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Pope Promises Action; Fixing Wall Street; Too Fat to Fight?; Record-Breaking iPhone Sales; GM Repays $8.1 Billion Government Loan; Knocks Off for Haiti; Going Green, Going BIG
Aired April 21, 2010 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: That's going to wrap it for us. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again tomorrow.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile the news continues CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.
Good morning, Kyra.
ROBERTS: The hammer.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. Yes, explain that to Kiran, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: It's a long story. He has a lot more to work on than just the top of the flag, by the way.
All right, we're off and running with Pope Benedict. After all the abuse within the church he's saying enough is enough and it's time to do something. Well, do what, exactly?
Potato chips, onion rings, French fries, processed mystery meats? Don't think of them as junk food. Think of them as weapons of mass destruction. The military says our kids' lunches are a threat to national security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADINE HAYS, ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING TSA AGENT: The toughest part was they all wanted me to take the plea bargain, and I said no, I can't do it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The plea bargain? Are you kidding me? The TSA goes to war with a woman over her mom's applesauce. You think you've got an airport nightmare story? Wait until you see this.
We begin with a new promise from the Pope. That's it. I've had enough. Just a few days ago, he teared up while talking to abuse victims in Malta, told them he'd do something about it.
Pope Benedict is going public, telling a crowd in St. Peter's Square that the Vatican is going to start taking action against pedophile priests. That's the message. Enough is enough. Tough action is coming. But no real mention of what that action is.
Joining me now live from Washington, Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry. Also on the phone, Dan Bartley, president, Voice of the Faithful.
Francis, let's go ahead and start with you. You know we've heard the "I'm sorry." We've seen the Pope talk to the victims. His name has even been tossed into the mix of leaders who turned a blind eye.
You know, is it just too little too late? I mean, does this even matter at this point what he's saying?
FRANCIS DEBERNARDO, EXEC. DIR., NEW WAYS MINISTRY: I think it's good that the Pope has addressed the issue publicly, which he hasn't done in a long time. But I think that still a lot more needs to be done.
The real problem, the real cause of this scandal was not just the pedophile priests but the silence and the complicity of bishops in moving and supporting pedophile priests.
PHILLIPS: Dan, your reaction?
DAN BARTLEY, PRESIDENT, VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL (via telephone): I agree with Francis. All the statements by Pope are still not addressing the underlying issues which are quite extreme. And the accountability issue has not been addressed.
The bishops who remained in office who are involved have not been asked to resign. So again, we're just touching the surface here and I think that's very disappointing.
PHILLIPS: Which leads me to Reverend James Cahill, St. Michael's Church there in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He's come forward with some pretty strong opinions on this. Let's take a listen to what he said just a few weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FR. JAMES CAHILL, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH: He should stand for the truth.
QUESTION: Does that mean stepping down?
CAHILL: If he can't do it -- if he can't take the consequences of being truthful on this matter, his integrity should lead him, for the good of the church, to step down.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Francis, that's never happened before. A Pope stepping down? Is that even a reality? Could that happen? Is that what needs to happen in order to really see a change on this issue? DEBERNARDO: I don't think that just the Pope stepping down will solve the problem. I think that what's needed is a third Vatican council, a calling together of all the bishops and truly all the people of God in the church. The lay people, the nuns, the priests.
Because what we need in the Catholic Church to solve this problem and on other issues is a reform of the way decisions are made because this scandal has proven that the Vatican bureaucracy does not know how to handle decision-making.
PHILLIPS: Dan, short of resigning, what do you do as Pope?
BARTLEY: Well, unfortunately his resignation would not accomplish very much at this point because he would simply be replaced by another bishop or cardinal with similar, you know, misguided loyalties whereby -- you know, they look out for the good of the institution and not the good of the people of God.
PHILLIPS: Francis, I'm not -- I think we might have lost Dan there via phone. We'll see if we've got that connection still. But let me ask you, Francis, you know, how do you balance zero tolerance for sex crimes versus the church philosophy of forgiveness and redemption?
DEBERNARDO: Well, that's a tough question, and I think that we have to see that there are two governments or two authorities working here. There's the civil authority for the crimes that are being committed and then there's the religious authority that looks at the whole person.
And I think that pedophile priests need to be brought up on the charges in the civil realm and in the pastoral realm they need pastoral care as well. As well as the victims.
