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Wall Street vs. Main Street; President Obama's Space Mission; Tea Party Rallies

Aired April 15, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's get going here. I'm Tony Harris.

Top of the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the main guys at one point is telling one of his cohorts that he's not going to do white collar -- street crime anymore because Uncle Sam is taking good care of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow. A Tax Day look at a popular prison pastime. Inmates filing bogus tax returns and collecting millions nationwide.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CRACK, SOUTH HADLEY RESIDENT: You've got to get rid of them. All they are is just a noose on the neck in this town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. You're done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: No, no, no. This gets pretty heated. A bullied student's suicide raises the temperature at a Massachusetts school board meeting. Angry parents escorted out by police.

You'll see this right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Wall Street soars while Main Street continues to struggle. The Dow opened the day at its highest level since 2008. But just as we're starting to see some positive signs in the housing market, a spike in foreclosures.

Unemployment still painfully high, with millions of you looking for work. And to top it all off, it is Tax Day.

Here to put it in perspective, the man, CNN Chief Business Correspondent, host of CNN NEWSROOM 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Ali Velshi.

Ali, good to see you.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, my friend.

HARRIS: Why isn't the success on Wall Street translating to Main Street?

VELSHI: Well, I'll tell you. There's three things that are going to make people on Main Street, the average American, feel good. Right?

One is the value of your investments going up. So if you have a 401(k), that was up 69 percent since last year. So that's working.

Number two, the value of your home going up. We're going to talk about foreclosures in a second. Foreclosures are holding home prices back.

The third one is three-legged stool, and the most important leg is jobs. Jobs lead to everything. If you've got jobs, you pay taxes and you contribute to the economy. If you don't, you could be losing your house, you can't invest in the stock market.

So, this Dow is up 69 percent. For those of you invested, that was a fantastic year. Well, what about those who weren't? What about those who lost their jobs, who used their savings to pay their bills?

That's why Main Street isn't feeling at the way Wall Street is. It's not a bad thing that the markets are soaring ahead. We should all be able to participate. If they do well, jobs start to show up, and we started to see that happening.

So I think there's a brighter future for us. There's always a lag. And we're in that lag.

HARRIS: Have we seen a period like this before, where we have seen this kind of run-up in the markets, where we're talking about a fourth quarter GDP of, what, 5.6 percent, and we've got this number of 9.7 that seems to be stagnating?

VELSHI: That's the unemployment number, yes.

HARRIS: Yes. And holding everything down?

VELSHI: Well, yes, we have. But one of the things that a lot of smart economists are doing with this recession is we've stopped comparing it because this is so different from others ones.

So the standard to which you hold this recovery is where we think things are going. We have a forecast for when unemployment comes down. It might be 2013, 2014 before we get to five percent unemployment, which is where we were when this recession started. That would be great. And let me tell you, if you have five percent unemployment, you probably wouldn't see as many protests as you do about taxes. You wouldn't see that kind of anger. We're boiling over because people want work.

It's the same story in every country in the world. People want work, they want a house over their head. When those things are threatened, you start to come undone.

HARRIS: Part of what we're seeing in this market rally is a sense here, lately, that we're going to get a really nice report from businesses in this first quarter.

VELSHI: That's right, their earnings reports.

HARRIS: And how is this happening? What's happening in business? Is it more efficiencies in place? Are their profit margins improving as more people are laid off?

VELSHI: Well, you saw yesterday we had a new number, retail sales came in. That was a month (ph) in a row that there was an improvement. And I like to wait for three or four months, 1.6 percent.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: That's right. I like to see a few months of improvement before we call it a trend. But we're starting to see that because jobs are being created, people who have jobs are saying, OK, I can spend a little bit. A lot of that number was cars. People said let me get a new car, I waited for a long time.

What happens when these businesses start to improve is they will then start to hire as demand picks up. But remember, firing people, laying them off is the fastest way to get expenses off your books, which is what we saw in 2008 and 2009. Businesses do tend to be slower to rehire, because once you hire, it's a big process. But they will start as long as demand is there.

Retail sales are up. Consumer confidence is coming up. Jobs are coming back. People will start buying.

The problem, as you pointed out, are those foreclosures, because those are people who lost their jobs now who can't make their home payments. And as long as -- for every one foreclosure on the market, that means your house isn't going up in value.

HARRIS: Do we not have time to talk about foreclosures? Do we really not have time to talk about foreclosures?

