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Primary Day in Three Key States; Black Farmers Demand Justice; Where the Oil Might Go
Aired May 18, 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: Hello, everyone. Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Tuesday, May 18th.
Primary Day in three key states today. Voters frustrated with Washington may give veteran U.S. senators a one-way ticket home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's out with the old, in with the new.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You think it's time for new?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I believe so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow. OK.
The government promised a $1 billion-plus settlement for loan discrimination. Now African-American farmers say pay up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want our damn money, and we want our money now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Ouch.
Colombia's drug kingpins are the lords of cocaine. For that country's farmers, marijuana is the surging cash crop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The farmers say they're not getting rich growing pot, just getting by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
Those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM. High-stakes elections happening now. Voting under way in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Arkansas seen as a measure of just how angry many of you are across the country. Anti-incumbent sentiment, throw the bums out, Tea Party power being put to the test during today's primaries.
Headlines in "The Philadelphia Inquirer" call it "As Close as a Race Can Get." "The Lexington News Herald" says, "All Eyes Are on Kennedy's U.S. Senate Race." And "The Arkansas Democrat Gazette" proclaims, "Senate Race is Stellar One for Election."
One thing is clear. Most of you do not like the direction this country is taking. A new Gallup poll shows 24 percent of respondents are satisfied with the way things are going. A whopping 74 percent dissatisfied.
So, we want to know, what do you want? What do you want?
Go to our blog, CNN.com/Tony. Leave us a comment. And we will share some a bit later in this hour.
We have got the best political team on television in place for the three key Senate races that could shake up Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Candy Crowley in Philadelphia.
How cranky are the voters in Pennsylvania? That's a key question that really will decide tonight's outcome which pits 30-year Senate veteran Arlen Specter against four-year House veteran Joe Sestak.
It has been a race right down to the wire. The question is whether voters really want to throw out an incumbent with as much power as Specter has had for a relatively new face. We'll see tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: I'm Dana Bash in Little Rock, Arkansas, where it is Primary Day. And we are at a polling station where voter sentiment is mixed about their incumbent senator, Blanche Lincoln.
Some voters have come out of here and said that they voted against her either because she waffled on health care, or because they say they just want change in Washington. But there is evidence that Senator Lincoln's incumbent message is resonating, and that is experience matters and that voters should send her back.
We talked to several voters who said that because she is chairwoman of the Agriculture Committee, and this helps the state of Arkansas, where there are farmers, that they voted for her because they like that seniority. So, it is very much mixed, and we're going to see how the day plays out as people keep voting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. Let's do this -- let's start with the open Senate seat in Kentucky, Secretary of State Trey Grayson versus political newcomer Rand Paul, and all kinds of Tea Party implications here.
National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin is at a polling station in Bowling Green, where Paul is expected to vote this hour.
Jessica, good to see you.
Look, this is a midterm election we're talking about here. Turnout is notoriously low for midterms.
How would you describe the turnout so far at your polling place?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Turnout here is light, Tony, and they're expecting about 30 percent across the state. That's slightly lower than the most comparable election, which was the midterm of 2006. But still, there's a lot of energy on the Republican side, certainly, and a lot of focus Rand Paul, because he was seen as the insurgent candidate, dismissed as little more than an irritation by the Republican establishment here not long ago. And he's now surged so far forward, that the Tea Party is expecting him to be sort of their standard bearer going into the Senate race in November.
Most of the political watchers here think it's just a question of how much he'll win by. There are some factors that could, you know, surprise people, but the Rand Paul camp is feeling pretty confident today -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. And Jessica, when you talk to people there in Bowling Green, what frustrations are they voicing to you?
YELLIN: You know, there's a lot of -- it's almost as if they're on message with what Rand Paul's campaign theme has been, frustration with Washington, too much government spending, promises to return power to the states, and not politics as usual.