PHILLIPS: That is true. And, Dan, we've got you back on the phone. I'm going to toss this question to you, as well. I just asked Francis, you know, how do you balance zero tolerance, a policy of zero tolerance for sex crimes within the church versus the church philosophy of forgiveness and redemption?
BARTLEY: Well, as Christians and Catholics we always have to -- you know, have that delicate balance, but in the case of abuse of children, and in this case the cover-up of that abuse, there should be no tolerance. There can be no tolerance.
PHILLIPS: And Francis, you know, if you look at -- let's go outside the church, but if you look at crimes against children, if you look at sex crimes and how many of these individuals have been repeat offenders and then the kids end up being killed and buried in the backyard.
I mean, just now -- just today we're talking about a law in California, a family is coming forward with some lawmakers and pushing for you molest a child once, you are put away for life. That's it. No tolerance at all for that. No second or third chances.
Can you do that within a church structure?
DEBERNARDO: I think that these cases have to be judged on a case-by-case basis. I don't think that there's a one-size-fits-all answer to pedophilia, to --
PHILLIPS: But are there some instances where molesting is OK? How can you take a case-by-case basis? You molest a child, you should -- there should be no tolerance for that.
DEBERNARDO: Right. There should be zero tolerance for -- they should be brought up on accountability, but how a person is -- the punishment that they receive should be determined by the circumstances of the case, and the possibility for reformation should be determined by medical and pastoral people.
So I don't think that -- again, I don't think that a one-size- fits-all answer solves the problem. I think it will just exacerbate problems.
PHILLIPS: Francis and Dan, appreciate --
DEBERNARDO: But --
PHILLIPS: Thank you. We've got to leave it there, Francis. Thank you so much.
Obviously we'll continue to follow this story and all the developments that happen from the Vatican.
Francis DeBernardo and Dan Bartley, appreciate it.
And finally airplanes airborne. Six days after a cloud of volcanic ash swept over much of Europe, we're talking about 15,000 flights now taking off. This is a little bit more than half of a normal day, but a vast improvement from the shutdown that stranded thousands upon thousands of travelers.
Here in the U.S. weary and cash-strapped Americans have even begun arriving home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exhausting, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excited. But exciting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it actually kind of turned out nice because we got a better plane coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First time been to Paris so I was happy to have a few extra days in Paris, because originally we only had two days. So to have four, five days in Paris, at least I got to see it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we're home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're -- we don't believe we're in Atlanta, but --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How does it feel to be home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feels great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to have a really nice burrito.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. There you go.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Right now there's no word on how long this reprieve will last. But a new eruption could force new closures at any time.
The volcano is spewing out 80 percent less ash than the first day, and the airplanes really took a hit from all this. At least $1.7 billion. And get this, many airplanes say that the shutdowns were a gross overreaction and that the skies were safe to fly during much of the crisis.
At its worst, the whole ordeal impacted 29 percent of global aviation and affected 1.2 million passengers a day.
President Obama getting his ducks in a row on the Supreme Court. Well, actually he's just getting to know who the ducks are. Talking with some of the potential candidates. So we asked some of you what type of person will the president pick?
Sixty-one percent said liberal. But flip that now when we asked who he should pick. Only 25 percent says liberal. The majority said moderate.
Today the president is reaching out to Senate leaders at the center of the selection process.
CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joining us live.
So, Ed, what are we expecting today?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, next hour, as you mentioned, the president is going to be sitting down with the bipartisan leadership in the Senate, particularly from the Judiciary Committee, that will be dealing with these confirmation hearings.
In large part what the White House wants to do is sort of get the ball rolling here and try to diffuse some of the tension. Republicans already throwing out the word filibuster, that they may try to block this nomination if they believe it's too far to the left. The other reason for the president wanting to have this meeting is that he's getting pretty far along in this process. CNN has learned the president is starting to place phone calls to some of the prospective nominees, kind of feel them out a little bit.
We know some of the names already who are on the short list. The solicitor general, for example, Elena Kagan, Diane Wood, a Federal Appeals Court judge, as well as Merrick Garland, another Federal Appeals Court judge.
These names are known. They were out there before when the president had his pick last year. He ended up selecting Sonia Sotomayor, of course. But I think the meeting this morning is all about trying to show that he's reaching out to Republicans on Capitol Hill to try to smooth the confirmation of whoever ends up getting picked -- Kiran.