VELSHI: Well, you know, I'm always around.

HARRIS: OK.

VELSHI: I'm here every day, man. I'll come on and talk to you every day. HARRIS: You're bad.

Ali Velshi, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: All right.

HARRIS: President Obama embarks on a mission to reassure NASA workers about the future of America's space program. The president outlines his plan during a speech today at Kennedy Space Center.

White house Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux -- where is Suzanne? She is there with a preview. Windswept Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, what is the president hoping to accomplish with this talk, this speech today?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tony, it's so windy out here. It's unbelievable.

But the president is going to arrive in about an hour or so, a very windy Kennedy Space Center. He's going to try and allay the fears of thousands of people who work here that are worried that their jobs are on the chopping block. He is going to pledge $40 million to the people of the space center, the space program here in Florida, talking about 2,500 new jobs created. But there's a lot of controversy over this.

We've heard from Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, totally against this, congressional delegation of Florida, Republican and Democrats alike, totally against this, as well as some of the workers that we had a chance to talk to who are quite anxious about the future of this space program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one full step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The moon mission under President Obama is scrapped at least for now, a devastating blow to Kennedy Space Center employees.

JEFF LAKASZCYCK, UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE: I should have a Plan B, but I don't have a good Plan B yet. I want to stay here as long as I can, but after that we may have to relocate, try to find another job in aerospace. I could go back to being an aircraft mechanic, or maybe I'll stick around here and drive a truck.

ROBERT WRIGHT, UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE: There's just kind of a cliff out there, and we're not sure what's on the other side of that cliff.

MALVEAUX: Family that least took comfort in President Bush's plan to return U.S. astronauts to the moon by 2020. But in February of this year, the Obama administration announced it was killing the moon mission called Constellation after having spent $9 billion on the program.

(on-camera): This $500 million steel tower stands at 355 feet. It's brand new, never been used before. It was built to launch rockets into space, but under President Obama's new space program, this rocket launcher sits dormant.

(voice-over): But White House officials say President Bush's mission to the moon was doomed from the start, over budgeted, and behind schedule/

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Bush articulated a beautiful policy back in 2004. But there wasn't a follow through. There wasn't a follow-up. They kind of drifted. NASA lost some of the money. It was supposed to have gotten --

MALVEAUX: But the Obama administration is worried that it is losing the public relations battle 48 hours before the president's visit here. White House officials announced changes to Obama's new space policy, including bringing back some components they were going to (inaudible).

The Obama administration also says it is increasing NASA's budget for long-term projects and further journeys into the solar system but wanting to leave trips to space for private companies. But the notion of having the Russians, Chinese or others fair a U.S. astronaut in space disturbs NASA's workers.

LAKASZCYCK: Now we have always been leaders in space. If you're not flying, it is hard for me to believe you can be the leaders. And I think we are going to lose that. It's disappointing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Tony, there's a great deal of pride, too, when you talk to the mechanics, the technicians, the folks who sweep the floors. They all say, you know, they believe they are a part of something much bigger than themselves, part of this mission, part of history. And that is also what they're experiencing here, too, Tony, a real sense of loss.

HARRIS: And Suzanne, how has the White House responded to some of the criticism from the NASA community?

MALVEAUX: Well, the White House has responded, and we expect to hear the president make this case that, look, we understand what you're feeling here, but you will be a part of something bigger. Just hold on here, let's step aside, use this money for research and development, for even bigger missions like, say, going to Mars later on down the road. In the meantime, try to provide support for these private companies to shuttle back and forth these U.S. astronauts.

And it's not just the White House. We have heard from supporters. Buzz Aldrin, who was the second man to land on the moon, he is very much in support of President Obama's plan. As a matter of fact, Tony, he got a special invitation. He's catching a lift with Air Force One, the president's invitation, so he'll be here traveling with the president to make that case.

HARRIS: All right. White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux in the breeze at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

We will bring you live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the future of the U.S. space program. That is set for 2:45 Eastern Time from Kennedy Space Center. You can see it here live, right here on CNN.

On Capitol Hill, a bill restoring jobless benefits to people struggling to find work is back on track. The $18 billion measure could pass the Senate today. It will extend benefits until next month. Some Republicans have opposed legislation because of deficit concerns.

The Tea Party brews up Tax Day protests in cities across the country. I will be talking to one of the movement's leaders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Back to the Tea Parties. That's Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss.

