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Update on Gulf Oil Leak; Deal on Bank Bill; World Leaders Meet in Canada; Suicide Linked to Oil Disaster; Stocks Struggle; Site For Foodies; Helping East L.A. After Gang Life; Spying Tools You Can Use; Trending on the Internet; The Help Desk
Aired June 25, 2010 - 11:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Anyway, we are going live to Admiral Thad Allen giving an update on this day 67 of the Gulf oil disaster.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: -- sensing device down and slowly close on the wellbore to the point where they're ready to do the intercept drilling.
This last part takes some time, because they only do several hundred feet at a time, withdraw the drill pipe and then put the sensor down and figure out how close they're coming. After a series of these readings, they have a very precise idea how close they are to the wellbore and then how to turn the drill in and make the intercept. But it will get much slower, because they have to basically drill, withdraw the drill pipe and put the sensor down.
They also have a vessel standing by that's full of mud on the top, so in the event they were -- to get really close and potentially nick the wellbore, they can actually put mud down to control any hydrocarbons that might come out.
Regarding the longer-term containment, we should by next week have the additional vessel in place to start producing off of the kill line, that's the other line that's available to bring oil to the surface. That will bring us to three production vessels and the 53,000-barrel capacity we were looking for by the end of June.
Moving beyond that, we're very close to completing the first free-standing riser pipe that will allow us to go to the new mooring configuration, and ultimately, that will allow us to actually be producing from four different platforms by mid-July, increasing our rate from 60,000 to 80,000 barrels.
In addition, we had our visit with Florida regarding claims processing. Tracy Wearing's (ph) group was down there meeting with them, and they are assisting the state of Florida in facilitating their claims processing. As of this date, BP has gone over $125 million in claims that have been paid.
A couple of travel announcements. Secretary Napolitano and assistant secretary to the president for Energy and Climate Change, Carol Browner, are returning to the Gulf next week to continue their inspection and oversight of the response. I will be down there and participate in meetings with them.
Then on Tuesday, the vice president will be traveling to the region to assess efforts to counter the oil spill. And he will visit our unified area command in New Orleans, and also visit the Florida panhandle. And again, I'll be joining the vice president on that trip, as well.
We continue to produce a very aggressive skimming strategy. For the last several weeks, we have been trying to flow additional skimming capability in all parts of the Gulf. This is one of those types of capabilities as the spill expands from Louisiana to the entire panhandle of Florida, we are looking at every possible opportunity to bring skimmer capability in there. And in the last two weeks, we have actually increased the skimming capability there by threefold, and will continue to pursue that as we move forward.
And with that, I would be glad to take any questions you might have for me.
Yes, sir?
HOLMES: Admiral Thad Allen there giving us an update, as he often does every day at the top. He'll give the updates.
Some of the things to jump out, you heard that the vice president, Joe Biden, will be making a trip down. He is going on Tuesday.
And also, we heard that we're going to be increasing the capacity for collecting oil. He said they have got another vessel that's going to be in place. It's going to be up to three lines. They can take oil up and collect it, and they could be up to by next week some 53,000 barrels that they can collect. And then in July, up to 80,000 barrels. So, still, starting to increase how much oil they're able to take in and keep from going into the Gulf.
We are going to continue to monitor that. Any other news jumps out of there, we will certainly pass it along to you.
Meanwhile, with so much going on with the oil disaster -- also, we just saw this week the big news about the commander in Afghanistan being removed -- so many other things that have been making big news, you might have missed something else. A bill to overhaul the complicated rules that govern banking and investments may be on the president's desk by the 4th of July.
House and Senate negotiators approved a compromise, pretty much about 5:30 this morning Eastern Time. So they think they have got something done that they can get to the president. This is a major overhaul.
CNN's Ines Ferre is here with us now. Bottom line here for Wall Street and everyday Americans, Ines, if you can help us understand in this big, complicated bill, what is it?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it will affect so much of what so many of you out there are dealing with: loans, credit cards, mortgages. Let's take a look at some of the highlights.
The bill would create a consumer agency inside the Federal Reserve that would set up rules against unfair practices in consumer loans and credit cards. Also, your credit score. You know, you can get a free credit report yearly from the top consumer reporting agencies, but the credit score itself now costs money. Well, this would allow you to get that credit score for free, if, for example, you're denied access to your -- to credit because of your credit history -- or your credit score.
