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Polish President Dies in Plane Crash; Family 'Gives' Adopted Son Back; A Look at U.S. Debt; New Fault Zone in Madrid

Aired April 10, 2010 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead this hour, a plane crash kills the president of Poland and other top polish officials, as well. We'll have details and world reaction for you.

Then in the 4:00 p.m. Eastern Hour a U.S. family puts a 7-year- old orphan on a plane and sends him back to Russia. We'll tell you how an international adoption turned into an international incident.

Then, you just saw our special on the United States debt crisis and a controversial documentary called "I.O.U.S.A." Coming up in just a few minutes for you, we have a different view.

I'm Richard Lui in for Fredricka Whitfield this day; you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First off for you, Poland, a nation in shock. An airliner carrying President Kaczynski, his wife and numerous other top Polish military and civilian leaders crashed in Western Russia early this morning, 97 people were aboard and there were no survivors. The delegation was on its way to a ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of a World War II massacre. That plane was trying to land in heavy fog in an area of Smolensk and apparently hit some trees at the end of the runway.

OK, we are going to turn now to an aviation safety expert to try to help us understand the situation and how this may have happened. John Cox is a veteran airline pilot who now heads an aviation consulting firm that specializes in emergency response planning and crises management. He joins us on the phone right now from St. Petersburg, Florida. John, I want to start by asking you this, from what you know and what you have heard in terms of the information, what are some of the hypothesis that they should be considering as to how this happened?

JOHN COX, AVIATION EXPERT (via telephone): I think the first thing they are going to look into is the significance of the weather. It was reported to be pretty foggy. Aircraft land routinely in heavy fog. The other area that will be of concern is there are reports that there were multiple attempts at this approach. That always indicates that it's pretty difficult. Usually pilots won't make more than two or possibly three approaches at the same runway. They'll realize that the conditions are not good enough to land and go on. I think the investigators will certainly look there, but it's very important to realize it's very, very early, and jumping to conclusions usually proves out to be wrong or not complete when this early into an investigation.

LUI: It's only 12 hours old in terms of the timing. What we understand when this crash happened, John. Another question that comes to mind is, we have heard reports that air traffic control had asked the pilot to abort and go to another air field, but he didn't do that.

COX: I think we are going to have to learn exactly what was said. I think it will depend on context. For example, the air traffic controllers may have said the weather is right at minimums. Would you like to divert to Minsk or to Moscow. That is quite different then saying you must divert. I think a lot of it is going to be very dependent on what the crew was told and exactly what they said.

LUI: Now you're an aviation expert and also a captain. If you get that suggestion coming from air traffic control, is it ultimately up to you as the pilot?

COX: Absolutely. It is the captain's decision provided that they are above the landing limit for visibility. I understand it was somewhere around 1,600 feet from some of the unconfirmed reports that I have read this afternoon. That would be right at legal limits, depending on the equipment at the runway and the airplane. If they were above limits, it's clearly the captain's call, as it should be.

LUI: Above that 1,600 foot ceiling you're talking about. Another part of this --

COX: Actually 1,600 feet visibility.

LUI: Visibility, I'm sorry, visibility. We understand from Russian officials that the flight trajectory was off about 150 meters, about 450 feet. How might that happen?

COX: Well, unfortunately, we have seen this sort of accident before. It's known as a control flight terrain where the airplane will end up hitting short of the runway. We have technology in a lot of the western-built airplanes now called enhanced ground proximity warning systems that may have been very helpful in this case to let the crew know they were short of the runway. There may have been some technology that could have been very helpful in this case, and that is also one thing that the investigators will look at.

LUI: John we've got to go right now, but very quickly, there were reports that there is another parallel landing strip in this area. Might that have added to confusion here?

COX: I wouldn't think so. Professional pilots know what runway they are landing up on. They have radio frequencies tuned up for navigation radios. That aligns you with the runway. I would not expect in this sort of condition having another runway nearby would be significant.