Is he in Washington or at an event here in -- he's in Washington. OK.

More than 600 events taking place on the Tax Day. Some with some really big crowds.

Our Josh Levs is keeping an eye on them.

And Josh, what are you seeing?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, you know, the organizers are saying they expect millions of people total to take part today. And we're going to look at those numbers and see how it plays out. But there certainly are a huge number of events.

A lot of people think it's a handful in the major cities. There's probably one within a few miles of you wherever you are in the country.

Let me zoom you in to this screen. I want you to see something.

First of all, we're covering it intensely on CNN.com. This is the main Web site to look at, teapartypatriots.org. And they have some rousing videos, including this. Take a look.

This thing that you're seeing, that's the kind of thing that you're seeing. You're seeing this rousing music. And they're drumming up a lot of people to turn out, and they say that people who show up are the people who ultimately control this government, you are the voice.

A lot of what you would expect, some basic populism. And it does seem to be getting a lot of views online.

And when you take a look at how many events there are, I got them on the screen right behind me. I'm just going to flash through a screen because I want you to see how big this gets.

This is for today. You're not going to be able to see anything, which is the point. Every time you see a block of words, that's yet another event.

I just keep scrolling through. I'm only part way through the Cs in California. It just keeps going.

There's also another event people are hearing a lot about today, and that's the online tax revolt, which is related, though it's its own thing. They're saying, look, if you can't necessarily be at one of these things, come here, pick an avatar, click on it, and we will add you to the hundreds of thousands of other people who are taking part in it virtually. And they actually show you a path depending on where you're going to be. I guess, in a lot of cases, to Washington.

And they say, Tony, about 270,000 people have already signed up for that one -- Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, the -- you go to one of these Web sites, right, and you click on "About Us," "Our Mission," you go to one of these sites, and what do you find?

LEVS: Yes. One of the first things I always like to do is look at the "About Us," because you can hear them talk a lot, but when they have to say what they stand for in just a few words, it's interesting.

I've got a screen here for you which summarizes the mission of the Tea Party, according to its organizers. They say it's "... to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize are fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with our three core values: fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets."

So when they're laying out their mission, Tony, that's what they say there.

HARRIS: OK. And how about the money that the party -- are we able to track the money here?

LEVS: It's interesting. They have a section here where they're doing fund-raising and they talk about it. They're encouraging people to donate to this organization, to the Tea Party, official organization behind it. And they actually have a video that goes where that, too.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there are any patriots out there, I need you to stand up for America, need you to stand up for our principles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So it's another one of these rousing videos. And it's along the donate section.

I was looking at it. And what they do, Tony, is they have it clickable. You can send in money.

And it's designed as a 501(c)(4). Now, I don't know if everyone knows what that means. That's one of the tax exempt statuses that's available under our tax code. A lot of political groups go for a 501(c)(4). Your donations are not charitable donations for your taxes, but they do become a tax exempt organization which can benefit groups like this looking to raise lots of money.

HARRIS: All right, Josh. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

LEVS: You got it. Thank you.

HARRIS: Let's turn now to Pamela Stout, president of the Sandpoint, Idaho, Tea Party Patriots. And she is joining me from Mountain View, California.

And it's good to see you. Thanks for your time.

PAMELA STOUT, PRESIDENT, SANDPOINT, IDAHO, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: Thank you.

HARRIS: Hey, Pamela, on a day like today, how are you feeling? We were talking a moment about the message, but I'd like to hear it articulated by you. And the event in Washington looks like it's being rather robustly attended.

What's the message -- less government, deficit reduction?

STOUT: Yes, definitely deficit reduction and limited government. Sandpoint, Idaho, has chosen to add personal responsibility into that. And actually, that is almost an overriding feature for us.

One of the things that is so interesting about the Washington, D.C., march is that I was in Washington, D.C., last September, and there were virtually two million people, and no dissension, everybody was really nice. And everybody there was really concerned about our country. And that's what's so important, for people to recognize that we're concerned citizens and we're the same as anyone else.

HARRIS: Yes. Hey, Pamela, I've got to ask you -- I hear a lot of conversation about deficit reduction. Is that something you and your organization talk about a lot?

STOUT: It definitely is. We all balance our budgets at home and we believe that the federal government should do the same.