Now, let's take a look at a cap on debit card swipe fees. You know, every time you go to a retailer, you go and you buy something with your credit card or your debit card. Well, that retailer has to pay a fee to the bank. Well, the Fed could cap debit card swipe fees and make them more reasonable and proportional.
And also a ban on liar loans. These are the loans that got so many banks into trouble during the mortgage crisis. As obvious as it sounds, T.J., with this bill, lenders will have to verify a borrower's income and assets, make sure they can pay back that loan.
And these are just some of the aspects of the bill. You can also go to CNNMoney.com for more info on all of this.
HOLMES: And like we said last hour, still just leaves you scratching your head that they have to pass legislation to make them do what sounds so obvious.
FERRE: Yes.
HOLMES: Ines Ferre, we appreciate that breakdown.
We want more on this from our next guest, Stephen Gandel. He covers Wall Street for "TIME" magazine.
Stephen, thank you for being here. Good to see you.
So, what does Wall Street think about this?
STEPHEN GANDEL, SENIOR WRITER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, Wall Street doesn't like any rules that reins in its profits. And this will.
Certainly, they're not going to be able to make the profits they did in 2007. But, you know, Wall Street has already been cramped for a while, more cramped by the economy than I think these regulations are going to be.
HOLMES: Wall Street is pretty crafty. Always pretty crafty guys down there on Wall Street. Are they already looking at how -- I don't want to say to get around it, but looking for loopholes in it, and quite frankly, looking for a way to combat what they see as new rules being put into place?
GANDEL: Well, they have been looking for loopholes while this regulation -- regulations have been put together. Like, for example, there was talk that they were going to have to completely get rid of their derivatives. They weren't going to be able to trade these very lucrative off-exchange products.
Well, they got a deal in place that if they spin those groups off into separate companies, holding companies, still owned by large Wall Street or large banks, and capitalize them separately, they're still going to be able to do that. So the loopholes were kind of built in here.
HOLMES: Well, Steven, is it possible? This thing was supposed to have more regulation on Wall Street, which is supposed to help the little guy in the long run. But can it have an adverse effect in that Wall Street will now take this legislation, they will have tighter rules to follow, but then they end up passing something on along to us, the consumer, that ends up hurting us in the long run?
GANDEL: Well, I think credit is going to be constrained somewhat. Certainly, credit -- again, it's, like, where do you compare from? Do you compare from today or do you compare from 2007?
Their credit will be constrained from 2007 -- or 2006. But we probably should have had credit constraint.
So, you hear the banks say, OK, it's going to cost -- a person that was going to be -- was going to be hard for them to get a credit card, it's going to be hard for them to get a mortgage, it's going to be even harder for them to get a mortgage now. But maybe those people shouldn't have been, you know, taking out million-dollar home loans in the first place. Maybe they should have been renters. And maybe those people shouldn't have had a 20 percent interest credit card.
So, I think from where we were in 2006, this is going to be a huge change. But from where we are now, I don't think it's going to be that big a change. And the other thing that's big about this regulation, and why it worked politically, they left a lot up to rule makers down the road.
HOLMES: Well, good perspective.
GANDEL: And so --
HOLMES: Yes. Again, very good perspective that people need to hear from where we are now to where it's going to take us. Then maybe not so much. But that's very good perspective.
Again, Stephen Gandel, who covers --
GANDEL: Yes. So they're --
HOLMES: Oh, go ahead. You want to finish it up?
GANDEL: Well, the rules -- it leaves a lot of leeway in here for regulators to write the rules, to set the capital requirements. This bill forces them to set it, but it depends where they're going to set it. So we'll have to see where all this shakes out in the next months.
HOLMES: Well, still got some shaking out to do.
Stephen Gandel, again, covers Wall Street for "TIME" magazine.
Stephen, we appreciate you taking some time with us. Thanks so much.
And again, they still have to possibly, next week, reconcile this now and have a vote on it. So it still could get to the president's desk by the 4th of July.
Meanwhile, the deal to rewrite the nation's financial rules may strengthen President Obama's hand in Canada. He is there today for the G-8 summit, which will expand over the weekend into the G-20 summit.
