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General Stanley McChrystal Ordered to White House; Banned From Jobs and Homes; President Obama Meets With Insurers, State Officials

Aired June 22, 2010 - 11:58   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Do we have a lot to get to this hour.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen.

Here are some of the people behind today's top stories. A small town makes a big stand on illegal immigration and it could have a national impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should be legal, just like we have to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's right for us to just take it on. It should be a government-wide thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we allowing illegals to be here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, there you go.

Fighting the oil gusher, a live briefing this hour from Admiral Thad Allen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're thinking they're going to see an oil slick covering the beach. That's not the case. But they're not here to see that that's not the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: A Florida town with livelihoods at stake, hoping tourists will ignore the oil and enjoy its beaches. You are online right now, and we are, too.

Ines Ferre is following top stories trending on the internet -- Ines?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, this one from CNN.com. A woman writes to President Obama her husband's immigration status. Well, theyt got a visit from ICE officers. And also, everybody wants a beautiful baby, right? Well, there's actually one dating web site that's offering a virtual sperm and egg bank for beautiful babies.

HARRIS: Wow. OK.

Ines, let's get started.

The president orders his top war commander in Afghanistan to the White House to explain. General Stanley McChrystal and top staffers ripped the Obama team in a disparaging interview in "Rolling Stone" magazine. One unnamed McChrystal aide says the General took charge of the war, quote, "by keeping his eye on the real enemy: the wimps in the White House."

McChrystal's direct quotes appear less critical and inflammatory. He says he was disappointed by his first Oval Office meeting with the president.

Another sit-down with the president got him a dressing down for publicly demanding more troops. Quoting here, "I found that time painful. I was selling an unsellable position." McChrystal is apologizing, but the damage may be done.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, all over this story.

And Barbara, there are even more quotes that you can highlight for us.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony.

You know, this article just keeps reverberating around Washington, as you say. Some of the most concerning quotes, perhaps, to the White House come from the general's top aides, who are quoted as disparaging the president on behalf of General McChrystal.

Let me read you just a couple of them very quickly.

"The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office. McChrystal thought Obama looked uncomfortable and intimidated by the room full of military brass." It goes on, "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was" -- McChrystal. "Here is the guy who is going to run his war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The boss was disappointed."

These are remarks that General McChrystal's aides are making. You know, this just isn't done. You don't disparage the president of the United States.

That is part of what has led to this apology. That is what has led to General McChrystal, on a plane at this hour, back to Washington, to appear at the White House tomorrow in front of the president to explain himself.

The question is, can he survive? In the last hours, we have seen a number of statements from senior congressional leaders saying, you know, they think it was the right thing to do, for General McChrystal to apologize, but everyone is now saying this is a decision for President Obama to make. As the commander in chief, what to do next.

You know, General McChrystal has been a very controversial character in the military, and now the president must decide, be the one to decide, can he continue to have trust and confidence in General McChrystal to carry out the war?

Tony.

HARRIS: OK. I'm reaching a bit here, because I think you probably answered this question, but I'm wondering, anything from Secretary Gates yet?

STARR: Very interesting question, Tony. Silence. Thundering silence since all of this really erupted last night.

A lot of people speculating at the moment, based on Secretary Gates's own track record in dealing with personnel issues, that he is keeping his counsel at the moment. That he has most likely spoken to the president about this, and that, really, we will see in the coming hours, especially tomorrow, when the White House meeting takes place. After that, what happens next?

There is a school of thought being articulated in these Pentagon hallways that McChrystal is so critical to the war -- you know, handpicked by Gates and Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs -- so critical, that they cannot afford to lose him, that he is the only guy who can really carry out the war strategy.

That's a pretty interesting view to try and articulate, because, you know, that's not how the U.S. military works. This is not the cult of the personality in the U.S. military. There is always supposed to be somebody who can step in and take over a critical job. So, it will be quite interesting over the next day or so to see what really happens here.

HARRIS: Wow. How will this shake out?

All right. At the Pentagon for us, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, great to see you. Thank you.