HARRIS: So let me ask you something. Have you given some thought as to how that would be done? Because we had a member of our money team on. Her name is Jeanne Sahadi, and she reported on this program earlier this week that according to the General Accounting Office, by 2020, 93 percent of our tax revenue will be spent on really just Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and on the interest on our debt.

What would you do?

STOUT: We need to really start -- stop -- well, actually stop spending. If you don't -- I was raised by English parents who were very thrifty. And it just makes sense to me that if you don't have the money, you can't spend it. And it's not that we need to take benefits away from people, but we need to wean people off of benefits.

But there's other things that --

HARRIS: Is that what you would do with the older folks attached to Medicare and the poor attached to Medicaid? Is that what you do, wean them off of the benefits?

STOUT: Well, you see, I actually worked in the program that did that, that we took people in public housing and we helped them to become self-sufficient. So I would like to see more of those kinds of programs be available to people rather than having them be dependent on what they get from the government.

HARRIS: The programs you're describing, were they funded by state dollars, city dollars?

STOUT: It was actually mostly HUD money. It was Housing and Urban Development.

HARRIS: Government money.

STOUT: It was a program designed by Jack Kemp, and it was called Family Self Sufficiency.

HARRIS: OK.

STOUT: And it was pretty effective. We actually did get people off of -- actually off of welfare and into homes.

HARRIS: A government program.

STOUT: A government program.

HARRIS: OK. That, in your view, worked.

Have you given any thought to discretionary spending? I mean, you've got to either raise taxes or cut spending, or a combination of both. And discretionary spending in the budget, would you propose any cuts there -- education, defense, maybe infrastructure?

STOUT: I definitely would cut the whole Education Department. I think that should be handled locally.

HARRIS: You would just cut it?

STOUT: I would if it was up to me, but it's not up to me, unfortunately.

HARRIS: OK.

Do you have equal problems with Democrat and Republicans in their approach to taxing and spending, or is it mostly Democrats?

STOUT: You know, the Republicans lost their way. And I've always said that I was a Republican, but I sure didn't like what the Republicans were doing.

So it's not really any one party. It's this desire to grow government that -- when you don't have the money, you just can't do that. So we need to be realistic.

HARRIS: Hey, Pamela, you're a nice lady. And thanks for taking on some -- you know, these are tricky issues not just for your party, but for everyone in the country. And we appreciate your time today.

STOUT: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thank you.

And for more on Tea Parties, tune in to CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. Ann Coulter will join him with her thoughts on Sarah Palin, President Obama and the Tea Party Express.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Let's get you to CNNMoney.com right now, your source for money news.

We were telling you last hour that there was a new leader atop the "Fortune" most successful, most profitable business list. For a long time it had been an oil company, right? Exxon, I think most recently.

And now the leader of the pack, Wal-Mart on top once again. The lead story at CNNMoney.com.

If you want the latest financial news and analysis, that's where to go.

Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange right now, three hours into the trading day. And we've been trading down all day. All day.

The Dow is down eight, but the Nasdaq -- so we've got a mixed day going. Nasdaq is up eight for you.

Some encouraging news for some big, big companies making a fortune.

Didn't I just allude to this, Stephanie Elam?

Stephanie is in New York.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I thought it was lovely.

HARRIS: Was it OK?

ELAM: I thought it was actually a lovely segue.

HARRIS: Was it all right?

ELAM: It's good.

HARRIS: Good to see you, Stephanie.

ELAM: Yes. Good to see you, too.

You know, you're talk about Wal-Mart taking the number one spot again. This was actually the seventh time that Wal-Mart is in first place. So just to put it into perspective there for you, knocking out Exxon Mobil.

But take a look at these companies all together. The Fortune 500 companies in 2009, they earned $391 billion. That's a gain of 335 percent.

HARRIS: Oh, my goodness.

ELAM: Three hundred and thirty-five percent.

HARRIS: Are you kidding me?

ELAM: They're saying that this is a second largest -- I know. The second largest in the list, 56-year history as far as jumps are concerned. As far as sales are concerned, they actually -- that arrow should be a down arrow, because it fell almost 9 percent. Their sales were down. And that's the largest percentage decline since 1983.

But look at those jobs. Losing, chopping, 3.2 percent of jobs, these companies did last year. That's chopping off 821,000 jobs. And that is the big job loss in the Fortune 500 history as well. So these are really big numbers that we're talking about here.

And if you take a look at the gains, Tony, it's like where -- where is this rebound really targeted?