Our White House Correspondent Dan Lothian joins us now live once again from Toronto.
Dan, hello once again.
You've got the world leaders, the superpower leaders all together. Surely, when they sit down, they can get things done.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And that's certainly what everyone here hopes. And the focus will be the global economic recovery and how to sustain it, and there are different thoughts about that.
President Obama wants these world leaders to continue pushing with federal dollars to sustain growth, but there are a lot of concerns from some of these world leaders, especially when they see what happened in Greece. They're concerned about their bulging deficits, and so they want to pull back on this stimulus spending.
The president believing that now is not the time to do that, because that could stall the recovery. So, Mr. Obama talked about that, and ticked off some of his accomplishments just before flying from Washington to Canada this morning.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last 17 months, we have passed an Economic Recovery Act, health insurance reform, education reform, and we are now on the brink of passing Wall Street reform. And at the G-20 summit this weekend, I'll work with other nations not only to coordinate our financial reform efforts, but to promote global economic growth while ensuring that each nation can pursue a path that is sustainable for its own public finances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: So, T.J., there are two summits taking place. The G-8 taking place today, about two-and-a-half hours from Toronto, that runs through tomorrow morning. Then the G-20 here in Toronto from tomorrow afternoon and then into Sunday.
And, of course, the big message from President Obama is that all of the economies around the world are interconnected. And so if the global economy can be lifted, that will only lead to more job creation in the United States -- T.J.
HOLMES: And one more thing before I let you go, Dan. Remind our viewers, because, again, you hear G-8, G-20, you see all these world leaders getting together. At the end of these things, and these summits, oftentimes, not necessarily -- or sometimes maybe in agreement, but oftentimes, they just issue some kind of a statement.
Just remind people what we can expect at the end of things, and maybe we shouldn't have our hopes up too high.
LOTHIAN: You know, and that's true, because one of the questions I kept asking both administration officials and other outside experts is what's the takeaway? I mean, what can most Americans look at this and say this is what we got form it?
And there may not be anything that you can point your finger to at the end of the summit. But everyone will say that it is important for these leaders to meet face to face.
I mean, in 2008, when we were going through this tough economic crisis at the time, at the bottom, where the administration says on the brink of another Great Depression, the chance of these leaders sitting down together, talking, led to unity. And there was sort of this global cooperation to really stimulate the economy.
And so, there are a lot of things that can happen after this meeting. But, are we going to come away with some major agreement that everyone can point to? I don't think anyone is expecting that.
HOLMES: All right.
Dan Lothian, perspective there on our expectations.
Dan, we appreciate that. Thanks so much.
We have been, of course, talking about the Gulf oil disaster here on this day 67 of it. And now a new threat: the weather.
Yes, that could threaten the containment and the cleanup efforts there. It is the season, but a storm now that people are keeping an eye on could be hitting somewhere around the Gulf in just next few days.
Our meteorologist Karen Maginnis is going to join us live with the details.
But we've got a "Random Moment" for you. That's in 90 seconds.
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HOLMES: All right. Our "Random Moment" for today.
As we know, TV commercials, the point is to try to sell you something. And in today's "random Moment," it wonders what this spot from Russia is pitching.
There's an 800-number, I assume, that's going to flash in a moment. But actually, this is my first time seeing this, folks, so please forgive me.
If you can look past some of these distractions -- the visual distractions -- whew, somebody should have given me a head's up about this. They're actually trying to sell you tires. Seriously.
It ends with the models actually topless, as you see. We can't necessarily show you that.
Our "Random Moment of the Day," can't show you. Russia and America, still, two very different places.
I can't wait to visit Russia.
Stay with us.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Speaking of the Gulf, a lot of lives right now being torn apart. But we're talking about one in particular here that some are blaming on the Gulf oil disaster.
Family and friends of a Alabama boat captain blame his suicide on what's happening in the Gulf.
Here now, CNN's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People who knew him say Allen Kruse lived to fish, and those closest to him say that life unraveled when the oil spill hit the Gulf waters where he worked.
(on camera): He thought it was dead?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: He said that to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: And that there was no hoping that the fishing was ever going to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not in his lifetime.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Among charter boat captains in Orange Beach, Alabama, Kruse was a leader, drumming up business in good times -- and voicing the frustrations after community in the bad times.