Let's get to Washington now, and get a briefing on the oil disaster in the Gulf. The government's point man -- there he is -- Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: -- flights that are occurring in and around the wellhead, the surveillance flights for oil, and the flights to support logistics and so forth out there. One other interesting note, we found -- we didn't find -- we were able to recover the 40 feet of riser pipe that was cut off when we sheared off the lower marine riser pipe just below the kink. That section of pipe is important for forensics and for the ongoing inquiry. That is being brought to the surface, and brought to New Orleans, and, of course, it will be part of -- the evidentiary material will be part of the marine board of investigation.

We've also had several incursions into the closed area for fishing, where we have Coast Guard cutters out there enforcing the no fishing areas. There are some people, for whatever reasons, that are wandering into those areas and actually fishing in areas that have been closed by NOAA. And in most cases, we do boardings and take appropriate enforcement action, and coordinate back with the National Marine Fishery Service and NOAA. And most generally, there's a citation issued and the catch discarded at sea. In addition to that, we are actively surveilling the coastline, and taking our fight, if you will, from shore out to about 15 or 20 miles regarding skimming operations as the slick continues to migrate slowly to the east, moving over towards Destin, Fort Walton Beach, and the area between there and Port St. Joe.

I've got some schematics with me here today. I've been describing these drilling operations for many, many days. I've been doing it with my hands. We actually have some charts here that can explain.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to go into it.

With that, we'll go to the questions here.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

ALLEN: If I could take you through the schematics here, this is what we're going to try and do by the end of June. It's on this schematic right here.

And what you have is, you have the current wellhead with the blowout preventer and lower marine riser package connected to the Discovery Enterprise, and that's where we're producing right now. Then you have the Q4000 that is drawing product off the choke line through this manifold, and that's producing -- these two right now are the ones that gave us almost 26,000 barrels over the last 24 hours.

We are going to bring in an additional production vessel to come off the kill line. That's the second line that comes out of this manifold over here, and that will add 20,000 to 25,000 barrels a day. That gets us up to the 40,000 to 53,000 barrels a day production by next week.

That's going to pretty much optimize what we can do at the wellhead site, because there are three ways you can get oil out of this. You can come up through the riser pipe, and you can go through the kill or the choke lines to reverse those and actually bring oil to surface. So, we're producing through the kill and choke lines with the Q4000. We'll intend to do that -- HARRIS: OK. Why don't we do this -- we will continue to monitor this briefing, and when we hear something that's particularly interesting, we'll, of course, turn it around and bring it to you.

Sixty-four days now into the oil disaster. A judge could rule today on whether to lift the federal government's moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

Thirty-three exploratory rigs are affected by the six-month ban which began last month. It halts drilling in more than 500 feet of water and prevents new permits from being issued. The government insists it is necessary for safety reviews, but many in the industry absolutely disagree with that assessment.

I spoke last hour to Shane Guidry, who owns a marine transportation company in the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE GUIDRY, PRESIDENT, HARVEY GULF INTERNATIONAL MARINE: You have a six-month moratorium in place. Then, at the end of the six months, you have the conversion time it's going to take to convert these rigs.

You have to find shipyards to bring rigs. You have to find workers to do the work. You have to fabricate equipment, then install it.

So, this moratorium turns from six months to 12, to 18 or 24, depending on availability of equipment, fabrication yards, shipyards. So, the moratorium is not just six months, and that's the concern we all have.

We don't know what that end in sight for us is. And the president, still, today, has not come on TV and said at the end of six months, we will have a plan in place. It's always at least since six months or when the commissions get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK.

So, our Larry King's telethon to help our friends along the Gulf Coast was a huge success last night. It raised more than $1.8 million thanks to donations from you and participation from dozens of celebrities.

(MUSIC)

HARRIS: How about that? India Arie and Herbie Hancock together, performing a jazzed-up version of John Lennon's "Imagine." All of the money raised going to the United Way, National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservancy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: So, the city of Fremont, Nebraska, passes an ordinance -- have you heard about this? -- that makes it almost impossible for illegal immigrants to live or work there.

Ines Ferre with the details.

Ines, how would this work?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it bans hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants. So, this ordinance was voted on by voters last night -- or yesterday -- and basically, what it does is it requires employers to check their workers' immigration status through the national e-verify database. And for landlords, it means that occupants will need an occupancy permit provided by the police department.