Here's some of what people told us earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seems like he has a level head, and seems like he's not really a big, heavy government. He's not a government person right now. He doesn't have the backers that other people do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rand Paul is just somebody new, somebody that is just totally outside the system and is going to hopefully bring at least that type of input to Washington. And we need people like him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's an outsider. He doesn't already have an inside agenda that he has to adhere to. Maybe because he is an outsider he's the right person. (END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, Tony, we are at Rand Paul's polling station. And so as you can see, all those people were for Rand Paul. We were not able to find anyone not for Rand Paul. I mean, he's very popular around here.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
YELLIN: And they really like his message of shaking things up, marching to his own tune if he gets to D.C.
HARRIS: OK.
Jessica Yellin for us.
Good to see you, Jessica. Thank you.
Early voters set a record in Arkansas. That's where another incumbent is facing a very tough battle.
And Jacqui Jeras tracking weather. The Pacific hurricane season is under way. The Atlantic season begins in just two weeks.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and the outlook not so good, Tony, unfortunately. Our sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic are amazingly high. We'll tell you what that means and how it could impact the season coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Wow. In Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln is looking for a third term, but she's got to get past a strong challenger on the left, Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter. Comment in local newspapers is just one way to gauge any race. Check out these blog responses to "The Arkansas Times," a Little Rock weekly.
Max writes, "'Throw the bums out' is my banner. Don't believe there is any way newbies can be any weaker and derelict in duty as the present gaggle trying to run things."
And this from Cato: "I still don't see why anyone except a millionaire would vote for Blanche Lincoln. I personally want a senator who will look out for my interests."
That's the kind of voter sentiment Senator Lincoln is up against today.
Here again, CNN's Dana Bash with the candidates in Little Rock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: When women wear a hat, it means business.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. LINCOLN: Other people can tell you about what they're going to promise. I can tell you what I've done. And I've worked hard and I've produced.
One of the things I've been working on --
BASH: Why do you think this is such a tough primary for you?
LINCOLN: Multiple reasons. I have run midterm with the administrations before back in 1994 when it was our own President Clinton. It was a tough and challenging year. People's expectations have been elevated and you are the first thing that comes between them and the expectations that haven't quite been met.
BASH: Those unmet expectations seem to be feeding into the anti- incumbent mood that Senator Lincoln is battling. Voters are fed up.
PATRICK BLOCK, VOTER: No knock against Miss Blanche Lincoln at this point in time, but I think sometimes it's out with the old and in with the new.
BASH: You think it is time for new?
BLOCK: Yes, I believe so.
BASH: Do you think that what's happening on the Democratic side in some ways mirrors the tea party on the right and what's happening to you mirrors that, that it's just a wave of anger at Washington and you are bearing the brunt of it?
LINCOLN: I think people are concerned. People are disappointed in Washington and I join them in that. And I'm disappointed too. I do believe in fiscal responsibility. I am a true moderate.
BASH: Lincoln is a moderate Democrat. Her positions against the public option for health care and against key union priorities have angered liberal and labor groups who have come here from out of state to try to defeat her. But talk to her Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, and his message is pure populism.
BASH: When you think of a Democratic incumbent being challenged in a primary you think of somebody from the left, but you are running from the outside.
BILL HALTER, (D) CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: I am running from the outside, that's precisely right. And this is a time when people want you to stand up for them. Look what's happened just in the last two years -- $700 billion of taxpayer money going to bailout ball Wall Street banks.
People want change. They know if you send the same people back to you go Washington, you are guaranteed to get the same result.
BASH: Now, if Blanche Lincoln is victorious in her Democratic primary, either with an outright win or in a runoff in early June, she still faces a huge challenge in keeping her Senate seat out of Republican hands in November.
Dana Bash, CNN, Little Rock, Arkansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A veteran congressman is resigning after admitting he had an affair with a female staffer. Republican Mark Souder of Indiana says he is leaving office effective Friday. Souder has been in Congress for 16 years. He won his primary two weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARK SOUDER (R), INDIANA: In the poisonous environment of Washington, D.C., any personal failing is seized upon, twisted for political gain. I'm resigning rather than put my family through a painful, drawn-out process of which any legal question would have been clearly resolved and I would have been exonerated. But the political price to pay and the personal price on my family was not worth it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. The best political team is out covering all the big races. CNN will bring you the results as soon as we get them. Watch "JOHN KING USA," CNN tonight, 7:00 Eastern.