PHILLIPS: We'll be following it closely. Ed Henry, thank you so much.
And does any street have more potholes and cracks than Wall Street? Your senators are talking about how to fill them in. Don't want the little bit chance that the economy is jumping off the curb again.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. A Texas twister caught on tape. We'll show you the pictures coming up, plus the threat of severe weather over the next couple of days. We'll tell you where. That's in your forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Fixing Wall Street. Democrats say that it's a must to avoid another financial meltdown. Republicans pretty much hate the idea. But they may be on the wrong side of public opinion.
Let the debate begin this hour on Capitol Hill. And our own financial expert Ali Velshi here to help us break it all down.
You know, what can you hate about full disclosure? That's what got us into trouble in the first place.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's going to be the --
PHILLIPS: Secrets, secrets, secrets.
VELSHI: That's going to be the biggest part of this. Now here's the thing. You can't hate full disclosure when it comes to credit cards and banks and loans and mortgages.
And the government wants that to be as a touchstone of this. That you and I should be able to understand any contract that we sign for a loan or for a credit card.
There's a second part to this, and this is where the Republicans are having some trouble. It's in the part that requires the regulation of derivative.
PHILLIPS: Derivatives.
VELSHI: Right. So we're talking about CDOs and CDS's, and RMBS's. All these things that are basically not something. So let's say this is an asset --
PHILLIPS: In layman's terms -- yes, OK.
VELSHI: Right. This is a computer.
PHILLIPS: OK.
VELSHI: It's your computer.
PHILLIPS: Right.
VELSHI: Now you want to then charge out for other people to use it, so you charge 10 bucks an hour for people to use it. But I want to use it whenever I want to use it so I'll pay you extra money, so I'll pay you 12 bucks an hour to use it whenever I want.
But then we start getting into derivatives. Things around things, the right to buy something, to bet against something like Paulson and Goldman Sachs are accused of doing by the SEC.
There all sorts of derivatives. Everything you can sell has a derivative around it. And what some Republicans and some Republicans are saying is that if you regulate that too much you're going to hamper the ability of financial institutions to do business and make money and that's going to hurt the economy.
That's going to hurt people's investments. That's where the issues come in.
PHILLIPS: OK. But, you know, it's like good planning versus incentive for risk. Right?
VELSHI: Right. Right. And that's -- again, this is a tricky area because keep in mind everything we do in the world of business is about risk, right?
PHILLIPS: Right.
VELSHI: You want to take risks on your show and you want your producers to take certain risks and stores. But how do you measure the risk versus the reward? And should there be somebody overseeing that? Should someone say, Kyra, I know you'd like to do your show with, you know, hip-hop music the whole way through, but here's the risk of doing that?
Well, let's look at that in the financial industry.
PHILLIPS: OK.
VELSHI: I know that you think this is a great way to make money but let me tell you there's a risk you may not be thinking about. Is that a role for the government? Because business -- Wall Street didn't seem to do it for itself. And that's the question.
PHILLIPS: Well, there has to -- somebody's got to take responsibility because there was -- there was no oversight.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: People that were making decisions, even the people that were supposed to be safeguarding us and our money --
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: -- and being the watchdogs over Wall Street didn't work. So --
VELSHI: Right. And part of that is because, were they regulating properly? Was there a culture of regulation? And the other thing is, you know, when you think of the financial regulation system, all the agencies involved in it, think back to before 9/11 and national security.
It was the same thing. There were all these different agencies.
PHILLIPS: They're not communicating.
VELSHI: They all meant well and they all had some pieces of information which if you put together may have prevented 9/11.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Right.
VELSHI: But they weren't talking to each other. That's sort of the same idea. It is complicated and there are some people who think it will make us uncompetitive against the rest of the world.
As Brazil and China and India and Russia continue to surge forward, we're going to stymie. We're going to -- we're going to -- you know, we're going to hobble American business if we're not careful about how we do this.
It is a worthwhile argument to listen to but in the end 2-1 Americans believe Wall Street needs to be regulated more than it is today.
PHILLIPS: There you go. We'll talk about it and we'll follow the debate.
VELSHI: We will.
PHILLIPS: Thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK.
PHILLIPS: Appreciate it, Ali.
Well, not exactly Gordon Lightfoot's version of "Sundown," but check out this vista from the high plains of west Texas last night. Folks in Randall County -- right here -- had a little something extra than just a sunset.