ALLEN KRUSE, GULF FISHERMAN: The day that the oil entered the Gulf, my phone quit ringing.
MATTINGLY: Just a month after that interview, Kruse was found on his boat dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. For 14 days, he had worked for BP hauling boom and looking for oil. His brothers say he felt like his role in the clean-up as a BP vessel of opportunity was worthless.
(on camera): That's what he told you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: That he felt like he was being put out there just for show?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's what he told his wife. He didn't tell me that. That's what he told his wife. That's what she told me just a while ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me it was madness.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Kruse's friends tell me he felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster and that they're all feeling the stress.
CAPT. BEN FAIREY, FRIEND OF ALLEN KRUSE: This has been a long- term situation. This started in 2004 with a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan, then the next year was Katrina, then skyrocketing fuel prices, fishing regulations, and then an oil spill. This has been six years that this area has really suffered a lot of stress.
MATTINGLY: Stress that his friends believe finally became too much for Kruse. And now, they're worried about others.
(on camera): Are you afraid that maybe one of your other friends out there might be thinking about something extreme?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
FAIREY: We worry about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We worry about that every day.
MATTINGLY: What are you going to do about it?
FAIREY: That's why we're trying to get the word out.
MATTINGLY: As a gesture to the community that's now grieving for him, Kruse's family thought it would be best for his boat to be brought back here to home port in Orange Beach. And here it is right now, The Rookie. His friends say that there's really no better way that they could think of to pay tribute to a man who loved what did he for a living and loved the waters where he worked.
(voice-over): It's The Rookie's final voyage, carrying a cargo of uncertainty and sorrow.
David Mattingly, CNN, Orange Beach, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Also today, thousands of mourners remembering Michael Jackson. Hard to believe it has been a year now since his death.
We'll take you live to the cemetery where the pop star is buried.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, fans remembering Michael Jackson today, the one- year anniversary of his death. He died a year ago today at age 50.
Mourners starting to arrive at a cemetery where the pop star is buried. Authorities are expecting thousands of people there to show up there throughout the day.
Our Don Lemon is there. He's at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Don, hello to you.
And we can already see people are there. Quite frankly, I see a lot of people dressed as if they're going to a funeral, it seems, almost.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. And they're wearing, of course, shirts, T.J., with Michael Jackson's image on it, his face. You know, him doing the dance, or what have you.
I'm going to talk a little bit about what's going on here.
Of course, you see the flowers and everything behind me. This has just been maybe about an hour, an hour and twenty minutes this has been happening. But I want to tell you the news here.
We're expecting at any moment that a civil suit will be filed. A wrongful death claim will be filed on behalf of Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father, his mother and his three children, in district court here in California. And as soon as that happens, we'll bring that news to you.
That suit, of course, is believed to allege that Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, and possibly other agencies are responsible for his death. So as that plays out, we'll be watching this and we'll bring it to you, as well.
Let me tell you about what's happening here at Forest Lawn.
If you see this -- I'm going to back it up just about as far as we can go here. In about a quarter mile that's up another hill, you've got to walk all the way up the hill about a quarter mile. You get to the top of this hill, and then you have to walk down here to the mausoleum near where Michael Jackson is buried.
You bring your flowers, if you brought them in, or you can buy them here and then you drop them off here. And the security guard or the people who work here will put them there on to this little display here.
A lot of people are crying. People have come from all over the world, really. And it's amazing, because this hasn't been publicized that much. And I'm still getting e-mails and tweets from people, saying, "Hey, didn't Forest Lawn decide against that, letting people up?"
Well, they didn't. It's happening now. And a lot of these people here, as I said, are from all over the world.
You're from Memphis, Tennessee. You're wearing this shirt of Michael Jackson.
Good to meet you. Tell me your name.
SHEILA GERRERO, FAN: Sheila Gerrero (ph).
LEMON: Why did you come here?
GERRERO: To commemorate Michael's life, his legacy. He was a great man, he gave effortlessly. And I just want to mirror that and pay my respects to the Jackson family.
LEMON: Yes.
And interestingly enough, as I said, all over the world.
