informers, you know, to get people to a safe spot when these things happen. It is a frightening, frightening thing when that earth moves under your feet.
HARRIS: Yes, sir.
MARCIANO: All right, let's show you the iReport north of the border in Cali, Mexico where an iReporter went out -- I guess I was supposed to show it. Anyway, I don't have it loaded on the wall, but I will show you this. A lot of orange dots here, which indicates the amount of aftershocks that we've seen. Most of these have been relatively small in the 3 and 4 variety, but some of them have been a little bit larger.
The red dots indicate just in the last hour or so, we've seen those mostly creep across the border. This is along a fault line here. It's not the San Andreas fault but it runs parallel to it, the southern fringe of it. So that's where we are seeing most of the action right now.
And there was one other quake, a 5.0-magnitude quake near Grand Cayman. And you heard Bill talking about, you know, in one spot you can have a quake, you can have another one triggered in a completely different spot, and that's what happened this morning. A 5.0 quake near Grand Cayman. We had a similar spot move shortly after the Haiti quake.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: So it is interesting how all this stuff is certainly related.
One of the seismologists interviewed during "AMERICAN MORNING" made an interesting point and she said that, you know, statistically speaking, even though it feels like we have had a ton of them, a lot of big ones -- and certainly I was scratching my head over this -- she said statistically we're not too far over the mark as far as seeing a lot -- you know, over a 6 or 12-month period. Just in bad spots, I suppose.
HARRIS: Absolutely. Rob, thank you, sir.
MARCIANO: You bet.
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on the top stories now.
Afghan (INAUDIBLE) officials are laying the groundwork for the next big offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province. President Hamid Karzai told tribal leaders yesterday the offensive won't begin until he has their support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan is the home of Afghans and we own this place and our partners are here to help in a cause that's all of us. We run this country, the Afghans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, the offensive is expected to begin in June.
Man, this is a good picture, isn't it? After blasting off just before sunrise, Space Shuttle Discovery is headed for the International Space Station. The 13-day mission marks the first time four women have been in space at the same time. Discovery has reached orbit and is expected to dock on Wednesday. Since 1878 -- do we have live pictures of this from the White House South Lawn? Is that tape or live pictures? It's been an essential rite of spring in the nation's capital, it is the Annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House. Some 19,000 eggs were provided for the kids -- OK, great. Live pictures there of the first lady, and the daughters. OK. -- for the kids to find and for the kids to color themselves.
We are back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Tiger Woods faces the media. In a little less than two and a half hours, Woods holds his first actual news conference since the scandal over his extramarital affairs broke. Jim Gary -- we love Jim Gray around here, he's a correspondent for the Golf Channel. He first interviewed Woods when Tiger was just 8 years old. He joins us live from Indianapolis where college basketball's Final Four is being played to talk about what we can expect.
Boy, it's a good gig. Boy, you're in Augusta later in the week, you're at the Final Four now. Boy, I tell you, you are living right.
Hey, Jim, let me start with this. If you're Tiger, do you answer specific questions about the affairs, the relationships? You know he's going to get a few of those.
JIM GRAY, GOLF CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think he has to answer about the affairs. I do believe that's private. But I do believe that he should be forthcoming and answer questions further than he has. The sexual aspect of that is between him and those individuals and his wife.
But the other questions that he keeps saying, it's private or it's between me and Elin or I'm not going to answer that or it's in the police report, if he would open up a little bit, give some of those details, answer some of those questions I think it would serve him well because then he could actually say, asked and answered, try and put it behind him. Now, guys, we're going to talk about golf.
HARRIS: Do you think he'll take it a little further than he has? I'm thinking on a percentage basis, if you had to think of it in these terms, how many questions on the relationships, how many questions on golf and his form having not really played competitively for five months?
GRAY: Well, that's hard to say. I mean, I'm sure it depends on what the questions are and, of course, Augusta National, I'm sure, only wants questions about golf because after all the Masters is the biggest tournament of the year and they run a terrific tournament down there so I'm sure that they want to put it behind them as well. But I think he should answer some of these questions and I think that it would serve him well, as I just said.