HARRIS: Right.

ELAM: And if you look at that by sector, you can see it's definitely financial services. Something they call consumer cyclicals. And that's something, yes, I'd like to buy it but I don't have to buy it right now. And then also the health care sector. And within the health care sector, the big winner there would definitely be pharmaceuticals because pharmaceuticals, as far as they were concerned, they're like, what recession? Everything -- life's great, isn't it?

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: Just in that sector there. So the drug sector really did do quite well during that period.

But, overall, Tony, what I can tell you about these companies is, they did a lot of job cuts.

HARRIS: There you go.

ELAM: They cut down on their overhead. They cut down on how they were doing their businesses, controlling costs. And because of that, as the market came back, they were able to wage a major comeback of their own.

There you go. You've got the top five based on revenue. The Fortune 500 top five companies there.

HARRIS: Yes, you like that they're doing really well, but you don't necessarily like part of the means to get there. A lot of people losing their jobs. And this, you know, it remains a difficult time.

ELAM: Well, hopefully, you know, they've hunkered down because the economy was so rough. Hopefully now what we'll see more of is more of these companies starting to hire now that the overall economic situation is getting better.

HARRIS: I hope so.

ELAM: But it doesn't necessarily mean that.

HARRIS: Right.

ELAM: But it did mean for a nice comeback for them in just three years.

HARRIS: Yes, sure did. All right, Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: You know it's the end of an era for small, smelly fish. The last sardine cannery in the United States is packing them in like, well, sardine, for the last time. The Stinson Seafood plant in Prospect Harbor, Maine, shuts down this week after a century in operation. Almost 130 workers losing their jobs. Plant owner Bubble Bee blames steep cuts in the amount of herring allowed to be taken from northeast waters. By the way, the Stinson packers are all women. The plant manager says they're thought to have stronger backs and better dexterity than men.

And on this day when we pay our taxes, we have a story that will make your blood boil. How prison inmates were stealing tax dollars by using the IRS like, yes, let's say it together, an ATM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Guys coming together to play soccer. Not that unusual. But when the players are bunk mates at a homeless shelter, well, it's what we're talking about in our "What Matters" segment. Fredricka Whitfield has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lawrence Cann grew up playing soccer. Now he's using the sport to keep homeless men and women off the street.

LAWRENCE CANN, STREET SOCCER USA: Street Soccer USA is using sports for social change. What you see happening is people believing in themselves again, regain their self-esteem, starting to set goals. It isn't just about playing sports.

WHITFIELD: Cann knows firsthand how easily life can change.

CANN: When I was nine years old, my house burnt down. And thank God we had family to support us. It really taught me what community can do. That's really what we're about, is creating that social network. That safety net.

WHITFIELD: What started in 2005 as one team in Charlottes has grown to 16 teams across the country. There's a U.S. Cup and even a Homeless World Cup. Off the field, Cann coaches the players in life. They set three, six, and 12 month personal goals.

CANN: Seventy-five percent of the people who become team members achieve one of three things, get off the street and get a job or, thirdly, connect back to family. We really try to focus on this homeless team demographic because the research shows that if you can hold down a job before the age of 24, the chances are you're going to hold down a job the rest of your life.

WHITFIELD: For one young man, soccer got his life back on track.

CHRISTOPHER LODGSON, SOCCER PLAYER: When you get here, your spirit is broken. Your self confidence is broken. Being around a group of guys who care about each other, being in an environment where there is trust and there is team work, that helps psychologically. But then there's the tangible and goal setting and things that you need to undertake to actually get out of where you are.

WHITFIELD: Since joining the program, Christopher Lodgson found a job, moved out of the shelter, and is going back to school.

LODGSON: I'm very fortunate. I've had the overall family that is the Street Soccer program.

CANN: No one wants to be homeless. And when you're homeless, you're locked out of jobs, of normal social interactions. So this is a way to get back in. My heroes are the people who come through our program. WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And still to come, a volcano disrupting air travel across Europe. We have got your top stories in just a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you caught up on top stories now. A volcano erupting in Iceland is causing air travel chaos in Europe. Airports, including those in London, Amsterdam and Paris had to be closed, affecting thousands of flights. Volcanic ash can cause jet engines to just simply shut down.

Civil rights champion Benjamin Hooks has died. Hooks was executive director of the NAACP from 1977 until 1992. In 2007, President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Benjamin L. Hooks was 85 years old.