LUI: John Cox, aviation expert, thank you so much, also a captain. We appreciate you giving us some insight in terms of some of the decisions that may have been made during that very difficult time. All right. In Thailand's capital, soldiers and police fire tear gas and rubber bullets fought pitched battles with anti-government protestors today. At least eight people were killed, including a Japanese cameraman for Reuters News Service. Nearly 500 people have been injured. A Thai army spokesperson saying the troops have now pulled back and he is asking the protestors to do the very same. This unrest has been going on for weeks. So-called red shirt protestors are calling on the prime minister to dissolve parliament and call new elections.

Then to civil unrest in the former Soviet Republican of Kyrgyzstan it is having an impact on U.S. troops now, about 1,300 U.S. troops are stranded at an air field in Manas. U.S. military operations have been suspended at that airfield as a result of this week's anti- government riots that killed 76 people so far. The U.S. has been using the base as a transfer point for troops moving into Afghanistan. Troops now stranded include those homeward bound and those heading into the war zone.

Michael Steele on the GOP hot seat. There is new calls for the Republican National Committee chairman to step down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Like the mythical Phoenix, Republican activists are hoping they are a bettered party is poised to rise from the ashes and retake control in Washington. Party faithful have gathered in New Orleans for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. They are talking strategy for this falls midterm congressional elections and looking ahead to the 2012 presidential race. Several prominent Republicans are speaking today, including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She spoke to delegates last night focusing on her favorite White House target.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, (R) FMR. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, the president, with all the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer all that experience, still no accomplishment to date with North Korea and Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Delegates will wrap up the conference with a straw poll on who should be the party's presidential nominee in 2012.

Michael Steele facing some tough questions about his leadership of the Republican National Committee this after a news surfaced the group expensed a night out at a sex themed Los Angeles night club for donors this earlier year and ran up large bills for luxury hotel stays and private jet travel. Here is CNNs Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With Congress on its spring break, it didn't take long for Washington to come up with its latest parlor game with the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele stay or go? Does Michael Steele have any plans to step down?

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): None at all. That's not happening.

ACOSTA: That is despite calls from some Republicans who were already weary of Steele's history of gaffes. A recent disclosure that a group within the RNC known as the young Eagles had spent nearly $2,000 committee cash at a Hollywood strip club could be the last straw.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I think a change at this moment would be a good thing.

ACOSTA: One RNC member Sean Mahoney jumped ship publicly sending his resignation letter to a New Hampshire newspaper. "Mr. Chairman, Manhoney wrote, do I need to remind you that the Republican Party is supposed to be the conservative party?" Two better-known Republicans, former White House advisors Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie are promoting a separate fund raising machine called American Crossroads, which some in Washington are calling a shadow RNC. Doug Heye the RNC's communications director says Steele is trying to ease tensions by shaking up his staff and holding a conference call with RNC members. You have some distractions that you're dealing with right now.

DOUG HEYE, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Certainly there have been. That's why we put changes in place. And that the real changes that are not just administrative, but personnel, as well. Because they are real changes that needed to be made.

ACOSTA: Steele didn't help matters when he recently told an interviewer that as an African-American he has a slimmer margin of error.

GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, FMR RNC CHAIRMAN: When you're a fat red neck like me and have an accent like mine you can say well they're going to hold me to a higher standard.

ACOSTA: But before you think this is just another inside the beltway story, consider this. We asked ten out-of-towners touring the capital the question, who is Michael Steele? Do you know who Michael Steele is?

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): the head of the RNC.

ACOSTA: Nearly all of them knew the answer.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Head of the RNC.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Chair and he's in real hot water over the stripper gate or whatever you want to call it.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): He is the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

ACOSTA: And that story about the RNC trip to the Hollywood strip didn't sit well with this Republican mother of two from North Carolina.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Not a good example for my little guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: All right. And Michael Steele is expected to be addressing the conference in the next couple of hours. We'll be watching that for you.

Tomorrow morning also State of the Union is live from New Orleans, Jackson Square. Candy Crowley will talk live with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the former Republican National chairman himself. Join Candy and the best political team on television for the "State of the Union" tomorrow morning starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Last hour CNN aired a special about America's debt called "I.O.U.S.A."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): In the fall of 2008, the critically acclaimed documentary film "I.O.U.S.A." was released in theaters nationwide. The film warned of America's rapidly growing national debt and its implications for the country. No one could have predicted how much worse the situation would become in just 19 months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Not everyone agrees with the program's assessment of this country's debt. Dean Baker is one who disagrees here. He is with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and he joins us from Washington right now. Dean, thank you for joining us. I want to start with the question, why is this documentary controversial, in your perspective?