And Fremont has about 25,000 residents. Less than 10 percent are Hispanic, but a lot of those Latinos moved there in recent years, attracted by nearby meat-packing jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should be legal just like we have to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's right for us to just take it on. I think it should be a government-wide thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we allowing illegals to be here? If there are laws against illegals, then the laws need to be upheld.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's sad that it's divisive in our community, and I think it's sad that -- when something that is a national issue comes down to being divisive in a community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FERRE: Now, critics say that the measure will cause discrimination and cost the city in litigation.

And Kristen Ostrom ran a campaign against that measure, and this is what she told Brooke Baldwin this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN OSTROM, OPPOSES IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE: It's a cost to Fremont economically, as well as increased conflict in the community. And giving permission for a hostile environment for Hispanics who are citizens and legal immigrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FERRE: Now, supporters say that they don't want to become a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. And Kris Kobach is an attorney running for Kansas secretary of state, and he helped draft the ordinance, and also Arizona's recent immigration law. And this is what he said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) .

KRIS KOBACH, HELPED DRAFT IMMIGRATION MEASURE: The ordinance expressly says that there can be no distinctions based on a person's race. It is completely race-neutral.

And furthermore, she is making a rather interesting claim about her fellow citizens, that somehow they are making racial judgments. That is not true at all. And as far as the cost of defending this, we just learned that the city has already been assured by its insurance carrier that the taxpayers won't have to pay for the cost of defending this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FERRE: Now, the Nebraska ACLU vowed to sue as quickly as possible. And Tony, this ordinance was voted on by the residents, by voters there. So it's --

HARRIS: OK.

FERRE: Different than other ordinances.

HARRIS: OK. All right, Ines. Appreciate it. Thank you.

And this item. An Arizona police chief tells CNN drug cartels have made direct death threats against federal law enforcement officials. This is the first time U.S. officials along the border have confirmed such a threat.

The threats started after off-duty police officers seized several hundred pounds of marijuana during a drug smuggling operation in Nogales, Arizona. Now, Nogales' police chief says an informant told him anyone out of uniform who gets involved in their operation will be "targeted."

As you know, the global recession hurt a lot of people. But you know things are really bad when the queen of England takes a pay freeze. Just one of the top stories we're tracking for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you to the Roosevelt Room of the White House right now, and the president making remarks about health care reform.

Let's listen to the president of the United States.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- state insurance commissioners, where we discuss how we're going to work together to implement health insurance reform.

Now, it was more than a year ago that some of these same CEOs came to the White House for one of the first meetings about what this reform would look like. And we knew we wouldn't see eye to eye on everything. But for the first time, nearly everyone involved in this debate, patients, hospitals, doctors, nurses, businesses, large and small, Democrats and Republicans, even those most invested in the status quo, including our insurance companies, everybody knew that, finally, something needed to be done about America's broken health care system.

It was no longer working for families who were seeing more and more of their incomes eaten by health costs, causing real hardships for working people. It was no longer working for small businesses who were burdened by the weight of premiums that had doubled, more than doubled, over the last decade. It was no longer working for state and federal governments, and periling our fiscal future. And all the while, the number of Americans without insurance kept rising, compounded by a horrific recession -- people losing their jobs and then losing their health care.

So, one thing was clear to everybody: we couldn't keep traveling down the same road. For the sake of our families, our businesses, and the fiscal future of this country, we had to change course. And that's why three months ago, in this very room, I signed the Affordable Care Act into law.

Now, this law will cut costs and make coverage more affordable for families and small businesses. It's reform that begins to bring down our government's long-term structural deficit. It's reform that finally extends the opportunity to purchase coverage to the millions who currently don't have it. And it includes tough new consumer protections to guarantee greater stability, security and control for the millions who do have health insurance.

Now, while it will take a few years to fully implement this law, we can already see it taking effect.

Last month, four million small business owners found a postcard in their mailbox informing them that they could be eligible for a health care tax cut this year worth tens of thousands of dollars to help them cover their employees. And America's largest businesses are filling out applications for critical relief to help them provide coverage for retirees who aren't yet eligible for Medicare.

Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of seniors who fall into the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the doughnut hole began receiving a $250 check to help them afford their medicine. And by the end of the year, we estimate that four million seniors will receive this help. And by 2020, this law will close the doughnut hole completely. We're also strengthening Medicare by going after waste and fraud and abuse in the system, and aggressively pursuing those who prey on seniors with scams. In many cases, young adults without insurance can now stay on their parents' plan until they're 26 years old. That lifts a lot of worry from some parents' shoulders. Even though the insurance companies had until September to comply with this rule, my administration asked them to do so immediately to avoid coverage gaps for young adults, and I want to thank those companies that agreed to do this.

On July 1st, uninsured Americans who had been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they'll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care. Some for the very first time in their lives.

For states that opt to run their own insurance pools using funds from the new law, my administration is urging them to begin enrolling people as soon as possible. And in a few years, once the new competitive marketplace comes online through insurance exchanges, discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions will be banned for good. And that's when individuals and small businesses will finally have the same access to the same types of insurance plans that members of Congress have for themselves.

And today I'm announcing that the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury are issuing new regulations under the Affordable Care Act that will put an end to some of the worst practices in the insurance industry and is put in place the strongest consumer protections in our history. Finally, what amounts to a true Patient's Bill of Rights.

This long, overdue step has one overriding focus, and that's looking out for the American consumer. It's not punitive. As he I said when I met with the insurance executives, it's not meant to punish insurance companies.

They provide a critical service, they employ large numbers of Americans. And, in fact, once this reform is fully implemented a few years from now, America's private insurance companies have the opportunity to prosper from the opportunity to compete for tens of millions of new customers. We want them to take advantage of that competition.

Now, what Americans expect in return is a greater level of accountability and fairness and security. We expect to get what we pay for. And these rights guarantee just that, basic rules of the road that will make America's health care system more consumer-driven and more cost-effective, and give Americans the peace of mind that their insurance will be there when they need it. Give Amy that piece of mind that her insurance will be there when she needs it.

So, starting in September, some of the worst abuses will be banned forever. No more discriminating against children with pre- existing conditions. No more retroactively dropping somebody's policy when they get sick if they made an unintentional mistake on an application. No more lifetime limits or restricted annual limits on coverage. Those days are over. And I am pleased to say that some insurance companies have already stopped these practices.

When news reports indicated that a company was dropping coverage for women diagnosed with breast cancer, my administration called on the industry to end the practice immediately. Don't wait until September. And soon after, the entire industry announced that it would comply with the new law early and stop the practice of dropping people's coverage when they fall ill and need it most.

Some also questioned whether insurance companies might find a loophole in the new law and continue to discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions. And to their credit, when we called the insurance companies to provide coverage to our most vulnerable Americans, the industry agreed.

Those were the right things to do for their consumers, their customers, the American people. And I applaud industry for that. And we're going to hold the industry to that standard, a standard in which industry can still thrive, but Americans are getting a fair shake.

The Patient's Bill of Rights also eliminates the barriers that stand between the American people and their doctors. Americans will be able to keep the primary care doctor or pediatrician they choose.

You will be able to see an OB/GYN without a referral. You'll be able seek emergency care at a hospital outside the plan's network, without fighting to get approval from an insurance company first. And consumers will finally have access to simple, clear information about their choices and their rights.

These protections to preserve America's choice of doctors made up the original Patient's Bill of Rights. It was a proposal that was debated over a decade ago with significant bipartisan support, but was never enacted until now, as part of the Affordable Care Act.

So this is a long overdue victory for America's consumers and patients. And, yes, it does away with the status quo that some insurance companies have taken advantage of for so long. But insurance companies should see this reform as an opportunity to improve care and increase competition. They shouldn't see it as an opportunity to enact unjustifiable rate increases that don't boost care and inflate their bottom line.

The fact is, some insurance companies tried to raise rates even before we passed the law, even though some of them were making record profits. Earlier this year, for example, more than 800,000 Anthem Blue Cross customers in California opened their mail to see that their premiums would go up by as much as 39 percent. And my administration wanted to know why.

People's wages aren't going up 39 percent. And the company's expenses didn't rise by 39 percent. And when pressed, they took a look at it and said, well, our math is wrong. We didn't justify that kind of rate increase, so they with drew it. The point is that there are genuine cost drivers that are not caused by insurance companies. But what is also true is we've got to make sure that this new law is the not being used as an excuse to simply drive up costs. So what we do is make sure that the Affordable Care Act gives us new tools to promote competition, transparency and better deals for consumers.