Yes, it is what it looks like. But no damage reports.
What do you think, Rob? No. We've got Jacqui. It's Jacqui today.
JERAS: Hello. Yes, I'm doing the day shift.
PHILLIPS: Hello, Jacqui.
(LAUGHTER)
JERAS: Hello. I'm good. Great pictures.
PHILLIPS: Yes, isn't that -- when you -- and you don't always capture something like that.
JERAS: Not always. What are the chance you're at the right place at the right time when a tornado is going to touch down for, like, what, two minutes?
PHILLIPS: Right. And boom.
JERAS: Yes. So crazy pictures. We also have a couple of stills, too, to show you. So it's good when you see pictures like this and you know that there was no significant damage and that there were no injuries associated with this.
You know, Kyra, it's been a really crazy, quiet severe weather season. You know things are usually kicking in April. In fact, we talked to the Storm Prediction Center yesterday and this is the latest in a season that they've ever not issued a moderate or a high risk for severe weather.
We've only had flights so far this year. And last time that they had anywhere close to this long of a stretch without it was in 2005, which we remember as a very busy hurricane season.
Looks like this one's going to be a busy hurricane season, as well. So just a little bit of -- a little nugget for you there this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, thanks.
Missing at sea. An oil rig explodes, several people critically hurt, even more are nowhere to be found right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And we're also keeping a close eye at a developing story in the Gulf of Mexico. There's been an explosion on an oil rig about 52 miles off the coast of Venice, Louisiana. The Coast Guard has evacuated seven people who are critically injured. At least 11 others are missing. And a massive search is now under way. No word yet on what caused that explosion.
You remember Clinger from "M.A.S.H."? Well, maybe he didn't need to wear a dress to get kicked out of the military. Maybe he should have just eaten lunch in a school cafeteria, scarf down fries, onion rings, some pizza, soft drinks, all that junk. Now a kind of enemy of the state. It's making what ought to be able bodies unfit for service.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So have you seen Jamie Oliver's own personal British invasion of an American school cafeteria? He's got a show on ABC trying to get kids in Huntington, West Virginia to eat and the school to serve more nutritionally correct food.
Well, the celebrity chef has seen what your kids are eating for lunch. And he's gobsmacked, to put it nicely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE OLIVER, CELEBRITY CHEF: When I start looking at mashed potatoes, then the nuggets, then the pizzas, then the meal's got crap in it, the cereal's got crap in it, all of those little things together pisses me off. And if you're a parent, it should piss you off.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: You got to love that Queen's English.
OK, if you're the cynical type, you might be thinking who does this rich British celeb think he is anyway, lecturing Americans and our eating habits? Well, we have the right to be fat and unhealthy, right? How does that grab you?
Well, the military is now saying the crap that kids are eating is a threat to national security. And John Roberts actually talked to the general leading this newest battle of the bulge.
And, John, I guess if you did take a little mystery meat and a little processed chicken, you threw in some gunpowder, well, you could have a pretty destructive weapon in your gut.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: You certainly could.
Now we'll tell you what the military is concerned about here, Kyra, but to tell you where we are today, we've got to go back.
Back to World War II when 40 percent of new recruits were not eligible for military service because they were undernourished. They were short stature, they were too skinny. So the military post World War II pushed Congress to enact the National School Lunch Program.
Well, they appear to be victims of their own success because now, according to this new study by Mission Readiness, a group of ex- military people, 27 percent of people between the ages of 17 and 24 are unfit for military duty because they're too fat.
Now it's not exactly a problem at the moment because all of the services are up to the recruiting goals, but go down the road 15, 20 years, maybe to 2030, and it could become, according to Mission Readiness, a national security program.
This morning we talked with retired Air Force Lieutenant General Norman Seip about the problem and asked him what needs to be done as far as school lunches go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. NORMAN SEIP, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Well, we need healthy choices. We need these whole grains. We need the fruits, we need the vegetables, those type of things, and then we need to increase the amount of money that we spend daily on the child.
Right now it's about $2.68 per meal. By adding money to the Child Nutrition Act, we'll be able to increase the quality of the food that's served and push out the junk food and the empty calories and result in a more healthy nation and reverse this trend where we've got 39 states now that report 40 percent or more of their young men and young women in the ages of 17 to 24 as overweight.