DEAN BAKER, CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND POLICY RESEARCH: Well, let's start with the segment you just showed. It said no one could predict that the situation would get so much worse in the next 19 months. No, that is actually not true. Some of us, I was out there warning about the housing bubble saying when that collapsed it would bring down the economy and create all sorts of really bad problems.

One of them of course the large deficit, but that the least of it, I think 10 percent unemployment is much more serious. You couldn't hear me because you had the "I.O.U.S.A." people running around yelling about the deficit which was not a big problem; the housing bubble was the big problem. So that is why it is so controversial. It's misleading people. I don't think for example that it mentioned anywhere the fact that wages for the young people in the film be 20, 30 percent higher on average than they are for people today. No one disputes that whatsoever.

LUI: So Dean, what you're saying is too much focus on the budget deficit, as well as the debt?

BAKER: Absolutely. Also it doesn't even call attention to the foremost cause of the debt or the deficit and these long-term projections. It's health care. We have on our website a projection where we say suppose per-person health care were the same as it were, and pick any country with a longer life expectancy than the United States it is almost 40 now. So you could pick Canada, Germany, you can pick England, doesn't matter. Instead of having huge budget deficits, we had incredible budget surpluses as far as the eye can see. Let's talk about our health care system. No, they want to talk about the deficit. It's totally misleading.

LUI: You're focusing on housing and health care, but when we are looking at numbers here, Dean, $1 trillion budget deficit that has to concern even you as an economist here.

BAKER: No. What concerns me is that we have 25 million people who can't work right now because we had a huge collapse of the housing bubble. It's just bizarre. Here we are we are talking about $1 trillion. That's about 7 percent GDP. It's actually not that large in the scheme of things. We had deficits almost that large in the '80s. And much, much larger during World War II. So the real problem here is we have people that can't work. You talk about their children. When parents can't work, can't get the children properly schooled, educated, welfare, that's the problem.

LUI: If ten were to are the worst and one were to be the best in terms of the issue of the national debt, as well as the deficit, how would you rate it as an economist? Again one being the lowest, ten being the highest in terms of the concern for you?

BAKER: Right now we actually need deficits to boost the economy. If I could snap my finger and we just made the deficit go away, we probably increase the unemployment rate by five, six percentage points. Now over long term yes we are going to have a deficit problem if we don't fix our health care system. So it is a little strange for me to talk about debt as a deficit problem. Suppose we knew that something was going to happen ten years we are going to have big foreign policy colligations that will lead to nuclear war. What will that do for the budget deficit? My guess is we will send it through the roof. That is real bad for the budget. We have a real bad deficit problem we better do something about it. You would agree that's strange. That is what we are doing here. We have a health care problem. Our health care system is badly broken. It's way out of line with every other health care system in the world. We should fix that.

LUI: So a concern for you, it sounds like a low number is what you are saying when you look at the deficit and debt?

BAKER: Absolutely.

LUI: A four, a three, give me a number.

BAKER: It's a non issue.

LUI: A non issue. BAKER: Yes, it is a non issue.

LUI: OK. Thank you so much, Dean Baker, Center for Economics and Policy Research for giving us your perspective on "I.O.U.S.A." the documentary that has certainly brought some controversy upon itself. Thank you so much.

BAKER: Thank you for having me on.

LUI: Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed today in his presidential plane in western Russia. His wife and several top military and civilian leaders were also among the 97 people who died in that accident. There were no survivors. The plane went down while trying to land in heavy fog. Flight reporters have been found and are being examined right now. Officials say there are no signs of foul play in that.

Also, we take you to West Virginia, search teams overnight found the body of four missing coal miners killed in an explosion on Monday. The discovery brings the death toll to 29, making the disaster at the Upper Big Branch Mine the worst in the nation since 1970.

John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court's oldest member and leader of its liberal block here is retiring. Stevens made the announcement yesterday. President Obama now has his second high court opening to fill. And he says he will move quickly to fill the vacancy before the court reconvenes in October.

