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Al Qaeda's New York Subway Plot; No Loose Nukes; Protesting Nukes Since 1981
Aired April 12, 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: The big stories in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Monday, April 12th, we are live in Buffalo, New York, where the Tea Party Express rallies this hour. I will ask a supporter how Tea Parties would have handled the economic meltdown, how the Tea Partiers would have handled health care, and more.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Having these things around is nothing but a major security threat to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes. President Obama hosts a security summit. World leaders ponder loose nuclear material in the hands of terrorists.
Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be frugal. Try to keep things streamlined best you can, because you never know when the hard times are going to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy, this is going to be good. A new Main Street emerging from the global financial crisis. Small business owners vow to be ready for the next rainy day.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So, let's do this -- let's go straight to al Qaeda's plot to blow up New York's busiest subways. Suicide bombers are on so-called Manhattan martyrdom issues. Chilling new details emerging about the foiled plan.
Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is in Washington for us.
And Jeanne, if you would -- good to see you, first of all -- give us some details here.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Tony, Najibullah Zazi, the shuttle driver from Denver, has been cooperating with authorities, and a federal law enforcement source tells CNN's Susan Candiotti he was targeting the Times Square and Grand Central stations, two of Manhattan's busiest. He has told them he and his coconspirators were planning to jump on the 1, 2, 3 or 6 trains, where they would detonate their homemade bombs in the middle of the subway cars, the placement intended to maximize the casualties. The chosen date for the multi-pronged attack, September 14th, though Zazi has told investigators September 15th and 16th were also possibilities.
Two high school classmates of Zazi have also been indicted in the plot and have pleaded not guilty. During their arraignment, ,it was mentioned that individuals overseas were expected to be arrested in the case. All three men allegedly attended training camps in Pakistan, ,where Zazi learned to assemble bombs -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Jeanne, any more known on this about perhaps how this all unfolded?
MESERVE: Well, what we know is that Zazi got wise to the fact that he was under surveillance. When he was coming in to New York City, he was driving in. He was stopped by authorities who wanted to do a search of his car.
He figured out that he was being watched. He and his confederates allegedly got rid of the explosives. He hopped on a plane, went back to Denver, and that's where he was eventually arrested -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Our Jeanne Meserve in Washington for us.
Jeanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Imagine for a moment a nuclear attack in the middle of your city, or in any capital around the world, for that matter -- Washington, London, Paris, Moscow. Preventing that terror is the focus of a major summit under way in Washington. President Obama hosting dozens of world leaders.
Live now to CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, good to see you.
What do the leaders hope to accomplish over the next couple of days?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it's very specific, the target here. I understand -- I'm just being told that we're seeing pictures of the leader of China, Hu Jintao, who's just arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, one of the leaders that the president's going to be meeting with later this morning, Tony, one of those sideline meetings from the summit. The bottom line here is that president is going to say that he wants within four years to try to secure the vulnerable nuclear materials that are scattered around the world, the loose nukes, as he calls them. And he wants all these world leaders to sign on to a document, a communique, if you will, endorsing his plan to try to secure those loose nukes, to acknowledge that nuclear terrorism is a serious threat, and to also come up with their own ideas, their own plans to try to secure those materials.
And he is really trying to present a sense of urgency here. We heard this from President Bill Clinton, from President George Bush. Now you have President Obama saying, I've got intelligence to back it up, that this is one of the most dangerous threats to world security, to American security, we need to come together and to deal with this now.
HARRIS: You know, Suzanne, at so many of these big gatherings of world leaders the joint communique is written before the conference even starts. Right? So, is that the case here? Will there be something of a concrete agreement that these countries will sign at the end of the summit?
MALVEAUX: Well, Tony, you bring up a very good point, because we essentially know what's going to be in this joint statement, just the four points that we had made before. And it's not a legally binding commitment here. It's just a political document, if you will.
And so what's really going to be important is to listen to what the leaders say individually about what they're going to do in their own countries, the kinds of changes that they're going to make, whether it's cracking down on people who are trying to smuggle these nuclear materials, whether it's taking a look at the regulations, because a lot of those nuclear materials are held by private industry, private companies. What do they do when it comes to their own legal system, the laws in place? Are they cracking down on some of the smuggling activity?