ROBERTS: Wow.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and, you know, that thing -- that struck me when you talked about that because bottom line 75 percent of young adults ages 17 to 24, according to the studies that you guys conducted, are not eligible for military duty.
It may be partly because of obesity. It may be because of lack of education, not graduating. It may be because they have a criminal record. But that's a huge chunk of people that are out of the mix when it comes to protecting our country.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: OK. I thought we're going to get his response there, but it's true. That's a huge amount of the mix -- out of the mix to be able to serve. I mean, are they coming in and our recruiters saying, nope, sorry, you're too overweight, got to go? Or are they joining and just not passing the PT?
ROBERTS: It's in a couple of ways. Some of them are too fat to be admitted to the military and some of them wash out in the first year or two of joining military. According to this Mission Readiness group, Kyra, 1200 first-time recruits had to leave the service because they're overweight.
And when you consider that it costs about $50,000 to train up each recruit, 1,200 of them washing out of the services every year, that's $60 million. It's a huge taxpayer expense.
PHILLIPS: All right, so let's take a look at what the general and his army are suggesting here. We put together a full screen starting here with this -- and this is the Child Nutrition bill. Starting with removing junk food from the schools. Take us through what they're saying here.
ROBERTS: Well, remove junk food from schools, take out all of those empty-calorie foods, the Tater Tots that Jamie Oliver was talking act, some of the other foods. Not to say that Tater Tots aren't delicious, but they're not exactly the most nutritious food you could serve.
A billion dollars annually added to school nutrition programs and develop school-based strategies for diet and exercise because you've got to keep moving. You know and so many of these young people they don't move enough and sit on the couch and they play their video games and they're just packing on the pounds.
As the general said, 39 states now where 40 percent of young people are overweight. A decade ago, Kyra, it was only one state.
PHILLIPS: Yes. And you bring up a good point. We can't just blame it on that -- you know, the crappy food that our kids are eating in school, but kids got to get off the computer.
ROBERTS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: They've got to stop playing video games. They need to be active outside and --
ROBERTS: Yes. Lifestyle.
PHILLIPS: Yes. You know, getting out there at the end of the block with all the kids like we did when we were growing up and running around until, you know, midnight. But anyway, all right. Let's have a little fun here before we go.
When we talk about fast food, this came out today, too, John. We've been giving, you know, KFC a really hard time about its new creation. And you know what I'm talking about. It's those two pieces of chicken --
ROBERTS: Yes, it's the bunless -- the bunless sandwich. Yes, two pieces of chicken sandwich and then --
PHILLIPS: The cheese, the bacon, the mystery sauce. OK? Yes, don't be too quick to diss the double bound because it actually might be less offensive to your body than some salads out there.
Take a look at this. I mean, you know, we always think, OK, we're going to do better if we have a salad. But if you look at the calories and the fat and the sodium on some of these salads, it's unbelievable.
Burger King's tender crisp garden salad, 670 calories, 45 grams of fat. Wendy's chicken BLT salad with honey Dijon dressing, 700 calories, 51 grams of fat. I mean we could keep going on and on. I mean it's -- you think you're doing something good but you're not.
ROBERTS: Yes, and, you know, breakfast items, too. Breakfast items are bad. And remember that Chick-Fil-A bacon, egg, and cheese that I brought you the other day, the thing that you described as a little piece of heaven on a biscuit?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Yes, I know.
ROBERTS: There's --
PHILLIPS: How bad is it?
ROBERTS: All right. 520 calories, 261 from fat, 290 milligrams of cholesterol, 1400 milligrams of sodium. A food watchdog organization gave it an F. And even on the Chick-Fil-A Web site they say -- because I know you love this so much, Kyra -- things in moderation. So --
PHILLIPS: Oh boy. OK, I guess I'll be --
ROBERTS: We'll be restricting you to one of those a week.
PHILLIPS: Or we'll be signing up for the half marathon next week.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right, thank you, John. Appreciate it.
All right. This brings us to today's blog question. Cafeteria confidential. What's the worst school meal that you remember? Mystery meat, chicken a la king gone wrong and so on. As a parent, tell us how you make sure your kids are eating healthy at school. So what's your meal nightmare and what are you doing to make sure your kids eat well? We want to know.