A bullied student kills herself. Now parents direct their anger at the school board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CRACK, SOUTH HADLEY RESIDENT: You got to get rid of them. All they are is just a noose on their neck in this town because

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. You're done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow. Hot stuff. More to come. Some speakers find themselves escorted from the meeting by police.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. So here's the latest on a developing story. The State Department has just confirmed there is no, underline it, no suspension of adoptions of Russian children by Americans. Reports of a suspension circulated today based on comments from a Russian foreign ministry spokesman. He was reacting to the case of an American woman who sent her seven-year-old adopted son back to Moscow on a plane by himself last week. Her actions outraged many in Russia and the United States. It was especially painful to American parents trying to adopt Russian children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIDNA STANKEWSKY, MOTHER: You have no idea. You don't even know the anger that my husband and I feel towards what this woman has done.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: That Idaho mother has been waiting for the past seven years to bring home a son and daughter adopted in Russia.

And anger boils over at a meeting of the South Hadley, Massachusetts, school board. It was the first session since six South Hadley students were indicted in connection with the suicide of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old who was said to be bullied. Board members deny they or the school knew the extent of Prince's mistreatment. Police removed several parents who demand the board resign. One even said board members should be hanged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CRACK, SOUTH HADLEY RESIDENT: I don't know what -- who you guys are -- why you're trying to cover up this. Everybody knows that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Cover up -- cover up what?

CRACK: You know they dropped the ball. They blew it. And everybody knows they blew it, all right? You've got to get rid of them. All they are is just a noose on the neck of this town because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. You're done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. The school board chairman announced he is giving up the post just nine days after he was re-elected. Sorry, I'm trying to watch this -- the scene play out. He denies the move is related to the festering anger over Phoebe Prince's suicide. Arizona cracking down on illegal immigration. The lawmaker behind a strict new bill and an activist against it debate the issue. It gets heated, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. I'm just trying to figure out these are these are amazing pictures but I'm trying to get the back story. OK. Obviously taped pictures of the initial eruption in Iceland? OK. The taped pictures. See, this is what we mean when we say anything can happen in the newsroom. We just got these great pictures in. We just wanted to show them to you.

Where's Chad Myers? He can help me explain this to you.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Cool, that picture.

HARRIS: Isn't that something.

MYERS: That is amazing, Tony. Yes, coming out of the Iceland volcano. HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Now that ash is now drifting over the U.K., northern parts of Europe. And airports are closed everywhere. And planes are not allowed to fly through that.

Here's what that ash -- right here -- here's what that ash on my camera here, what it looks like after it falls to the ground. You can scoop it up and it looks like this.

But now we're going to zoom in and microscope it. And we're going to show you how these edges are so hard. Just literally can grind a jet engine to a halt.

One more picture. Even more micro -- even though the pumice-like nature of this. The problem is that when this gets into the internal combustion part of the jet, the melting point of that ash is lower than the temperature of the engine. So literally the ash melts back into lava, it gets shoot out the end of the jet. By the time it gets shot out the end of the jet, it cools down below the melting point of lava and so it just coagulates, it just collects on the back of the jet and literally jets stall and the jet's engines stop running and planes fall out of the sky.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Every opportunity, every chance that this has happened so far, the pilots have been able to restart the engines eventually.

HARRIS: That's amazing.

MYERS: But it is dangerous. You can't fly through it. And when it gets -- we just lost it. When it gets --

HARRIS: Did we lose it?

MYERS: Yes, but that's OK. But when it gets out there and it's just -- it's not a plume like that anymore, it's hard to tell whether it's a cloud or whether it's an ash cloud. So that's why they have to be so just vigilant and say, do not fly through this anywhere near this. This is going to be over Europe for many days. And, hey, you know what, it will probably even make its way across in American airspace, because it's all going to go around at some point in time. A lot of it's going to fall out. The bigger particles are going to fall out.

But if this thing keeps going, we could have an absolute lack of hurricane season, because we could cool down the earth with this if it keeps going. Not just from this one eruption, but also some beautiful sunsets. We'll get more particles in the atmosphere and the earth will -- all the sunsets will just turn just beautiful red. It's happened when Mount Penatubo (ph) erupted here too.

HARRIS: That is amazing, Chad. Great explanation, as always. Look at that. Look at that. That is amazing.

MYERS: I love it.