And then, also, very important here is the materials themselves. It's two different things -- plutonium and it's also this highly- enriched uranium. What do they do with this stuff, this dangerous stuff?
Chile, for instance, says, look, we can't deal with it, we can't secure it. We're going to give it to the United States. You guys deal with it. So that is one of the ideas that's being tossed about there.
These are the kinds of things you'll be hearing over the next 24, 48 hours from world leaders in terms of their own individual commitment to trying to secure that material. This is something the president is trying to do within four years or so.
HARRIS: Well, let me see if I've got time to sneak another quick one in here. North Korea and Iran certainly not participating at this summit, but my guess is those countries will be at the top of everyone's agenda. MALVEAUX: Well, certainly. I mean, on the one hand, White House officials are saying we're focussing on nuclear security, but, you know, Tony, I can bet you when President Obama sits down with Hu Jintao of China, that is going to be on the top of the list as well, is, what do we do about further sanctioning Iran? How do we change Iran's behavior?
China very much reluctant to push forward on any kind of new sanctions or tougher sanctions. That meeting is going to be an important one to watch and to look to today. What do they come away with when it comes to China's commitment in that sense?
You also have these international bodies that are going to be sitting there as well, the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency. They're going to be looking to sanction Iran as well. So these are things that are going to come up in these sidebar meetings, sideline meetings, that are going to be equally important to what comes out of that summit.
HARRIS: Hey, and way to go on handling the live pictures of President Hu arriving. I'll be a little quicker next time. Way to go, Suzanne.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.
MALVEAUX: I was just getting it in my ear, directions in my ear.
HARRIS: Yes. I could use that information, by the way.
Still to come, more on the importance of the summit. Next hour, a conversation with nuclear weapons analyst Joseph Cirincione, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
They have been going hard at it. And I mean hard at it, 24/7 for nearly 30 years. One group's mission to rid the world of nuclear bombs never sleeps.
And another stormy day -- where is the man? -- particularly out West we're talking about the storms. There he is, Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center, playing some kind of video game there, I see. We'll get him on the maps in just a second.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Forty-seven world leaders are meeting in Washington right now, discussing ways to lock down loose nukes.
Sandra Endo catches up with a group of protesters who have spent almost 30 years now campaigning for a nuclear-free world, and they are still going strong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nuclear weapons protesters are usually camped out right in front of the White House behind the trees there. But because world leaders are in town, security has been tight, and they have blocked off this entire park.
But, still, protesters haven't broken their 24-hour, seven-day-a- week protest right here.
JAY MCGINLEY, PROTESTER, AKA "START LOVING": This is the most crucial time in human history.
ENDO (voice-over): Their message? Rid the world of nuclear weapons.
MCGINLEY: Their major purpose is to enable rogue states to gain power over the superpowers. And having these things around is nothing but a major security threat to the United States.
ENDO (on camera): Do you feel your message is coming across? These are pretty powerful pictures.
MCGINLEY: Well, the answer is yes. Most people just mosey on by and don't even notice. But people of all ages that are really alive, they come and they see this and they get it. And it really awakens them. And they're the ones that can then go back and wake up other people.
ENDO: This is the pack you bring every day to sit here for nine hours.
MCGINLEY: Uh-huh. Yes.
People are almost allowed to starve doing this kind of work, but not quite. There are enough good souls around that, whether it's high school or middle school students throwing a dollar in a jar, not asked. Gandhi said of himself, he said, "I consider myself a soldier." We're soldiers, and soldiers just do this stuff.
ENDO (voice-over): To hold vigil around the clock requires a shift change.
MCGINLEY: This is Connie coming.
ENDO (on camera): You're the woman that started the whole thing, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. .
ENDO: Nice to meet you. We're from CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're coming to their senses.
ENDO: How long do you think you will continue this movement?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As long as it takes.
ENDO: This tent and display will be here even as the president takes up the issue they have been protesting for nearly 30 years. And it's a pinnacle time in their fight, but they say they're not going anywhere until they see results.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That's CNN's Sandra Endo reporting.