But not only that, it would be good for golf, good for everybody to move forward. Until he answers the questions everybody wants to hear, then he's not going to be able to move forward because all of these websites and all of these reporters and everybody's going to keep on digging.
HARRIS: What are you watching for today from him in his demeanor?
GRAY: Well, I'd like to see -- he's shown contrition, he's apologized.
HARRIS: Right.
GARY: And I think, from that point, now we'll see if he can be a more humble guy. Tiger Woods has conquered the world of golf. He's perhaps the best player to ever play. He's chasing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. He's four behind that to tie, five to overtake it. Now if he could be a kinder, gentler, more humble guy, maybe interact with the fans, sign some autographs, smile a little bit, he said he would change his behavior on the course as well where he often will curse or snap at a photographer or he'll throw his club or he'll have that demeanor.
Now, I understand there's a fine line between being focused, but I think he can be more fan friendly. I mean, after all, the great Nelson Mandela said something to me once in an interview and I never forgot it. He said, people will forget what you say and people will forget what you do. No one will ever forget the way you make them feel. Tiger Woods has made everybody feel great playing golf. Now if he could just make them feel good with his comments, his demeanor, action away from the course and actually also on the course, I think it would go very well for him.
HARRIS: You know, we promised folks watching us that we would ask you this question, so I'm going to do that. What would you be asking, Jim Gray, if you were there in Augusta at this news conference in a couple of hours?
GRAY: Well, I would like to ask him why he sold himself as something that he wasn't. Why did he present himself as being a perfect human being when we are all flawed, when we all make mistakes?
Charles Barkley threw a man through a window and we got over it immediately because he said, I'm not a role model. Don't expect me to raise your children. If you do, it's misplaced.
Tiger Woods lived in this perfect bubble. We made him into something he wasn't and he allowed that to happen. He procured all of these advertisements and he wasn't that guy. So it's the hypocrisy of it. So I would like to ask him, why were you something in your image that you weren't in real life?
I would also like to ask about his relationship with Dr. Gallea, Anthony Gallea who is in Canada who's been known to give other athletes HGH. And he could have picked any doctor in the world, why would he associate with a guy under investigation by federal authorities? HARRIS: Yes. We have polling suggesting that Tiger is still very popular, but that when he tees up on Thursday, most people will be rooting for him to win. I'm curious, do you believe winning could be a cure-all for Tiger?
GRAY: Well, it certainly will help, but I don't think so, no. I mean, you know, he has the admiration and respect of the public, at least he did before all of this. And you just don't flip that switch now by winning a golf tournament. We know he can win golf tournaments.
HARRIS: Yes.
GRAY: But I think this lingers and this drags on and it's going to take some time to rebuild this. And his actions and his behavior, they really do have to get better. They have to change. And he said it best in his statement. He said, only the proof is in the pudding. Elin doesn't say, it's not what I say right now. It's how I behave and how I move going forward, that he will try and be a better person tomorrow than he was yesterday, that he will try and live a life of integrity.
If, in fact, he can do that, everybody will come back. Nobody is an enemy of Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods was loved and admired. He's been his own worst enemy, Tony. This has been all self-inflicted.
HARRIS: Jim, that's good stuff. Jim Gary at the Golf Channel. Jim, it's good to talk to you. You are handling your business. Look at you. I appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
GRAY: Great to talk to you, Tony. I watch you all the time. I appreciate you having me on.
HARRIS: You are the man for real. All right, Jim. Thank you, sir.
GRAY: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: What would you ask Tiger Woods at his news conference today, if you could, of course? That's our blog question today. Go to CNN.com/Tony. Let us know what you would ask Tiger. We'll share your comments and questions on the air.
Tiger Woods news conference from the Masters, live coverage in the NEWSROOM 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
He was named to the Supreme Court by republican President Gerald Ford in 1975. Now he says it is time to fish or cut bait. Will President Obama soon have a second opportunity to fill a vacancy on the nation's highest court?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, Wall Street got a dose of good news on Friday, the economy gained 162,000 jobs in March. But the stock market was closed for Good Friday, so today is the first day investors can react to encouraging jobs report. Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange.