We now have reaction of the plane that went down in Western Russia. It had the president of Poland in it and he perished and died. We have reaction from Senator Dick Durbin who represents Illinois. And that is also a statement air in Chicago that specific area where there is a large polish community. This is his reaction to what happened earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D) ILLINOIS: I know that earlier in the program you acknowledged the tragedy which occurred in Russia with the loss of life of the President and first lady of Poland. I know we all stand in solidarity with that great democracy and the people of Poland and our hearts go out to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Senator Dick Durbin again from Illinois speaking there in Chicago. There where there is a large Polish American community, thinking of all of those who lost their lives, families and friends of those in that plane that went down in Smolensk. We're going to have a live report coming from that area, and also Warsaw, too. We're going to find out what the reaction is in that country. No doubt very, very somber there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Get ready to meet an incredible young woman. McKenzie Bearup lives with an agonizing and incurable disease yet she spends her time easing the pain of other children by sharing her secret for relief, reading. She is our CNN hero of the week and she is only 16 years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACKENZIE BEARUP, YOUNG WONDER: I was in fifth grade when I hurt my knee.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Ready?

BEARUP: I'm ready.

The doctor diagnosed me with reflection synthetic dystrophy. When someone touches it, it's like a bomb goes off in my knee. Even though I tried different treatments, the only thing able to get my mind off the pain was reading. My pediatrician told me about a home for abused children. Any child being in horrible pain like this, they need something. Something that I needed to help me was books. OK.

This is called "Screaming Millie." But the people in this shelter are just like you and me. They need things to get their mind off whatever they're going through. I put fliers in mail boxes and I set up a website. Thank you so much for donating. My original goal was to get 300 books. Before I knew it, I had 3,000 books. My total right now is 38,000 books. I deliver to libraries and reading rooms and 27 different shelters in six states. Take as many books as you want.

If one child finds a love of reading through books I've given them that will help them in school and turn their life around entirely. I really think reading can do that for someone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: All right. So far amazing Mackenzie Bearup has donated almost 40,000 books to shelters in six states. And to nominate someone you think has changed the world all you have to do is go to CNN.com/heroes.

When we come back, we will go live to Warsaw. Where that country is now reeling for the loss of its president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Now back to our top story. A tragic day for Poland. A plane crash in western Russia has killed Poland's president and many other top Polish military and civilian leaders. We learned that about 12 hours ago. At that time they were heading to the ceremony marking the anniversary of a World War II massacre. The polish military officers and crash landed in heavy fog. Now their plane apparently hit some trees. You can see those around this crash site in the video right now.

All 97 people onboard died. The speaker of Poland's parliament is acting president. What we learned four hours ago from Russian authorities is that they have found those very key flight recorders. They've been sent to be examined. When we get information on that, we'll have it for you right here on CNN as we continue to follow that story.

Mean while the United Sates, the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C.; it is open this afternoon for visitors who want to sign a book of condolence. CNN's Sandra Endo is there live for us right now. Sandra what are you seeing?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Richard it is a very somber mood in front of the Polish Embassy here and the flag is flying at half-staff. The Polish ambassador to the United States has been fielding calls of sympathy all day long since the tragic death of the country's president. The Ambassador Robert Kupiecki came out to make a brief statement thanking President Obama and the many Americans who have expressed their condolences.

He also talked about the legacy of polish President Lech Kaczynski. President Kaczynski represented the generation of freedom, the freedom connected permanently with the legacy of solidarity movement which in 1989 brought about freedom, democracy and prosperity to Poland. So, the great legacy of Late President Kaczynski is the one of freedom. And it is the one of created foundations for enormous political economic success and prosperity in Poland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: And hours ago the embassy opened its doors to many Americans. A stream of people have been coming by to sign that book of condolences. Again, the flag is flying at half-staff. And also, many people are leaving candles and flowers at the front gate of the embassy, it's a very solemn mood here at the polish embassy -- Richard.

LUI: And Sandra, as you've been noting that so many people have been coming to the embassy to sign the condolence book, as we're seeing pictures of right now. How is the embassy staff reacting to this, because they have to work today, as well.