More on the importance of the summit next hour. I will speak with nuclear weapons analyst Joseph Cirincione, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You know, his business is booming despite the recession. You will hear from a man whose success is built on strategy and a little help from the Saints.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, we have a pretty good idea of when the recession started. A panel of economic experts recently narrowed it down to December of 2007, but they have so far stopped short of declaring it officially over.
The latest report from government researchers say it would be premature to pinpoint the end of the recession given the data they have so far. Many private economists have said they believe it ended in June or July of last year.
You know, these days, it's really helpful to be able to roll with the changes.
(MUSIC)
HARRIS: That's such a good song. That's a little REO Speedwagon from back in the day, "Roll With the Changes."
Well, I've got to tell you, that is the big takeaway from this economic downturn for a small business owner in New Orleans.
Chris Reams survived Hurricane Katrina and the recession. Here he is in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS REAMS, ARTIST, STORE OWNER: My name is Chris Reams, and I'm an artist.
I might spend two or three hours. Before I was working on a Masters degree in mental health counseling, I was going to be an adolescent LPC. And I started printing T-shirts in my apartment.
Did we get that T-short order in yet?
We opened up about four months before Hurricane Katrina. You know, and everything was going great. When Hurricane Katrina hit, I was actually at a trade show in Las Vegas.
I paid cash for everything, so I didn't have money left to rebuild that location. So we had to close after the storm. After Katrina, my life was upside down. I started skipping and whistling. So, I'm 6'4, so skipping and whistling at night, down the sidewalk. But I was able to laugh at myself, and it made me feel good. So it was like, well, let's get this business back.
If I had advice for anybody starting out, there is no time like the present. There will always be war, economic downtimes, things like that. Just do it. Do something that you love.
The Saints winning, it was awesome. It was awesome for every business in New Orleans.
During the Saints, a couple of nuns came in here to buy the "Jesus Loves the Saints" T-shirt. I design T-shirts. One of my best- selling T-shirts had Jesus going "Jesus Loves the Saints," and black and gold. Everybody wanted black and gold.
Thanks for coming in to my store.
Yes, I had a business plan, but I don't know how official it was. You have to roll with the changes.
The hardest part about being the owner and boss is I don't have anybody else to go to. What I have learned is be frugal, try to keep things streamlined best you can, because you never know when the hard times are going to come. And whenever you run a businesslike that, you're prepared better for when the storm does come. .
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That is good, good, good stuff.
You know, they want to put the brakes on big government. The Tea Party Express stops in Buffalo this hour. We will go on the bus and behind the scenes, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on top stories right now.
More details about an alleged plot last fall to blow up New York City subway trains. A federal law enforcement source says Najibullah Zazi admitted he and two others would wear homemade bombs and stand in the middle of subway cars to kill the most people.
Check out this massive seven-alarm fire in an apartment building near the Chinatown area of New York City. Trying to watch it with you here.
The fire quickly spread to three other buildings. It took 250 firefighters four hours to get this under control. Twenty-eight people were injured, and many of them firefighters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENISE, RESIDENT: We had just put our kids to bed. And some tenants of ours that I'm very grateful for came from the top floor. You can see it from here. And we're on the second floor, and they kind of banged on our door and said, "The building's on fire. Get out."
DANEEN SIGNORELLO WONG, RESIDENT: There was just, like, smoke gushing out. And we're just -- we grabbed all that stuff that they told us to get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour stepping into the flap over Confederate History Month. Virginia's Republican governor issued a proclamation honoring Confederate History Month. Initially, it did not mention slavery. Mississippi has had similar decrees under Republican and Democratic governors.
Barbour told CNN it goes without saying, slavery was bad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": There's this sort of feeling that it's insensitive, but you clearly don't agree.
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: To me, it's the sort of feeling that it is not significant, that it's not -- it's trying to make a big deal out of something that doesn't amount to diddly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: The Tea Party approach as they rally in Buffalo. We ask, what if the Tea Party actually ran the country? Think about that for a second. How would they have handled the financial crisis or health care reform?
Questions for our guests.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, a peek at the Republican mindset.