The CEOs here today need to know that they're going to be required to publicly justify unreasonable premium increases on your websites, as well as the law's new website, healthcare.gov. As we set up the exchanges, we'll be watching closely and will full support states if they exercise their review authority to keep excessively expensive plans out of their insurance exchanges.

None of this is designed to deprive insurance companies of their fair rates. And as I mentioned when we were meeting with the CEOs, there are a lot of cost drivers other than those that are within insurance companies' control. But it is important to have these steps in place to protect consumers from unjustifiable rate increases.

In fact, many states are already exercising their review authority. We're already seeing a wave of change that's lifting up consumers and leveling the playing field. Maine rejected a proposed 18 percent rate hike there. Pennsylvania is investigating premium increases made by nine of the state's largest insurers. New York recently passed a law granting the state the authority to review and approve premium increases before they take effect. And we're working with other states and the state insurance commissioners here today to support similar efforts.

Secretary Sebelius has urged them to investigate other rate hikes. We've set up a new Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight to help. And we'll provide grants to the states that run the best, most innovative oversight programs to protect their consumers.

And beginning next year, insurance companies will be required to spend at least 80 or 85 percent of health care dollars where they should be spent, on health care and on efforts to improve its quality. Not on profits, not on bonuses, not on administrative costs that don't make people healthier.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: So here we are, 90 days after signing a health reform bill into law, President Obama refocusing on the issue with remarks on the insurance part of his health care reform bill, law. According to the White House, the new rules will help you by banning insurance companies from imposing preexisting condition exclusions on your children. It will also prohibit companies from setting lifetime limits on your coverage. In addition, you will be able to choose any primary care physician or pediatricians from your plan's provider network. Plus, insurance companies will not be able to require you to get prior approval before seeking emergency treatment at a hospital outside your plan's network.

Now, when we come back, this summer's drama in Washington. And as you know, there is one every summer. It is heating up as the president is criticized by his top commander in Afghanistan. The secretary of defense weighs in. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And very quickly now, we want to get to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, at the top of this newscast, we asked a question as to whether or not Secretary Gates had weighed in at all on the controversial interview granted by Commander Stanley McChrystal to "Rolling Stone" magazine. And now you have a bit of a breaking development.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Tony. Here it is. Here is the statement from Bob Gates, defense secretary, reacting to the Stan McChrystal interview in "Rolling Stone."

In part, he says, I -- the secretary of defense says, quote, "I believe General McChrystal made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment in this case. General McChrystal has apologized to me and is similarly reaching out to others named in this article to apologize to them as well." The secretary goes on to say, General McChrystal has been recalled to Washington.

What is missing from this statement, Tony, is any outright endorsement of General McChrystal. Blinding silence on that question. Of course, McChrystal will be at the White House tomorrow morning.

You know, I think it's worth mentioning at this point, whatever President Obama decides to do in this matter, it couldn't come at a more difficult time for the war. By General McChrystal's own admission, the offensive into Kandahar is behind schedule. They are still bogged down, fighting in Marja, all of these areas in southern Afghanistan, where the surge troops, the extra 30,000 troops are headed to fight the Taliban insurgency. Violence is up. Attacks are up. Casualties are up.

The real test of General McChrystal's counter insurgency strategy in the war really is unfolding now between now and the end of the year. So this couldn't come at a more sensitive, more difficult time. It's going to be up to President Obama to decide what happens next, Tony.

HARRIS: What a moment unfolding before our eyes at the Pentagon. Barbara Starr for us.

Barbara, thank you.

Got to tell you, you know, all that oil in the Gulf has not reached a lot of Florida's famous beaches, but the mere threat of it is scaring away tourists, so the state's spending a lot of money urging folks not to change their plans. Our Tom Foreman is in Panama City Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was supposed to be a record-breaking summer for Panama City Beach, with the new airport expected to bring thousands of additional tourists and millions of extra dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White sand, people having fun, crystal-clear water.

FOREMAN: Instead, hotel and condo operators are sweating out every weekend, like Michelle Lacway (ph).