But before you see him tonight, you will see him here in the CNN NEWSROOM. John King joins me at 12:30 Eastern Time.
The Taliban says they are behind the carnage in Kabul today. A suicide bomber drove a van head-on into a NATO convoy. Eighteen people were killed, including five American troops. Many of the civilian dead and wounded were women and children on a bus. The powerful explosion left a crater eight feet deep and scattered debris a quarter mile in all directions.
Black farmers have a message for Congress and the president -- we want our money and we want it now. They are demanding the justice they've been denied for years.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: They were denied government loans because of their race. Now the nation's black farmers say they're being denied justice once again. They're demanding the government make good on a $1.25 billion settlement.
Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry reports the farmers are pointing fingers at Congress and at President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN BOYD, JR., PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION: I'm a fourth generation farmer. And that's all that I've ever really done in my life, is farm. ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Out on the Virginia countryside, John Boyd, Jr. prepares to roll hay, plant soy beans, and then wait for the harvest. But for more than a decade, he's been waiting for a lot more -- justice.
BOYD: This is about the government not doing what they promised that they were going to do time and time again. And this time I'm out here saying I'm holding you accountable.
HENRY: The problem is 200 miles away in Washington, where President Obama has promised to help black farmers who for years were denied government loans because of the color of their skin. Back in February, the Obama administration brokered a $1.25 billion settlement, giving compensation to up to about $50,000 per farmer.
But Congress missed a March 31st to fund the settlement. So now John Boyd is wearing his other hat, chief lobbyist for the National Black Farmers Association.
BOYD: It's like we want our damn money. We want our money now.
HENRY: Boyd is particularly upset the president has not pushed Congress to meet the new May 31st deadline and the lobbyist is blunt about saying the issue of race is complicating the White House response.
(on camera): Do you think the president is shying away in part because it is an issue dealing with race?
BOYD: I do think that the administration doesn't take it head on because it's solely a black issue. The black farmers don't have their money and the person they grieve to is the president, a black president that has been supportive in the past. So I'm caught in a very, very tough position which I have shared with senior level staff right over here.
HENRY (voice-over): White House officials insist race is not a factor and say they are eager to get the money.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President's approach to this is not based on the color of skin but because of what is right.
HENRY: But these farmers say they can't wait much longer.
People like John Moses Connor are literally dying off. The Virginia farmer recently passed away at the age of 86, without ever getting the money the government owed him.
BOYD: It really hurts to be here and you know, have to deliver a message that Mr. Bonner's going home services that Congress failed to act.
HENRY: As he farm with his own father, John Boyd Jr. says all of the funerals inspire him to keep up the fight. BOYD: We didn't survive because we were bad farmers. We survived because we were good farmers. My grandfather used to say the land don't know no color. The land never mistreated anybody. He said people do.
HENRY: Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy.
Day 28 following the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. One leader is resigning, another is before Congress. And we have CNN crews keeping you informed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Let's take a break.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And we are tracking developments on several fronts today in the massive oil leak in the Gulf.
A second day of hearings getting under way in the Senate this hour. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar -- Ken Salazar facing questions about what the government did and didn't do in response to the disaster.
President Obama plans to set up a special commission to investigate the leak. Also, a top official from the agency that oversees offshore drilling is resigning a month early.
And samples from tar balls found on the beach in Key West, Florida, have been sent to the lab for analysis. Researchers say it is unlikely but not impossible the tar balls are from the oil leak in the Gulf.
I've got to tell you, our correspondents are on top of this story. Ed Lavandera and Rob Marciano are following developments along the coast. Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar and Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry tracking what's happening in Washington.
But back to those tar balls found in Key West, Florida -- I've got to say that slowly -- it is not clear if they came from the oil leak in the Gulf. If they did, it could be sort of an ominous sign related to the loop current.
What is the loop current? Let's get you back to Jacqui Jeras now.
Jacqui, what is the loop current?
JERAS: Well, it's a current, basically, of fast-moving water in the central part of the Gulf of Mexico.
HARRIS: But a deep current, right?
JERAS: It's a deep current and it's a very warm current.