Thirty-one months ahead of the 2012 elections, a presidential Straw Poll taken at a GOP conference this weekend gives Mitt Romney 24 percent. Texas Representative Ron Paul followed with one vote less. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in third and fourth.
CNN asked Congressman Paul about the goals of the Tea Party movement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: Well, I think, clearly, there is a fair amount of disagreement on exactly where they come down on, say, the war on drugs and foreign policy.
I think what unifies them is they are disgusted with hearing promises and not being fulfilled by the politicians. They don't trust the government. But they also are very, very concerned about the size and scope of the failure of government and really the bankruptcy of government.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the Tea Party Express is rolling toward a tax day protest in Washington on Thursday. The road trip started in the far west then late march today the Tea Party Express is in Buffalo for a really this hour, then on to Syracuse.
CNN's political producer Shannon Travis has been along for the ride.
And, boy, Travis, how long have you been on this road trip?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Here you are. We're here in Buffalo. But I'll tell you this much. These activists, these tea party activists aren't portraying as so much as the rally. But more like a victory tour.
They're racking up wins. What they see as wins. They say that this -- the fact that Congressman Bart Stupak is deciding not to seek re-election is a major win for their cause.
They also mentioned wins, the Republican wins in New Jersey and in Virginia and in Massachusetts. So they are portraying this -- and it's hard to hear you right now, but they're portraying this is a major win for their movement.
Obviously, of course, Congressman Bart Stupak decided to step aside because he said for family and other reasons. But they're saying that this has reinvigorated their cause. Reinvigorates their movement.
HARRIS: All right. Shannon Travis for us with the Tea Party Movement in Buffalo, New York.
Shannon, appreciate it, thank you.
So what would America look like if the tea party supporters were in charge? We will ask one of them next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Our "Random Moment of the Day." Timmy. Watch him sing Lady Gaga. Watch his dad dance.
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HARRIS: Oh, man. So let's evaluate here. We've got a rotten banana microphone, Mickey Mouse P.J.'s and a dad in his underoos. Gaga got competition. And you've got a random moment. Oh go, baby, go.
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HARRIS: OK. The Tea Party Movement. You are looking at live pictures. Do we have live pictures from Shannon's big camera? No, we don't? OK. From today's gathering in Buffalo, New York.
Movement members say they are against big government and big government spending but what are they fore? What would America look like if tea party rallyers had their way.
We're asking Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. His group is supporting the Tea Party Movement and he's helped organize some of the rallies. And Tim joins us live from Washington.
Tim, good to see you.
TIM PHILLIPS, PRESIDENT, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: Good morning, Tony.
HARRIS: Let's see if we could do some stuff here.
Tim, on a day like today when we've got more than 200,000 Americans without unemployment checks because Congress didn't -- the Senate didn't act before taking the Easter recess, what would you do?
What would tea party members do? Do you say that because of concerns over the budget deficit, we won't fund these benefits?
PHILLIPS: I think that whatever's been promised ought to be funded to folks. However, the real question, Tony, is how do you create real opportunity that's not just government subsidies.
And that means getting away from this top-down big government approach like the health care legislation we just saw passed which over time will hurt jobs. It won't create jobs. And so that's the most important thing to do and what tea party folks stand for.
Giving opportunity a chance as opposed to having the government subsidize things. Because we know when the government subsidizes, it means either higher deficits which chokes off jobs in the long run or it means bigger government, bigger programs from Washington that don't really work for people.
HARRIS: Well, Tim, you can have the lay of the land as it is today or you can have it as it was in 2007 at the start of the recession. So what -- so you and those who think the way you do would certainly have allowed Lehman Brothers to collapse. Am I correct in that?
PHILLIPS: We would certainly not have had a bailout there. But we also would not have had Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank and their finance committees really dictating and pressuring banks for a long time to make the kind of loans that were way too risky and that resulted -- especially with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- that resulted in a lot of the collapse that we saw a year and a half ago.
That's the biggest difference. We would not have had government pushing social policy using the financial sector of our economy. And the government has a big stick, Tony, and they were using it then.
HARRIS: Didn't the Republicans in control of both Houses have an opportunity for most of the Bush term --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: You bet they did.