And, Felicia, how is Wall Street taking the news today?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're taking it pretty well, Tony, actually. It was a unique jobs report, though, and so Wall Street was watching it very closely. These numbers are going to be a little inflated because of the Census Bureau hiring, but there were only 50,000 workers hired for the census last month. So if you take that out, there was still a pretty decent job gain of 100,000. Obviously, that's pretty good.
The gains last month weren't in just one field, that's also good. We had jobs added in construction, manufacturing, and retail. And those are all areas that have been pretty weak during this recession. The January numbers were also revised upward, that's good news.
And -- but the bad news, though, is 50 million people are still out of work and well over 6 million people have not had a job in six months. So there's a little bit of a mixed reaction to it -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, long-term unemployed, what you're referring to there. So, Felicia, what about today's economic reports? What do they say? And how is it all sort of factoring into the gains that we're seeing?
TAYLOR: We've got more positive news today economically, and that's helping the Dow inch ever closer to the 11,000 mark which, psychologically, is very key, as you know. We're now about 19 points away.
Pending home sales unexpectedly jumped 8 percent, that's an indicator that sales in the coming months will also show improvement. Activity in the service sector picked up. We need to see that because it accounts for the biggest part of the labor market. Think about, you know, jobs in the health care, retail, financial services. So we're moving not just out of manufacturing jobs, but also seeing gains in the service sector, and that's key.
As I said, the Dow Industrials now up about half a percent, so about 20 points away. And the Nasdaq is up 1 percent, the S&P is up about four-fifths of 1 percent. Not bad.
HARRIS: Yes, you don't stop working when we get to Dow 11,000. But you're right, it's a good psychological barrier to break through.
All right, Felicia, see you next hour. Thank you.
Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
A major earthquake slams Mexico and it is felt all the way to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. We will get an update from Chad Myers.
And caught on tape in Alabama, we will tell you why police say a little girl hiding Easter eggs outside her church is lucky to be alive.
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HARRIS: You know a change could be coming soon to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens is hinting at retirement. As Kate Bolduan reports, the liberal wing of the nation's highest court hangs in the balance.
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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of any president's longest lasting legacies, filling a Supreme Court vacancy. And for President Obama, that opportunity is likely drawing near.
Speaking to "The New York Times" Friday, Justice John Paul Stevens said, quote, "I do have to fish or cut bait just for my own personal peace of mind and also in fairness to the process." Then, to "The Washington Post," he said, "I will surely do it, while he," meaning President Obama, "is still president."
THOMAS GOLDSTEIN, SUPREME COURT LEGAL ANALYST: If there's going to be a retirement, it's almost certainly the Liberal Justice Stevens, so President Obama can't move the Supreme Court to the left in any way. Rather, he can cement his impact in the court with his nominees serving for decades in the future.
BOLDUAN: Stevens is expected to make an announcement about his future this month, less than one year after the president's history- making nomination of the first Latina justice, Sonia Sotomayor.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Justice Sotomayor brings to the court both a mastery of the letter of the law and an understanding of how the law actually unfolds in our daily lives.
BOLDUAN: Sources close to the process tell CNN the White House is quietly but actively preparing to fill the spot. Among those talked about for the job, Solicitor General Elena Kagan; Judge Merrick Garland, an appeals court judge in Washington; and Judge Diane Wood, an appeals court judge in Chicago, all Left leaning choices which could mean a tough confirmation fight ahead.
SEN. JOHN KYL (R-AZ), MINORITY WHIP: I think the president will nominate a qualified person. I hope, however, he does not nominate an overly ideological person.
That will be the test, and if he doesn't nominate someone who is overly ideological, I don't think -- you may see Republicans voting against the nominee, but I don't think you'll see them engage in a filibuster.
GOLDSTEIN: We're talking about determining the constitutionality of laws that relate to abortion, to affirmative action, to gay rights, to the separation of church and state. So the stakes are incredibly high.
BOLDUAN: If Justice Stevens announces he is retiring this year, the White House's goal would be to get a nominee confirmed and in place in time to join the court before the next term begins in October. Meeting that that timeline would likely require a nomination by late May or June.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, the White House.
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