HARRIS: Yes.
JERAS: All right?
Now, one of the best places I can show this to you as what we're seeing here is how it gets into the loop current. This is a satellite picture from NASA that was taken yesterday. All right? See this little line right here?
HARRIS: Yes.
JERAS: That is a little trajectory, a little movement of some of that oil slick, that oil that's moving in here. And if you take a look at this little area right there, that's the loop current. And that is what we're concerned, is that it's starting to get entrained within this area. So the loop current --
HARRIS: OK.
JERAS: -- goes up around the middle part of the Gulf of Mexico.
HARRIS: Hence, the loop.
JERAS: Comes down toward the Florida Keys. OK? And then it brings it back up into the Gulf Stream. We've all talked about the Gulf Stream. And it brings it on up the coast there.
So, this is a computer model forecast from the University of South Florida, and the black is the oil spill itself. And so it's projecting that it's going to be moving down here, and they're telling us now that it could be five days, maybe six days away from hitting the Florida Keys, potentially.
Now, one of the things that we need to keep in mind as we look at these computer model forecasts, this is just based on the currents in the ocean. Imagine, you know, dropping that bottle, right, the water in the bottle and what that would do. But this doesn't take into account things like evaporation of that oil. It doesn't take into account things like the wind, what the wind trajectories are going to be doing, and all of those things influence.
So, I still think it's a little questionable whether or not it's going to get there and how long that will actually take, because this current moves one maybe to two miles per hour, so it's a slow mover, but eventually it's going to get there. Something else we wanted to put in perspective that you and I were talking about earlier today is, how big is this thing really?
HARRIS: Yes. Thank you for doing this.
JERAS: OK? Let's talk about it.
So, here is the estimation of how large this is, 6,300 square miles. This is where it is in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire Gulf of Mexico is 600,000-plus square miles. So that's 1.02 percent of the Gulf of Mexico that's being impacted by this oil right now. The problem is that it's close to shore.
HARRIS: Right.
JERAS: It's where everybody likes to fish. And we've got a lot of wildlife in this area and that's why it's been such an issue. And if it does spread into that loop current and makes its way down and around, of course, that's going to be more widespread and more of a problem. It will be more likely to hit the Florida Keys --
HARRIS: Yes.
JERAS: It will be more likely to affect the southeast coast and the western coast. So places like Miami, into Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, could be impacted. Then it'll probably -- because of the movement of the gulfstream it would head up more toward the Carolinas potentially.
HARRIS: Wow.
JERAS: So this is surface oil, by the way, not the deep stuff.
HARRIS: Not the deep plumes that we're hearing --
JERAS: This is the stuff sliding along the top.
HARRIS: OK. OK. Good stuff, Jacqui. Thank you for that perspective. Yes, that's good stuff.
Think your child doesn't see race or the color of someone's skin? See if you feel that way after you watch our next report. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So last hour we told you about a new study commissioned by CNN that puts the issue of race in America under the microscope. Only this time through the eyes of children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the ugly child.
Why is she the ugly child?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's, like, a lot darker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the good looking child.
And why is she the good looking child?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she's light skinned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the good child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Why is he the good child?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he looks good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has a skin color most children don't like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: One theory for racial bias in children is that they pick it up from home.
Our Soledad O'Brien and Anderson Cooper talked about it with the Editor in Chief of "Essence" magazine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA BURT-MURPHY, EDITOR IN CHIEF, ESSENCE MAGAZINE: My husband and I, we talk about race with our children. They will tell you that we talk about race too much. But we do talk to them because it's important that they are armed and ready for those moments in life where it becomes an issue. And we tell them that in the classroom there will be people that have softer expectations for you. But what matters is the expectations that you have for yourself and the expectations that your father and I have for them.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You actually warn them about softer expectations?
BURT-MURPHY: We do. And we tell them that you've got to be better, you've got to do harder, you've got to do more. You always have to do that as an African-American. We tell them that. They don't fully understand what that's all about. They think that everything that they do is taken on face value for who they are and not the way that they look.