MICHELLE LACWAY: We are way below our normal occupancy. We are significantly below our normal occupancy. Normally you see beach umbrellas all up and down that breach and it's completely packed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, ADVERTISEMENT: This summer, come to Panama City Beach, where you'll find -

FOREMAN: So, this town is making a dramatic push to build up its tourist trade, even as the threat of oil is tearing it down. And that starts with recognizing how important vacation time and money are for most tourists. Dan Roe (ph) heads up the Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

DAN ROE, FLORIDA CONVENTION AND VISITOR'S BUREAU: These are the most precious dollars that people spend on a yearly basis.

FOREMAN (on camera): And you really want your visitors to know that you respect that investment, you're going to help them protect that vacation money, and everybody is in this together.

ROE: We are all in this together. You know, June, July and August make up half our business for the entire year. So this is the time now that we really do need our visitors to hang in there with us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we're watching the situation very closely. And we're going to protect your investment of your beach vacation.

FOREMAN (voice-over): To make that happen, many hotels have sharply reduced or eliminated late cancellation fees. The town has stepped up promotion of events and attractions beyond the beach. And electronic billboards or hundreds of miles show daily, honest updates on beach conditions, which most days are still excellent.

RICK DORMAN (ph), SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: People are just hesitant, and I don't blame them.

FOREMAN: The efforts are a godsend for small businesses like Rick Dorman's (ph) newly opened ice cream shop. He needs outsiders to know that oil is appearing, but only in very small amounts and it is cleaned up very quickly.

DORMAN: They're thinking they're going to see an oil slick covering the beach. That's not the case. But they're not here to see that that's not the case.

FOREMAN: The result of all this? Sure, business is down, but - ROE: And we're not seeing the decrease that we've heard about in other places. I mean it's not going to be a record-breaker for us, but it's not going to be a horrible year, at least not yet.

FOREMAN: And on the Gulf Coast, these days, that is saying something.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A summer school program founded by civil rights pioneer Marion Wright Edelman allows college interns to give back through teaching. Now a group of young men takes her vision a step further. They described how it helped them find a new calling during a roundtable discussion with Education Secretary Arne Duncan. His initiative to recruit more male African-American teachers is the focus of our three-part series, "Education: The Next Generation."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Freedom School did for me is show me that I wasn't the only one that's like me. It showed that I had thousands of procedures and sisters with the same focus that even though I come from this situation, I can be that hope, I can be that influence on my whole community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was first a music (ph) major. Had no intention of becoming a teacher. And I got into the program and I saw the hurt in their eyes and pain and decided I just can't turn my back on these children. So I see it in my class and in my school. The staff is like 35 -- out of 35, there's only three male teachers there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My experience with Freedom School convinced me that teaching was the way to go. I think we've suffered from an identity crisis, secretary, and in positions of affluence and leadership.

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: I love the foster (ph) here of the young children teaching the - the older children teaching the younger children. That was my mom's philosophy that the 15-year-olds taught the 10-year-olds and the 10-year-olds taught the five-year- olds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The thing that really draws me in is that, as black males, we have a huge impact on the kids we teach. And we -- they really gravitate to us and they really just are engaged by the conversations that we hold. And so I think that if there are more of us, then we will create more black teachers and more dynamic black males in the courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we have that opportunity to mold minds that are malleable, that Pre-K to eight time frame, we don't have the image to look to. We don't have that person, that male.

DUNCAN: I was just struck how many of you that the exposure and the experience of being part of Freedom School has changed your life. I mean it's just stagger to hear this conversation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody is having trouble thinking about the future of America, they should stop, because what you've told us today is just incredible.

DUNCAN: It's a fact - it's, you know, it's tough to talk about, that in other countries, and some of which are doing better than us academically, the top third or the top fourth of every graduating class is going into teaching, because it is that revered. The consistent theme was this idea of exposure (ph). I mean some of you, it was your natural calling. Many of you were in -- but you got a chance through Freedom Schools to find that passion and to find that gift. You had it in you. You didn't know you had it in you. You had to have that opportunity to bring it out. And how do we do that at, you know, 1,000-fold.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Good stuff, huh? Well, tomorrow, the power of mentoring. Words from a college freshman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON MASTIN, STUDENT, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: I did have one African-American male teacher, one role model that took me under his wing and stuck with me through the rough, hard, sticky, nasty, grimy times. His name was William Marcel Hayes. And he definitely looked out for me like someone should look out for other people like me in the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The rest of my conversation with that young man tomorrow. It is the final report in our three-part series, "Education: The Next Generation." It is also one of our blog questions. Here it is for you. Is placing black men in the classroom the answer to solving some - certainly not all -- but to solving some of the problems in the black community? If you would, send us your comments to cnn.com/tony.