ENDO: Absolutely. It's amazing to see the grief on their faces. And a lot of people here are in shock. Not only is the death of a president so extraordinarily tragic for any country, but these diplomatic staff members have also dealt with many high-level people that have been on that plane, as well, that went down in that tragic accident. So, certainly for them it's kind of like the death of an entire family.

LUI: No doubt. Sandra Endo in Washington, D.C., at the Polish embassy, thank you so much.

And of course, right here we are going to continue to follow what is happening on this developing story on this Saturday for you, which happened oh, about 12 hours ago. We'll have a live report from Warsaw when we talk about that family that Sandra was alluding to, it's certainly a family in Warsaw that is absolutely heart-stricken based on what has happened today. We'll have that report for you shortly. Your tax return is done and ready to send in, but what happens if you owe Uncle Sam and can't afford to pay? Our personal finance expert is answering your money questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Back to our developing story here on CNN. Poland is mourning not only the death of its president but, also the deaths of many other top officials. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live in the Polish capitol of Warsaw it's 9:30 p.m. Local Time.

And Frederick you were describing your earlier reports of the faces of the people, those polish citizens that are now having to deal with the loss of their president.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, Richard. This is a country that you can plainly see is in great shock and in great sadness. You can see people here in the central square in Warsaw right in front of the presidential palace, many of them staring blankly into the night, others even have tears in their eyes. I can tell you that tens of thousands of people have come here, maybe over 100,000 people have come here to light candles, to lay down flowers. There's a sea of candles in front of the presidential palace.

So, you can see how people are mourning their late leader, their late president. This has been going on for several hours, and I'm certain that this will probably go on for the better part of the night. This, of course, is a big polish tradition to move closer together in times of national hardship, which Poland, of course, in the past decades has felt so much of. This is another big national tragedy here in Poland. You can really feel how the political rifts that do exit have evaporated, at least, for the time being. Poland also a country that does have very divisive politics within it, but certainly no sign of that tonight. There is nothing but great sadness and shock and sorrow here on the streets of Warsaw, here on the night of this terrible national tragedy for this country -- Richard.

LUI: And Frederik, how well liked was this president? I understand that he was a child actor as well as his wife so very familiar faces to polish residents and citizens there. Would we equate him or could you equate him to a loss of another major leader such as JFK in the United States?

PLEITGEN: Well, I would say it's more like the loss of Reagan maybe, if you will. I mean, this is certainly a political figure who was quite divisive in politics, he was a very conservative figure, someone with very conservative politics also someone who was a very staunch ally of the U.S. Of course, there's a very strong bond between the United States and between Poland that's been going on really for the past decade, dates back all the way to World War II, went through the times of communism, of martial law in this country, when America did support Poland.

And so certainly, from that vantage point, Lech Kaczynski was always one who was a strong supporter of America. Poland, of course, was one of the main countries in the coalition in Iraq, also has just pledged more troops to Afghanistan. So certainly, this was someone who liked America a lot, trusted America a lot. Didn't trust his own neighbors, Germany and Russia that much.

He is someone, here in Poland, who was quite a divisive figure in politics. Many people didn't like his very conservative, very church- centered politics that he had. He was also very distrustful of what he felt were still communist elements here in the political elite of this country. So, this is someone where just a week ago if you would have asked people, you wouldn't have gotten that many positive responses. However, as I said, in this moment, that has now all evaporated and there is nothing but sorrow here on the streets of Warsaw -- Richard.

LUI: Fred, you're right there in the middle of what is probably a very sad time for the city of Warsaw and the country. Could you for a second, just pan the camera and show us what's behind you and how they've reacted so far?

PLEITGEN: Certainly. Certainly I can. If you can pan the camera one more time, again. You can see here, right on the side here, just here, just some candle -- yes, you can see there is a sea of candles, you can see there's some people in front of it, this is really the scene that we've been seeing all throughout central Warsaw. You can also see the masses of people that have come here and just see all these candles that people have lit and just these many people just staring at those candles on this very tragic night -- Richard.

LUI: And so, each one of those candles that we're seeing, somebody has brought and you see one of the people that are standing right there in front of you.

PLEITGEN: Absolutely.