But there will become a time -- particularly when you're dealing with African-American boys -- I'm very sensitive about the time that I'm going to have to have the conversation with Salomon (ph) and Ellison (ph) about how to deal with the police. That's a very serious conversation that African-American parents have to have with their children because it can be a life or death situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: The conversation on race continues tonight. What are you really teaching your children, black or white? Kids on Race on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Checking our top stories right now.
The International Space Station has a new addition. Atlantis astronauts used the robotic arms this morning to install the 20-foot module that can be used for storage, scientific experiments, or a docking port.
The police shooting death of a 7-year-old girl in Detroit, may have been caught on tape. A reality TV show camera crew was there when police raided the home Sunday, looking for a murder suspect. Police say the officer's gun fired during a struggle with someone in the home. The family's attorney says he has seen video showing the officer fired from outside the house.
And Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana, says he is resigning effective Friday. The reason, an affair with a staffer. The eight- term Republican says he has, quote, "Sinned against God, my family and my wife." Souder won his primary just two weeks ago.
America's war on drugs. An Associated Press review finds it has met none of its goals. Tomorrow President Obama will meet with his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon. They will talk about drug- related violence along the border which Mexico says the U.S. is partly responsible for.
Ines Ferre is looking into the impact of the drug war. Ines, good to see you.
How much has been spent, let's start here, on the drug war so far?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we've got some graphics that you can help me out with right there in the studio.
HARRIS: Yes, I sure can.
FERRE: Some graphics on how much has been spent. The AP put together this whole analysis. $1 trillion over the last 40 years. Now, this includes billions on law enforcement, taking the fight directly to countries like Colombia, and also anti-drug campaigns for example, like the "Just Say No" campaign.
Now, going on to the next graphic, Tony. This all started during Nixon's presidency in 1970. He signed a Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention and Control Act. During the whole hippy era, there was a lot of pot, acid, heroin use. So, Nixon had an annual budget of $100 million. Tony, that's 31 times less than what it is today, even when you adjust it for inflation?
HARRIS: OK. So drill down on that number. What are we looking at, say, for this year?
FERRE: Well, right now what we're looking at is $15.5 billion that the Obama has requested for this war on drugs.
HARRIS: We've got it right here.
FERRE: On that next screen, that's right. And that's $10 billion for interdiction and law enforcement. Everything that has to do with seizing the drugs and arresting the traffickers. But about a third of the annual budget would be going toward prevention and treatment programs. And that's what people are saying is really needed to create a more complete approach. That means managing the drug dealer, as well to the addiction, getting it down to that level.
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.
Maybe one last thought here is this idea of whether or not this war on drugs has really made an impact. Has it really worked?
FERRE: Yes. And it really depends on who you talk to.
The current drug policy director, Gil Kerlikowske, said in an interview, look, in the grand scheme of things the drug strategy hasn't been successful. The drug concern, if anything, has magnified.
Now, the former drug policy chief, John Walters, he says that society would be far worse today if there hadn't been a war on drugs. He says that drug abuse peaked nationally in '79 and it's below those levels today.
But, Tony, one thing is really clear. This is a war that's changed over time. Trafficking has moved from Colombia, to Mexico, along with violence. And you also have nuances. Drug seizures are up but so is availability. And cocaine use is down, but prescription drugs are rising. So you have a lot of changes. It's a very complex issue to touch.
HARRIS: Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.
So Colombia is making a bit of a comeback as a major marijuana supplier, but they are asking us not to call them the bad guys. A look at another player coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, more now on America's war on drugs. Billions spent and little to show for it, now marijuana is booming as a cash crop in Columbia. Karl Penhaul has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: America's been fighting its war on drugs in Latin America for more than 20 years, and billions of dollars later there's still no victory in sight. Now many Columbians, both politicians and ordinary citizens, say they believe that the effort is poorly focused. They say there should be more focus on combating consumption in the U.S. and less focus on fighting production abroad.
Now, earlier this month I was out in the marijuana plantations of southwest Columbia and many of the farmers I spoke to there say that they would gladly destroy their illegal drug crops if the U.S. and the rest of the international community helped them fight poverty.
(voice-over): In forgotten canyons, far from the law, Columbia's new marijuana boom has taken root.