HARRIS: Have an opportunity to stop that and didn't, right?
PHILLIPS: You bet they did. And they failed just as very much on this issue as Dodd and Barney Frank did. This is a bipartisan problem. And that's the other point about the tea parties.
It's not about blaming it all on one party. The Democrats with health care and cap and trade are a disaster right now, but the Republicans, they spent way too much money. I remember the Medicare prescription drug program that we fought.
That was wrong. It shouldn't have been passed. It added to the deficit, spent too much money. The Republicans in Congress spent too much, too. And I think that's one reason this movement right now like you're seeing with the Tea Party Express is wary of both parties.
HARRIS: So, Tim, why is the Tea Party Movement so aligned with the Republican Party? You can't deny that. If you want I can grab the polling. You know it's the truth. So you're telling me in one breath that it's bipartisan, but you know as well as I do, and the polling indicates that it was more aligned with the Republican Party than the Democratic Party.
PHILLIPS: Right now --
HARRIS: Why is that?
PHILLIPS: Right now it's more aligned because the Democrats were in power in Washington and the policies they're pursuing, whether it's cap and trade, energy, taxes or the health care takeover, are dramatically at odds with where the vast majority of American tea party activists are, and I think where most Americans are according to the public opinion polling.
So it's been in power. They're pursuing a big government agenda that gives great pause to most Americans now. But when the Republicans were in power they, too, pushed too far on spending.
I mean -- but the Democrats are in power. And Tony, when you've got the cap and trade coming on the pike, when you've got this health care takeover that Americans just witnessed, they used elections to say no to this, they used town hall meetings to say no.
Every public opinion polling, including some of the CNN polling, said they were opposed to this takeover.
HARRIS: Right.
PHILLIPS: Yet a very arrogant majority in the House and Senate that did it anyway.
HARRIS: Well, you thought health care -- did you think, maybe is a better way to ask the question -- was health care better for everyone in the country before the so-called Obama/Pelosi/Reid fix?
PHILLIPS: I think that it's going to be worse now for people. We're going to see the impact in coming months. But I think it's going to be worse because you're going to see insurance costs actually go up.
And that's going to happen, I bet you, over the next few months as this thing is instituted. But I do believe that there were ways -- you have an intriguing point. What would tea party folk dos if they were in charge?
And on health care, there were just three or four very simple quick ideas, Tony, allowing folks to buy insurance across state lines, allowing small businesses, farmers, individual families to risk pool.
Those were two examples not are involving big bureaucracy or big government programs that would have made a difference for the millions of Americans who do have insurance issues.
HARRIS: But it would have covered 30 -- those fixes wouldn't have covered an additional 32 million Americans.
PHILLIPS: Yes, but the numbers we have right now, the fix is going to make health care worse for 200 million Americans. I don't think that's a very good trade-off.
HARRIS: Yes, but the CBO says it's going to save money over time.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: The --
HARRIS: You don't trust that?
PHILLIPS: The CBO does not exactly on the best -- they said Medicare was going to be barely inching up. It's exploded. They missed Medicare by a factor of 20 over the last 30 years.
I don't think Americans have confidence in a Washington, D.C. organization to tell them how much a new big government program is going to cost. It just doesn't hold water.
HARRIS: So when the Tea Party Movement converges on to Washington this week, are you going to be putting forth a better governing model? We get the opposition model that's out there, but a better governing model or just no and in some cases hell, no? PHILLIPS: I think in the short term it's no because the fact is that the ideas we have like the ones I just shared with you on health care, they're not going to go anywhere right now.
So we have to oppose the immediate threats and the biggest one right now with health care legislatively over. It's not over as far as the American people sending a message to these guys and folks who voted the wrong way on health care.
I think right now it's saying no to really bad ideas that are going to kill freedom, kill jobs and raise taxes and spending.
HARRIS: Tim, where in life can you just say no without a plan? Without the fix? Where in -- where in modern life? Where can you just say, no, no, no and not offer a fix?
PHILLIPS: Tony -- Tony, we -- I just gave you two ideas on health care.
Paul Ryan, a member of the House I really respect, his health care plan is superb. It talks about reigning in Medicare, Social Security over time, reigning it -- keeping promises but reigning in the waste, the fraud, the abuse.