LUI: Wow. Certainly represents the loss for the country of Poland this hour. Well Fredrik Pleitgen, thank you so much for giving us a sense of what is happening there in Warsaw after the loss of Lech Kaczynski. Thank you so much.

Checking our other top stories for you. Of course we'll be back to that top story coming out of Warsaw, as well as in western Russia. We have some violent protests to tell you about on the streets of Bangkok, today. At least eight people have been killed in clashes between anti-government protestors and Thai police. A Japanese cameraman with Reuters News Service was shot and killed. Nearly 500 others are injured.

It's a Russian adoption that's gone awry triggering an international incident. U.S. and Russian officials are investigating the return of a 7-year-old boy. A Tennessee woman placed a note in the boy's backpack saying he was troubled before putting him on a Moscow-bound plane alone. The family says he displayed violence, psychotic behavior. The boy says his U.S. family abused him. Russia has suspended adoptions by U.S. families.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LUI: Thousands of jobless U.S. citizens are waiting on Congress to get back to work next week and restore their unemployment benefits. Along with that financial uncertainty comes another worry, the looming tax deadline this week. Well, personal finance expert Michelle Singletary will try to make you feel a little bit more come. She wrote the book "The Power to Prosper." She also writes a money column for the "Washington Post."

Michelle, thank you for joining us today. And we hope for to get some good information from you today.

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, AUTHOR, "THE POWER TO PROSPER": Oh, it's my pleasure.

LUI: Let's say I fill out my return. I owe money to the IRS, but I don't have any money to pay. What do I do?

SINGLETARY: Well, first thing, you want to file your return by April 15 because when you don't file, there is a penalty if you owe the government. And then even if you can't pay, you want to file and then pay whatever you can because if you can reduce the amount that you owe, you reduce the amount of interest and penalties you pay for not paying on April 15.

LUI: So, move ahead, keep on filing it, pay for what you can, apply for an installment plan. Don't stand back from it.

SINGLETARY: That's right. You know, lot of people, they figure you know, I'm just not going to do anything, I'm not going to call, because then they're going to harass me. But that's the last thing you want to do. If you can't pay and owe $25,000 or less, you can apply online for an installment plan so that you pay a certain amount every month and you tell them what you can afford. If you really have a lot of debt and you think there's no way I'm going to pay this I lost my job, my house, you can apply for what's called an offer in compromise. It's tough to get that. Lots of people try to get that, about 52,000 applications for it last year. The IRS only approved 11,000, which is like a 21 percent approval rate. But, nonetheless do that if you feel you can't pay this full debt.

LUI: You make some good points. Continue with the process, you do have some options, because it's been a tough year for so many people in terms of cash flow. It is spring. We have spring weather in certain parts of the country. It's time to do some spring cleaning in the house as well when it comes to finances, you tell us.

SINGLETARY: That's right. You know, when I grew up with my grandmother, "Big Mama," every spring she would get us out the bed at the crack of dawn to take out the window curtains down and clean and just scrub the house from top to bottom.

Well, what I'm suggesting this is a good time to clean out your finances. Go through those file cabinets or those shoe boxes and get your papers out, because you've already got some things out because hopefully you've been filing your taxes on time. so, this is a good time. Pull out your will. I have three rugrats and I realize, my husband and I realized last year that we only had one of our kids in our will, even though it provided for other children, but we wanted to name them in the will. So we updated our will. You want to look at your insurance papers.

And listen, shred a lot of documents that you no longer need. You know, old bank statements from 1952 or something. You can get rid of those.

LUI: You can let that one go.

SINGLETARY: That's right.

LUI: Talk about the credit report. Is that something also we should look at, too?

SINGLETARY: Absolutely. You get a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com once a year. Every 12 months. So then, when do you remember to do it? Well, this is a good time to remember that. So, just say to yourself, every April 15, I'm going to look at my credit report and look and see if there's any errors, or anything like that you can clear up. Because I pulled mine recently and there was an error and I sent it in and I fixed it up. My credit score went up.

LUI: All right. Well, hey, we got about 30 more seconds here, Michelle, but I want to cover this one. We're in an era of new frugality. It is tough times. There are some interesting ways that folks can save money.