"We know we're doing harm to society, but this is the only thing that gives us an income because ordinary food crops are worth nothing," he says.
A farmhand listens to love songs on the radio as he strips marijuana buds from dried stalks. Those sounds and the smell are about as sweet as life gets in this corner of Columbia as farmers say they're not getting rich growing pot, just getting by. "I earn just enough to feed my family, send the kids to school and pay for clothes. I don't have gold chains or fine cars," he says.
It's a world where women cook as drugs dry in the kitchen rafters. Where horses trot home, weighed down with fresh-picked marijuana.
Once it's dry, the cheapest variety sells for around $4 a kilogram, that's about twice the price of coffee, the only other viable cash crop here.
(on camera): Around here, they call this variety of marijuana Creepy or Kryptonite and normally it's grown in greenhouses or even hydroponically and they say that it's three times stronger than other marijuana. It's also much more expensive.
(voice-over): Back in the '70s, Columbia exported its marijuana to the U.S. Now, according to the DEA, Columbia is emerging as a major supplier to Europe.
Outside this mud brick shack, a farm hand compresses his latest crop into 12 kilogram or 25-pound bales.
(on camera): What they've got to do now is pack it up, tape it up and then the hard part comes and the added value -- a lot of the added value comes is because they've got to figure out some way of smuggling it out from the hills and down to market.
(voice-over): Despite expanding markets, peasants here have just put a proposal to the government. They say they're ready to tear up marijuana in return for farm subsidies, low-interest loans and better roads to transport legal produce to market. "We're ready to voluntarily substitute our drug crops on a gradual basis if the government invests in our communities and in the region," he says.
Previous government crop substitution programs have been small scale and largely unsuccessful. The government continues to insist peasants should destroy drug crops immediately, not gradually. If there's no deal, farmers worry things could get more violent. Fire fights like this occur almost daily as the army pours troops into these hills. The mission, first, to fight fart (ph) guerillas who operate here and tax the drug trade; then, once the terrain is secure, to begin wiping out drug crops by force.
Peasant leaders, though, say force is not the answer. "The government has money for war, but if there was no war they could invest in health, education and farm subsidies," he says. For now, though, growing marijuana remains the surest strategy for survival.
(on camera): Now, of course, there is been some financial incentives in the U.S. war against drugs, but on the whole, the big stick rather than the carrot has been the rule.
But maybe those Colombian farmers are right. Maybe now is time to call a truce at least on some fronts at least in the war against drugs and try to cut production by some kind of peaceful consensus rather than threats.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And next hour we will take you to another frontline in the war on drugs to see how U.S. border agents are helping fellow officers across the border. It is a program that may not be around much longer. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Yes, you know, it is time to get back to issue number one, get some news about the economy into the program today. Let's start that by getting you to the best financial website on the web -- I say it every day, because it's true every day -- CNNMoney.com. You know, the lead story, as you can see hear, "Pledging to reform ties with Big Oil." The secretary of the interior, as you know, is testifying on Capitol Hill, we will follow that.
Now, when T.J. Holmes handed me this show, we were in positive territory with the Dow. Now I go the show and we're in negative territory. We're selling a bit here. We're down three. Let's just call it flat. The Nasdaq, at last check, was down 18. We'll continue to follow these numbers.
President Obama's foreclosure prevention program has the weight of $75 billion behind it, right? It's goal is to help struggling homeowners, but new number out show a growing number of people are dropping out of the program. Let's get over here to Felicia Taylor, she's on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Felicia, look, I -- I -- we've covered this story enough for me to know that this is a pretty big deal.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this is what's kind of confusing about it is that it's kind of a 50/50 split. The number of people that are actually dropping out of the program is about equal to the number of the people that are actually getting help from the program and being able to sustain that.
What happens is you go into this kind of trial modification phase first.
HARRIS: Yes.
TAYLOR: And during that trial period, I mean, you get a modified payment or a reduction in your mortgage payment level, but you have to meet three payments on time, and this is kind of where a lot of people are not meeting that basic requirement and falling out. Twenty-three percent of the people fall out at that point. As you can see, 277,000 people drop out of the trial program versus the 295,000 people who actually get permanent modifications, and that's the point --Tony.