When it comes to things that we just can't live without, some gadgets top the list. Apple actually sold a record number of iPhones last quarter, and that could have a big impact on Wall Street today. Darby Dunn with us with all the details.
Hi, Darby. DARBY DUNN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
That's right. Despite these tough economic times, sales of the iPhone are booming. Apple is defying all expectations, and that could give the Nasdaq a boost today in the tech sector.
Now, Apple sold nearly 9 million iPhones last quarter. A company official called that number staggering. It was a record high. One analyst says that that kind of strength is sustainable because the smart phone is also a huge hit overseas. But that's not all Apple has up its sleeve, of course. Apple sold 11 million iPods and 3 million Macs, and so no surprise, Apple's quarterly profit nearly doubled.
And these results don't even include the iPad, the latest product from Apple which came out earlier this month. Apple shares right now are up more than 6 percent. And the steady drumbeat of upbeat earnings continues in the financial sector.
Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo made $4 billion combined. And in another positive sign, Wells says that credit conditions have turned the corner.
At General Motors, the nation's biggest automaker says that it has repaid the remaining $8 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments five years ahead of schedule. But U.S. taxpayers still own a majority stake in GM so the bulk of the bailout money given to GM has not been repaid. And checking the early numbers, right now, the Dow is slightly higher as well as all the other indices. Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Darby, thanks so much.
We take a quick break. More from CNN NEWSROOM, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hey, ladies, did you get a raise this year? Congratulations. But guess what? You're still making less than a man according to new figures from the U.S. Labor Department. How did that happen? CNN's Stephanie Elam joining us live from New York, who -- we won't talk I guess about salary here and all. It's all negotiable in this business.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's just kind of negotiable. Dagnabit.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. Why can't we be on an equal playing field?
ELAM: Yes, it's like foiled. Kyra, it's true. Yesterday happened to be equal payday, and in light of that, we got these numbers from the labor department that show that OK while it's true that men do make more than women, at least the gap has narrowed. So here, take a look at this, weekly earnings, the median here, men make $844 a week. That's in the first quarter of this year, these numbers are from. Well, women make 79 percent of that or basically $665 so that's, you know, 79 percent there of what was being made by men.
If you look at the first quarter of 2000, you can see that women actually made 76 percent so there has been some improvement. Now, for every one dollar that men earn, Hispanic women make 60 cents, black women 69 cents, white women make 80 cents, and Asian women getting the closest there earning 90 cents for each dollar. But still, it shows you that there's a huge discrepancy out there between what men and women are getting paid, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, what are the best paying jobs for women? ELAM: You know, if you can just run out and get yourself a CEO job, that might not be a bad thing for you to do. Take a look at this one, Kyra, if you take a look at it based on how it's broken down, weekly pay for a CEO, $1,500, that is about 75 percent of what a man would get paid in that same role. So, you see pharmacists there at 76 percent, lawyer at 75 percent, and the best one, actually, they keep saying this, technology. IT manager, they're doing the best getting 79 percent. But still, you're talking about, you know, a quarter percentage of money that's going more to men than it is to women.
So, the discrepancy is still there. A lot of people wonder why this is. Some say it's sexism. Some say that women are more likely to leave the workforce to take care of children, to take care of other family members, and because of that when they do come back, they're behind on the pay scale. But it's probably somewhere in between because it's very hard to actually just highlight exactly what the issue is, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: It's one of those things I think we'll be talking about far long time. That's for sure.
ELAM: I don't think you can change anything.
PHILLIPS: Yes, right, exactly. And no matter what you get paid, you're always doing a great job. It doesn't even matter, Steph.
ELAM: Right. Thank you, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: That work ethic. Thanks, Stephanie.
So, what if they're not real Diesel jeans, not real Nike? So what? They're still pants, still shoes. They can be worn, and there are people who can really use them. Bogus is in the eye of the beholder.
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PHILLIPS: The homeless in Haiti are about to get some fine designer gear. You know, Ed Hardy, Diesel, even Nike, but they're all fake. Brooklyn is actually sending seven truckloads of bootleg and counterfeit gear down to Haiti. It's about $10 million worth of duds confiscated by police. Great idea. Instead of incineration donation. But there's one catch -- all the logos have to be ripped off the clothes first.
Finally, airplanes airborne. Six days after a cloud of volcanic ash swept over much of Europe, we're talking about 21,000 flights getting up in the air. That's about 75 percent back up to speed. The air restrictions canceled about 100,000 flights and cost the airline industry more than $1.7 billion.