SINGLETARY: Absolutely. I call it this is a -- well, I've always been cheap, so it's not new to me.

LUI: Frugal.

SINGLETARY: Oh, please, absolutely. I grew up with a cheap grandmother. But you know, the new frugality, now people have been forced into being frugal. But I find lots of people are being frugal for a purpose. People say, you know what, I want to be green, so I want to change how I use my money in that way. And you can save money that way. People are eating home more, using more coupons. And you know, I have this book that you profiled at the beginning, "The Power to Prosper" and so I've been encouraging people to do a 21-day financial fast. So, for 21 days you don't buy anything that's not a necessity. You can't use your credit card and you can't use your debit card.

LUI: I hear "Big Mama" in that suggestion. I hear "Big Mama" talking, there.

SINGLETARY: Absolutely. It's a wonderful fast. It's biblically based that will help you see how you spend your money so that you can spend your money on things that truly matter to you. You only have a little bit of money, so make sure you use it in a way that is aligned with your values.

LUI: Michelle Singletary, thank you so much. The author of "The Power to Prosper." Also, of course, thank "Big Mama," because she helped you get this far to tell us all these good times.

SINGLETARY: She sure did.

LUI: And you have a good Saturday. Very, very helpful for us.

SINGLETARY: You, too.

LUI: The answer to a question that's been coming up a lot in the last few months. Where will the United States' next big earthquake hit? One possible place might surprise you.

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LUI: People along the California/Mexico border with still feeling powerful aftershocks from the last weekend's magnitude 7.2 quake which we've been covering here. Our reporter, Nancy Stone took this video at the exact moment the quake struck on Easter Sunday. The latest aftershock rumbled through the area yesterday. Officials on both sides of the border are still tallying that damage. But they say in California alone that could top $100 million.

Talking about quakes, here, Jacqui Jeras joins us, by the way, big earthquakes have been happening around the world with alarming regularity, it seems. We record them right here.

The question is, it is raise something fears about another major quake in the United States. And of course we don't have to think back too far in the U.S. And CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has been doing some digging on this question, where it might be in the United States.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Well, we talked two weeks ago about the earthquake where it's going to place and I think surprised a lot of people in Charleston, South Carolina. Today we're going to focus on parts of the mid-South. You might have heard this one before, the New Madrid Fault zone in the middle of the United States, well it has repeatedly produced a series of major earthquakes. So there's up to a 40 percent chance that another big one could occur in the next 50 years. But the big difference this time around is that in 1811 and 1812, the area was sparsely populated. Now today, this is a major business and distribution hub and it could have global economic impacts.

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PHYLLIS STECKEL, GEOLOGIST: This is Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee. We're in the far northwest corner of the state of Tennessee.

JERAS (voice-over): Geologist Phyllis Steckel describes how this landscape was forever changed by the new Madrid earthquake nearly 200 years ago.

STECKEL: This part of the area around here was down dropped during the earthquake. It actually sank and part of the river was affected by the change in local elevation.

JERAS: It was so powerful, it forced the Mississippi River to flow backwards and fill the lake. Reelfoot Lake is one of the stops on Steckel's earthquake insight field trip she leads for the USGS to help business executives plan for big one.

(on camera): Well, we're in the middle of nowhere. For the most part. Not a lot of people live here. So why is it such a huge concern?

STECKEL: Well, the New Madrid earthquakes tell us that we have a hazard here in the central U.S. A lot of what we come to expect as 21st century society and a lot of it comes through this area or depends on pieces of the infrastructure in this area.

JERAS (voice-over): It is home for the blues and barbecue. But did you know it is also called America's distribution center? The city is a key stop on Steckels' tour, 100 miles south of the epicenter.

STECKEL: A lot of shipping goes up and down the Mississippi River, commodities, coal, cotton, rice, wheat.

JERAS: A government report says nearly one-third of all U.S. commodities pass this region. Many fuel pipelines lie here and it is in the top five busiest places for class one railroad service, trucking and inland ports. Memphis also has the world's busiest cargo traffic airport.

FedEx moves more than one million pieces of cargo through its headquarters in Memphis each day.