HARRIS: And what's the problem here? Is it we're talking about people who can't make the payments cause they're out of work, they're losing their jobs, other priorities?
TAYLOR: Well, there -- you know, it's almost quadruple-fold. Here's the thing is, it's pretty easy to sign up. All you have to, literally, is sign up and state what your income is. You don't have to verify it until later and that's where the problem comes in. And you know, critics say, inevitably, this is what going to happen is it leads to the number of foreclosures that we've seen.
The basic requirements are this, in order to sign up, you have to occupy your house as your primary residence, your monthly mortgage payment is greater than 31 percent of your income, and that's when, you know, you have to prove these things later on down the road after that trial phase. So, that's part of the problem, but there are changes coming.
As of June first, you will have to verify your income before you actually enroll in the program, and that should make the weeding out process a little bit better so people don't have to fail out of the modification trial phase as well -- Tony.
HARRIS: Because we need that program to really work to shore-up housing. I mean, it's really as simple as that, correct?
TAYLOR: Well, we're trying not to see the number of foreclosures increase. The idea is to help people meet these payments and get through it so that they can hold on to their homes, exactly, and that we don't see the housing crisis that we've been, obviously, watching for literally, you know, the last 18 to 24 months.
Taking a look at where the Dow stands right now, it's been kind of another whipsaw day on Wall Street again. The Dow itself is pretty much flat. Thank goodness we had some good retail reports from Home Depot, Wal-Mart leading the Dow up about 2.5 percent.
But the main concern remains focused on Europe, that euro currency itself and the Eurozone, whether or not they're going to be able to ratify that del for Greece. And who knows if President Sarkozy is going to do what he says and possibly pull out -- Tony.
HARRIS: Right. Oh, boy. Felicia Taylor at the New York Stock Exchange. Good to see you, Felicia, thank you.
The U.S. has been pouring millions of your tax dollars into Mexico's drug war, right? We will look at whether it is doing any good at all. Our senior Latin American Affairs Editor Rafael Romo will be joining me live next hour.
Plus, the Army is recalling 44,000 helmets, but tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers may be wearing them right now in the warzone. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence looks at the danger and what's being done about it.
Those stories and much more ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. We're back in a moment.
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HARRIS: So a double blow to one family. They returned home to find all of their possessions have been thrown out after the floods. We get details now from Ben Watson (ph) of affiliate WMC.
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BEN WATSON, WMC REPORTER (voice-over): This Chopper 5 aerial shot shows you flood damage, but it's on the ground where you hear all the pain this water has caused.
GAIL FOUTS, FLOOD VICTIM: And it's hard. It's hard.
WATSON: Gail Fouts and her family returned to their Shady Oaks trailer over the weekend to pick up items they were not able to take the day flood waters forced them to evacuate.
FOUTS: And walked up the street holding my tennis shows, my wallet, my cell phone and I got up to -- when I started it was at my waist, by the time I got up to the street, it was up to here.
WATSON: Fouts says her family joined hundreds of other flood victims forced to live in Red Cross shelters. The Millington mother and grandmother claims Shady Oaks officials told her that she would be able to retrieve her belongings when the water receded, but Fouts says when she returned to the trailer, family members were heartbroken by what they found.
FOUTS: Imagine to my surprise, nothing we owned was in that trailer and we were told it would be there.
WATSON: Fouts thought she would have more time to retrieve her belongings. She was horrified when she found out that her water- soaked trailer had been cleaned out and everything thrown in the trash.
FOUTS: My daughter is going to kill me. She had lost a baby and his little locks (ph) which lay in there, they was thrown out like yesterday's garbage.
WATSON: Fouts says what upset family members most is the missing box of items that belonged to a grandchild that passed last year.
FOUTS: We're leaving here today, my husband and myself, we're leaving today.
WATSON: So, driving a U-Haul stuffed with donated items, the Fouts family is starting over. And while they've lost a lot of material things, they take comfort in the fact that they still have each other.
Ben Watson, Action News 5.
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