The airline industry isn't the only one that's suffered due to flight cancellations. Farmers and others who export goods to Europe took a financial hit, too, and so did business owners stuck with empty store shelves. CNN's Zain Verjee shows us how the ash over Europe is being felt all the way to Kenya. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kenyan exporters are getting desperate. They continue to look for alternative routes to Europe for their fresh vegetables and flowers. Usually every single day, they put their cargo on about eight to nine flights. Now, they're lucky if even one flight gets out of Nairobi with that cargo. So what's happening is that their produce are all rotting, and they are forced to dump it. Also, what's becoming a major problem is for British shops and the customers there.
ANGUS DOUGLAS-HAMILTON, GENERAL MANAGER, VEGPRO: The message we've been getting in the last 24 hours is that a lot of our products are running out on the shelves our main retailers. We supply all the major retailers in the UK, so that would include Sunspree (ph), Testco and others, Marks and Spencer's. So, obviously, the situation is becoming a bit more serious now.
VERJEE: We heard about one shop in the UK that's got exporters here worried.
DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: I did actually send somebody in to a store yesterday in Birmingham, and he came back with a report that there was one bag of beans left on the shelf. So, it is a large Birmingham store. So, that's a bit concerning.
VERJEE: Exporters here say that they were just not prepared for something like this kind of a disaster to happen. They say they may have had a plan B for a terrorist attack or weather-related difficulties. They say that this has taught them a lesson and that they need to plan a contingency for the next time, if it happens.
Zain Verjee, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The volcano would be really bad if it knew what Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel were saying about it last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, NBC HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The big story continues to be that huge cloud of volcanic ash caused by that volcano in Iceland. Over 63,000 flights have been canceled. You know what's really scary? You thought the pilots were drunk when they were flying. I mean, how loaded are they after hanging around that airport bar for five days? That first flight out's going to be like closing time -- yes!
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Travelers have been stranded in dozens of countries including New York, they are turning like JFK into a shelter of some kind, but they're finally allowing flights to take off to the countries that no one likes.
So even though the ash is said to be subsiding they say the volcano appears to be extremely seismically active and there are fears that it could become sexually active as well, which, you know, could result in a whole bunch of little volcanoes and then we're screwed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, we want to say a happy Administrative Professionals Day. It used to be Secretaries Day, as you might remember, but we don't say that anymore. It was ok to say that back when it started in 1952, but things are a lot different now.
So get those flowers, candies, lunch reservations, if you miss it today, don't worry. You have another 363 days to show your appreciation. And I hope Jack Womack is upstairs listening because April Gray deserves much more than flowers.
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PHILLIPS: A new low for the TSA agents, you know, the airport screeners, making sure people don't carry bombs or explosives onto airplanes.
A California woman is vindicated in a year-old case that's going to probably infuriate you. She was arrested, strip-searched, jailed and brought to trial over applesauce for her ailing 93-year-old mother who she was traveling with.
Let's get the report now from Lynette Romero in our affiliate KTLA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNETTE ROMERO, KTLA REPORTER (voice-over): It was a year ago Nadine Hays and her 93-year-old mother were heading to a family wedding when things went bad at security at the Burbank Airport. Inside that blue cooler, Nadine had food for her ailing mother -- applesauce, yogurt, cheese.
NADINE HAYS, ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING TSA AGENT: I said I've checked with TSA for a person with special needs. It can go on. And they said no, it won't.
ROMERO: And then things really went bad.
HAYS: And at that point I said, you guys, this belongs to me, give it to me and there's a tug of war. That was kind of the scene in the airport.
ROMERO: Hays says she finally grabbed the cooler with both hands and that's apparently where the assault allegation came from. And then Hays threw all of the food away and went to security and thought it was over but she was wrong.
HAYS: Officers come up and they cuffed me and they put me in the police car and by now I'm hysterical because I've never had an encounter with the law.
ROMERO: Hays was sued for misdemeanor battery by one of the TSA agents. Fast forward a year, $15,000, two judges and two attorneys. Everyone, including her family wanted her to take a plea bargain, but she said in her heart she knew she didn't do anything wrong.
HAYS: The toughest part was they all wanted me to take the plea bargain and I said no. I can't do it. And if nothing else, it's an example that I set for my family.