Also looking at a way to make it over time not the unfunded disastrous liability we have. So I do think folks on our side are offering good ideas, good road maps for the future. And I just gave you a few of those.
But --
HARRIS: But it's not a 100 percent world. Right? No one gets everything.
PHILLIPS: No one gets everything. But this health care takeover that just passed, Tony, it was 90 percent of what the left wanted here. There was no Republican vote for that very reason.
There are Republicans who probably wanted to vote for this thing. It was so bad that even -- you know some of the moderate members who sometimes are open to big government solutions , even they said, this is too extreme, too radical. Trillions of dollars, more debt, et cetera.
HARRIS: All right, Tim. Good conversation. Appreciate it.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
HARRIS: Thank you, sir. Come on back any time.
Our top stories now. Let's get you caught up.
Nuclear weapons the subject of today's high profile summit. President Obama is talking with leaders from 46 other countries about to keep the arms out of the hands of terrorists. Next hour I will speak with nuclear arms expert Joseph Cirincione. What he thinks with some of today's meetings.
And investigation under way right now into that plane crash that killed Poland's president and 95 others on Saturday. Russian investigators say pilot error may be to blame. They say there were no problems with the Soviet-made plane.
In just a bit we'll speak with CNN's Jim Clancy. He's in Warsaw and getting the latest on funeral arrangements and how this is affecting the financial markets.
A huge welcome home for about 4,000 National Guard troops. The brigade from North Carolina spent 10 months serving in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPC. MICHAEL BATCHELOR, NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD: It's different over there. They don't have very much. And I'm thankful for what I have now.
SPECIALIST MICHELLE HOWARD, NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD: Very difficult. You miss your family, you know? And the people around you driving you crazy.
SGT. KORRIE DRAKES, NORTH CAROLINA NATIONAL GUARD: It was a great experience. I mean I wouldn't trade it for anything. But I'm glad to be back home.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. By now your high school senior has probably received their college acceptance letters. Which schools he or she chooses to attend? I said which school -- will probably depend on the price tag and the financial aid package attached.
Love talking about this. I'm just a couple of years away from this moment.
Stephanie Elam with some now with some -- yes, help us out, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Getting close. Getting close.
HARRIS: Yes. Some advice for students?
ELAM: Yes, it's really important -- it's that time of the year, right, where it's exciting, and it's scary, all those things. And filing all the right financial aid paperwork is just as important as submitting your application.
So even if you missed a college or university's deadline you should still file as soon as you can. Deadlines at most schools are set for giving out money from their own resources. Colleges give this aid money to students who apply on time first, but even if you did miss the deadline apply anyway. The school may have some leftover money. And it's worth putting in an application even at this late date.
Of course I wouldn't suggest waiting any longer, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. What is, Stephanie, the college you want to attend has given out all its aid money? Are there other options available to you?
ELAM: Yes, sure. There definitely are. Even if your dream school has exhausted its aid money, you're still eligible for a Federal Stafford loans, you got Pell Grants. There's also plus loans for parents.
To qualify for these loans for the upcoming school year, you need to fill out FAFSA. That's a free application for federal student aid. And you've got to do that by June 30th, 2011.
For more information on this, you can head to fafsa.ed.gov. It's right there on the screen so you can see it. And it's not too late to apply for scholarships. There are tons for scholarships out there for everything from community work to excellence in academic subjects.
They can get really personalized out there. You may fit one perfectly. So start your search for scholarships in your local area, checking with non-profit organizations, and large corporations as well -- Tony.
HARRIS: And one more quick one for you. What if your family's financial circumstances have really changed since you originally filed and filled out all the paperwork. What do you do then, Stephanie?
ELAM: Yes, you know, there's a lot of people who probably fall into this category.
HARRIS: Yes.
ELAM: Especially when you see what's going on in the economy. So if you've had a big change like there was a lay-off, maybe your parents got divorced, so you unfortunately had a death of your parent or guardian, go ahead and alert the school's financial aid office right away.