PAUL TRONSOR, FEDEX: Our brand was built on reliability, so we do everything in our power to anticipate these sorts of things so the New Madrid Fault being here and our placement in the mid-South in the fault, we understand those risks and we work very hard to develop these contingencies so that our customers don't see this.

JERAS: In the event of a quake here, FedEx's Paul Tronsor says the company could be up and running within one day at one of its other hubs. AutoZone, another Memphis-based company, constructed its headquarters to withstand a 9.0 quake. Facility manager David Perry took us to the basement to show off the technology.

DAVID PERRY, AUTOZONE: The black thing here is a base isolator, not attached to the ground. It is like a big hockey puck, but it will absorb the motion from the ground, let the ground move and not transfer all that motion from the ground to the building.

JERAS: It is the only structure in Memphis built to such a high specification.

(on camera): About 150 to 200 earthquakes happen along the New Madrid Fault zone each year, about the same risk for a major quake as what you would see in California. But, the one big difference is the very ground I stand upon here in Memphis along the mighty Mississippi River, it is made up of sediments about one mile deep that allows earthquake wave energy to travel about 20 times farther than it would in California, and cause more severe shaking. STECKEL: What I think we almost need is an earthquake that is large enough to get people's attention, but, of course, not large enough to do any damage or injure -- or any significant damage or certainly no injuries. We don't want that. I think it's going to take something here to wake people up.

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JERAS: And Phyllis Steckel says that the key to improving the infrastructure is through business and industry. She said the job is just too big for the government, that the individual company or person has to want to do it on their own.

LUI: Jacqui, you just would not think Memphis. You just wouldn't. Great report letting us know what is happening there in Tennessee.

JERAS: And I had no idea how much infrastructure went through this region, all the pipelines and trains and the trucking.

LUI: Amazing. OK, thank you so much.

It's tragic enough when a country's president is killed in an accident, but also dyeing in today's crash of the polish president's plane, the president's wife and several top military and civilian leaders too. We'll tell you more about who they were after this.

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LUI: Now back to today's tragic plane crash in Russia. It not only killed the president of Poland, it also killed many other top polish dignities and our Josh Levs joins us with more on that.

Hey Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you know, anytime you see something like this, Richard, it is huge human toll, people all over the world are mourning and reaching out and expressing words of support and what we are seeing also is that a lot of these people were very well known in Poland and in the region at large.

What I'm going is talk you through some of the top officials that were on these planes. You've been hearing, obviously, about the president, Lech Kaczynski, but also his wife Maria Kaczynsa (ph), but I also want you to see these others who were there. Ryszard, Kaczorowski, he's an interesting figure. He was the last president in exile and that was from the governments, during the communist era that ended about 20 years ago. Poland continued to have this government in exile. He was the last president of that.

Also, you see underneath that, national security office head Aleksander Szczygio, the head of the army chief of staff, General Franciszek Gagor. These are just a few people who were on this plane.

Here are a few more for you. The head of the National Remembrance Institute, a key figure inside Poland, Janusz Kurtyka, the civil rights commissioner, Janusz Kochanowski. The army chaplain was Bishop Tadeusz Ploski also on that plane. And this is just a handful that we're showing you know, of the victims on this crash among the dozens who were killed and are being remembered and are being mourned.

So, we're looking at really key figure here who played a series of roles. So, as we look, Richard, at what the government is going to do now, what the country is going to do to fill the presidency, we're also obviously taking a look at some of these other major roles inside the country and who will take over there.

LUI: And, Josh, remind us, the prime minister is still there and in control, is that correct?

LEVS: Yes. And we'll talk about this a good amount next jour. The prime minister is the biggest most powerful figure inside Poland, the way the governmental structure works, but the president does have some very relevant, very key powers including the relationship to other countries. He can have influence on that. So, it is significant to lose a president, even on the political scale, aside from just the massive human toll we're talking about here. But, yes, the prime minister is there, all the government roles continue to function. Someone has already taken the position of president temporarily to make sure that happens. And officials are saying don't worry, the government will continue to function.

LUI: Very important background that you give to us, of course. Poland, a key ally to the United States and you'll give us more on that, in fact, in this next coming hour. Josh Levs, thank you.

LEVS: Thank you.