HARRIS: All right. We've got to get a break and clear the decks for Ali Velshi. He's coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, we want to get you to Kandahar, Afghanistan, now. We're getting reports from our Michael Holmes of a really powerful explosion inside the last hour -- say, the last 20 minutes or so. Michael is on the line with us.

Michael, what can you tell us about this?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Tony, it was actually a matter of about 10 minutes ago. So this has really only just happened.

We're at camp just inside Kandahar City. And we were actually standing outside talking to some of the soldiers here. And there was a flash and then a loud explosion.

We subsequently found out that the target appears to be the brigade headquarters for the Afghan national army. And to give you an idea, that's about 4.5 kilometers from where I'm standing. And to hear it so loudly and to see the flashing, it was clearly a big bomb. One (INAUDIBLE) something like a car bomb. But details very sketchy at the moment.

But a significant target, if you like. The real sort of heart of the Afghan national army in the city of Kandahar, which, of course, is the focus at the moment of the latest --

HARRIS: That's right.

HOLMES: Push by U.S. and NATO forces to try to clear Taliban out of this part of the country.

HARRIS: Yes. And, Michael, am I correct, there was another explosion in Kandahar earlier in the day?

HOLMES: That's right. This was only a couple of hours ago as well, there was another explosion. This one was a car bomb. A much smaller car bomb. Apparently explosives in the trunk of this vehicle. It was also in the city of Kandahar.

What happened there was, we're told that it was parked by the side of the road. And as an army patrol, an Afghan army patrol went by, this car detonated. It did quite a bit of damage to the vehicles around it. Only injured one soldier apparently. A slight injury we're told. And about half a dozen civilians were also hurt. Only two of them, we're told, were taken to the hospital. So not as much damage done there, but certainly significant.

But, that's now two attacks on Afghan national army targeted in a matter of a couple of hours in a city that the U.S. is trying to squeeze the Taliban out of, U.S. and Canadian forces actually operating in the city at the moment.

HARRIS: And, Michael, if you would, let's big picture this just a moment here. As you mentioned, you're with NATO forces in Kandahar as it -- as preparations are being made for the next big offensive there. How would you assess those preparations as they are unfolding right now?

HOLMES: It's a very soft and (INAUDIBLE) approach. I've been talking to military officials, both Canadians and I've been talking to (INAUDIBLE), I'll be talking to the Americans, and this campaign is different than the one we saw in Marjah, in Helmand province, where it's far less of a full frontal move (ph), if you like. It's more of a softly, softly approach, particularly in the city of Kandahar. A city of nearly a million people. The second biggest city in Afghanistan.

They're trying to squeeze the Taliban out of the city in more of a slow way. Not a full frontal. And then they started the other moves by the U.S. and NATO forces to hit at the Taliban in surrounding district where they have a lot more power than they do in Kandahar. But what's significant, I think, is we have seen in recent weeks, in the last couple of months, we've seen a series of attacks inside the city which shows that the Taliban still has its disciples in here and they're still able to attack and do their damage.

HARRIS: Yes. OK. Michael, we're going to let you go so that you can get to our sister network, CNN International. Michael Holmes in Kandahar for us.

Before we go, you know, we've been asking you what you're willing to do to reduce the national debt. Here's some of what you're saying to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that everybody should pitch in. It's everybody's problem. It's not just the bankers. Everybody has to pitch in and stop being so selfish and stop being so greedy. Stop buying the things that we don't need just to have them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have nothing to give up. But if I were younger, I would be willing to pay more taxes as long as we had an even tax across the board for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is, is people don't need to give up more. The general populous doesn't have anything. It's the ultra- rich that need to give it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Let's get to a couple of your blog comments at CNN.com/tony before we turn things over to Ali Velshi at the top of the hour.

Mark writes, "I am willing to pay into and not receive any Social Security or Medicare benefits. That is because I am a responsible person. Lazy irresponsible people are bankrupting my country."

This is from D., who writes, "I am willing to give up war! I am willing to give up bases in other countries, give up supporting other governments."

Let's do this. Let's keep this conversation going. A number of ways to do this. Obviously you can jot down a blog comments and send it to us at CNN.com/tony. And you can leave that comment. We will share those, of course, on the air. And you can also call us. Here's the number there on your screen, 1-877-742-5760. And if you would, leave your name, where you're calling from and let's keep the conversation going and your comments under 30 minutes so we can get 30 seconds so that we can get them on the air.