ROMERO: And today a judge in a Glendale courtroom continued the case for six months and told the grandmother of six to stay out of trouble and the case will be dismissed.
MARY FRANCES PREVOST, HAYS' ATTORNEY: This should have happened a year ago, she should never have been arrested. She was arrested at the airport with her elderly mother and she was strip searched at a jail. This should never have happened.
HAYS: The whole year I haven't been a mother or a wife or a grandmother -- for the last year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: That's an outrage. That was Lynette Romero reporting. And by the way, Miss Hays mother passed away just three weeks ago and while Nadine says that her mom really didn't know what transpired in the last year, she believes her mother would have been very proud of her for standing up for her convictions.
A warning for the creators of "South Park": we first told you about this yesterday, a radical Islamic Web site telling Matt Stone and Trey Parker to watch their backs, what for? This, a bear, a rather what's supposed to be the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit.
Comedy Central wouldn't let the pair show an animated Muhammad so this is what they came up with. Offensive? Funny? You be the judge, but you have to take these threats seriously.
Just ask author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who worked on a documentary on Islam with Danish filmmaker Theo Van Gogh. He was later murdered and she fled to the U.S. and our Anderson Cooper asked her about the South Park threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAAN HIRSI ALI, AUTHOR, INFIDEL?: It is an assault on the freedom of expression and we have to defend it tooth and nail. That means we all stand by Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Do you still live with guards? I mean, do you still have protection around you?
ALI: I have protection, but there comes a time when, if -- not just Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone, but if the entertainment business were to take this on and just show how ridiculous this is that there will be too many people to threaten. And then I think at that time I won't need protection and the gentleman who made "South Park" will also need -- not need protection but it is -- it is something -- as a community and as a society we have to take them on. And that means, I think, scrutinizing Islam, criticizing it in the same way that we criticize Christianity, Judaism and other ideologies and other religions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well put. Well, we have a lot going on in the CNN NEWSROOM, here's what we're working on for you in the coming hour. Let's go ahead and start with Rafael Romo -- Rafael.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: A Mexican girl is at the center of a controversy in that country. She's only 10- years-old she became pregnant after being raped and her alleged attacker is a member of her own family.
I'm Rafael Romo and we'll have the latest in the live report.
JERAS: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. After quite a low, tornadoes back in the forecast. We spotted one yesterday in Texas and we'll show you the pictures and show you what to expect over the next couple of days in your forecast.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks guys.
Out of sight but not out of mind. Convicted child sex offenders in California face tough new regulations under the proposed Chelsea's law, but will any of them work? We'll take a hard look at it next hour.
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PHILLIPS: You could call it Home Depot meets the Salvation Army; a group of folks keeping building materials out of landfills and reselling them for cheap. CNN's Deborah Brunswick introduces us to the people behind Build It Green.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX RUBINSTEIN, DECONSTRUCTION MANAGER, BUILD IT GREEN: In New York City, about 13,500 tons of construction demolition waste are generated every day. Our mission is to try to save some of that stuff and to promote the reuse of building materials.
We're taking this material from a house in Scarsdale scheduled for demolition and we're sending it back to big NYC's warehouse in Astoria.
JUSTIN GREEN: Build It Green is a building materials reuse center. We take in donations of unwanted building materials and we resell them at a discount.
RUBINSTEIN: We are Home Depot meets Salvation Army.
GREEN: We started in response to the flood of building materials being landfilled and perfectly good building materials out there that are constantly being thrown into the garbage when people renovate. VINNIE CANNON, INTERN, BUILD IT GREEN: Some of the stuff come through, you'll be surprised that people wanted to get rid of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just really inspiring to see how other people's remnants can actually be reinterpreted in (INAUDIBLE) for anything.
RUBINSTEIN: Over 50 percent of New York City's landfill material was construction related. Our goal is to prove that this material has a home.
GREEN: Reuse materials have a positive environmental impact. You're keeping them out of the landfill and you don't have to cut down more trees and you don't have to mine more materials.
CANNON: If everybody thought like my peers here at Build It Green then the world would be a better place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, in observation of Earth Day, CNN journalists are looking at solutions to environmental issues and the people who are trying to make a difference before it's too late. The award-winning In Focus Team tells the stories of these people and the impact they're having in their neighborhood and beyond. Watch it unfold on Green Solutions in Focus Saturday April 24th, 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