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HARRIS: Do you have financial worries and don't know quite where to turn? Poppy Harlow from CNN's Money team is at "The Help Desk" for you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Donna Rosato, senior writer with "Money," Rod Kurtz is the executive editor of AOL Small Business.

Thanks for being here, guys.

ROD KURTZ, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, AOL SMALL BUSINESS: Good to see you.

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR WRITER, "MONEY": Good to be here. HARLOW: Starting off with you, Rod. We've got a question from Francine in North Carolina. It's a great question. "We have two sons in medical school. Both have student loans. How can they get help paying these back?"

KURTZ: Well, congratulations. Two sons as doctors, it's going to be great. And the good news is, doctors often make a lot of money. But, you know, it's expensive to go to medical school.

And I was actually poking around the American Medical Association's website and they actually have a great link that takes you to a page that lists by state all the loan forgiveness and loan repayment programs that each state offers. So I think that's a great place to start to see, you know, if you can first get this -- some of this debt taken care of.

And I know also that the - that there are certain government programs, that if you, after medical school, go work for the government in some kind of medical capacity they will also help you out and Uncle Sam can be a great benefactor. So two options to consider there. And I think, you know, helps get out of this hole of college debt.

HARLOW: That's great advice. Just go on, I guess, the AMA's website and you can look and see that whole list.

KURTZ: Yes, absolutely.

HARLOW: And, Donna, a question for you comes from Angela. And Angela wrote in this situation. "My husband and I were in over our heads with credit cards and car payments," like so many Americans, right? "Now we are debt-free. Unfortunately, our credit scores are not so great. We'd like to buy a home in the next year or two. How can we increase our scores?"

ROSATO: Well, it's very commendable that they're working on this. And the good news is, is that more recent activity has a bigger influence on your credit score than older activity. The number one thing you can do to really boost your credit score these days is to pay down or pay off any debt that you have, whether it's a student loan, a credit card, mortgage, auto loan. That will have a really dramatic effect on boosting your credit score.

Another good thing to do is to try not to max out the credit that you do have. So you want to stay -- for example, if you have a credit card, you want to only use about 30 percent of the limit on there.

And then, of course, always pay your cards on time. Don't be late. That has a huge effect on your credit score. So really the best thing they can do is pay their bills on time, pay down some of that debt and don't max out their cards and they can really help their credit score.

HARLOW: Right. And the smart moves they're making right now are going to matter more to their score than some of the mistakes they made in the past. ROSATO: Exactly.

HARLOW: So that's some (INAUDIBLE) on this one.

Donna, Rod, thank you guys so much.

KURTZ: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Well, "The Help Desk" is all about getting you answers. Send us an e-mail to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com or log on to cnn.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions. You can, of course, also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It is on newsstands now.

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ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Combatant commander does not usually participate in these meetings from Washington. The president has -- the president asked for him to come back to explain those remarks, and that's what he's on his way to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the story, McChrystal or his aides are quoted as ripping on the president, the vice president, Eikenberry, Holbrooke. How can the president keep someone in his job who offers that level of insubordination? Does he plan to fire him?

GIBBS: Well, let me say first and foremost, there are more than 90,000 of our bravest men and women in Afghanistan. And what we owe them is nothing short of our full support and our best efforts to get a new strategy in that country right. That's the president's focus. That should be everybody's focus.

It was a strategy, as you all know, that was worked out in long consultation last fall and last winter. And the president went around to many of the people that will be in the situation room tomorrow, asking them if they agreed with this new strategy, and asked for their commitment to implement it. That's -- again, that's what we owe the men and women that are fighting each and every day over there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

GIBBS: No, no, let me finish by saying that, again, the president will speak with General McChrystal about his comments, and we'll have more to say after that meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is McChrystal's job safe?

GIBBS: We'll have more to say after that meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you confirm that Orszag is leaving the administration?

GIBBS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And will there be any changes in fiscal policy?

GIBBS: Well, I would say, obviously, that Peter has served along side a valuable and within a valuable