If possible, you should try to contact the aid office before you receive your award package so that the amount you received can be adjusted accordingly. Now if you've already received that package, and that's pretty likely at this point, you may need to make an adjustment based on new circumstances and you can appeal to the college for more money.
But keep in mind, this usually takes at least several weeks to happen. So you definitely keep that in mind. Of course if you have any questions like this, you can send them to us at CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com and we'll do our best to get the answers to you -- Tony.
HARRIS: Terrific, Stephanie. See you next hour. Thank you.
Poland's tragedy -- how the death of a president is affecting world markets.
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CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.
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HARRIS: A week of mourning, thousands have been flocking Warsaw to pay respects to Poland's president. President Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash in Russia Saturday along with 95 others.
CNN's Jim Clancy live now from Warsaw.
And Jim, we've been showing pictures of the candles and the crowds. If you would, tell us what you're seeing on the ground there today.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're out in front of the presidential palace where we've been keeping watch here, as a nation grieves for its president, its first lady and so many other important leaders.
The head of the central bank. People have been coming, and I actually think the crowd has been swelling here over the last hour or so.
Let me show you what's happening right now. We've got people that have lined up for a chance to go in and sign a condolence book. You've got scouts in there. They're trying to clean up some of the many thousands upon thousands, if not tens of thousands of candles.
More will be replacing them almost immediately as they're picked up. Flowers heaped high here outside the presidential palace. We understand now that the funeral is going to be held on Saturday for the president and his wife.
And then, Tony, frankly, it could be a process of many days, a period of many days, as lawmakers are laid to rest. Some 20 of them that perished on that plane crash. This is going to be an extended period of mourning for this country. It's trying to cope as best as it can.
Back to you.
HARRIS: Yes. And Jim, one more quick man -- quick one here. How did the financial markets -- we've been alluding to that most of the morning. How did the financial markets open today on this news?
CLANCY: Well, they opened down. But here's the way we look at it. This was a key test of the institutions of democracy. It's not about one man, it's not about even a group of important men, it's about the institutions that supported entire nation.
By the end of the day, 4:30 here in the afternoon, in Warsaw, we saw that the market was actually up 1 percent. Many people saw that as a sign of real stability here, real confidence by many of the important players in Poland today that see a future for their country, despite this unprecedented loss.
HARRIS: Yes.
CLANCY: Tony, no country in history, to my knowledge, has ever undergone this kind of a painful loss of its entire leadership.
Back to you.
HARRIS: It was really shocking news. In the small hours of Saturday morning Eastern Time.
All right, our Jim Clancy in Warsaw, Poland. Jim, appreciate it. Thank you.
Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
The new face of the blue collar worker as old manufacturing die, high-tech, smart-workers are changing what it means to work on a factory floor. It is my report on where the jobs are.
And taking the fight against nuclear war to the classroom. The surprising responses from children in Pakistan after watching one of the most scary nuclear war films of all-time.
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HARRIS: Let's see if we can squeeze in a quick market check before the top of the hour, before we get the lunchtime in the East.
The Dow, as you can see, in positive territory. Up 19, almost -- bang, 20 points. And the NASDAQ at last check was up, too. We'll follow these numbers throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Thousands of people gathered in Florida this weekend in a unified plea to president Obama to extend the shuttle program. They say grounding the nation's fleet of space shuttles could cost the state and the aerospace industry as many as 30,000 jobs, and they say it's critical for the country to extend its dominance in space exploration. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINSTON SCOTT, FORMER ASTRONAUT: We are very supportive of America's human space flight program. We want to retain leadership. We want to send a message all over the world that we want to continue our leadership by maintaining our own capability of putting astronauts into space.
HARRIS: OK. And for those of you wondering how far your dollar can actually go, a couple of CNN iReporters are getting surprisingly good mileage out of a single dollar bill.
You're looking at Angel's flight out in Los Angeles. It only costs, I guess, about a quarter to hop aboard. Marie Sager says she rode it up and down and up and down and couldn't figure out how to spend the whopping $9.50 she had left.
So in true L.A. fashion, she used the change to stock up on water and batteries for her earthquake preparedness kit.
More iReporters are sharing how they can find these items for $10. It is coming up in our next hour.