Australia? You came from Australia wearing the Michael Jackson jacket and shirt. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's given me so much. I had to come and give back and show my appreciation. I can't -- words can't describe how much I really truly thank Michael Jackson for everything he has done.
LEMON: Well, thank you guys for talking to us.
And, again, amazingly, T.J., as I said, it's hard to believe it's been a year. People have come from around the world for this.
It's been publicized very little, and yet people are showing up. So, again, about 200 people have shown up so far. But yesterday, 1,000 folks showed up, and they're expecting more. Of course, the family, as well, expected to come here to Forest Lawn, and we'll be here reporting it for you. HOLMES: We look forward to that, Don. That's amazing. A lady came from Australia to be there. That's how much this day means to a lot of people.
Don, thank you.
And folks, you can see more from Don Lemon. He's going to be speaking exclusively with Michael Jackson's friends, family members, as they remember the man and the legend.
It's "Michael Jackson: The Final Days." That premiers tonight with Don Lemon, 8:00 Eastern Time.
Then at 9:00, Jermaine Jackson's first interview from his brother's final resting place. That's tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE."
Well, the Gulf oil disaster having an unexpected impact on the wildlife center in Florida. And the center is happy about it.
We'll find out exactly what's happening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Well, the oil disaster in the Gulf taking a toll on wildlife throughout the region in Florida. It also has had an impact on one wildlife center, but in a good way.
The story from CNN's Tom Foreman in his "Building up America" series.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., over the past few weeks, we have run into plenty of people who are very frustrated that they can't do anything to help all the wildlife undeniably being affected by this catastrophe. And yet, in some places, they have turned their attention to helping wildlife in general with amazing results.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): For every living creature at the Florida Wild Mammal Association, the oil catastrophe has changed the world. And the woman in charge, Chris Beatty, says, oddly, it's for the better.
CHRIS BEATTY, FLORIDA WILD MAMMAL ASSOCIATION: We have received over 1,000 e-mails in the last four weeks. And the phone just rings off the hook with all sorts of questions from volunteers.
FOREMAN (on camera): Because they want to help the wildlife of this state?
BEATTY: Yes, they do. And this is their home, their community, their environment.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The center takes in 1,000 animals a year, mostly injured or orphaned, most to be treated and released: seagulls, possums, raccoons. BEATTY: There we go. Oh, good girl.
It's baby season, if you couldn't tell.
FOREMAN: Dozens of deer, like this fawn whose mother was hit by a car, and flocks of little birds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And every 15 minutes, we feed them through a syringe.
FOREMAN (on camera): Every 15 minutes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every 15 minutes, unless they're really little, ,and then it's every 10 minutes.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But lately they have also been taking in lots of donations from people intent on building this place up in case the oil keeps coming.
One recent Saturday, the center was given almost $19,000 in cash, supplies and free labor from 80 volunteers, including Clutch Sims (ph).
CLUTCH SIMS (ph), VOLUNTEER: We can't depend a whole lot on our government, so we've got to do it ourselves, take care of our own business.
FOREMAN: So they are rebuilding pelican pens, hawk and owl enclosures, fox habitats. They don't know if they'll get any oiled animals, but --
BEATTY: We feel it's better to be prepared than to wait until it actually happens.
FOREMAN: Close by, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is preparing, too, surveying the eastern Gulf Coast ahead of the advancing oil.
JAMES BURNETT, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE: Actually, we're trying to get some real specific information on wildlife. We're comparing the situation now with what might occur.
FOREMAN (on camera): So at least you'll know what you're up against if that happens.
BURNETT: That's right. That's correct.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Fishing, hunting, ecotourism.
(on camera): Wildlife of Florida really is an important part of what makes the state attractive to people.
BEATTY: I think it's beyond that. The whole panhandle is a rural area. And that's what our livelihoods depend on. Without wildlife, we would be very damaged.
FOREMAN (voice-over): As it is, the tragedy is bringing attention that could help Florida's wildlife for many years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: A lot of the support there came through a governor's initiative called Volunteer Florida, which tries to direct all of these people who want to help during this catastrophe toward things they can do which will produce positive results, even against all the negatives of the oil catastrophe -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Tom Foreman.
Meanwhile, Congress finalizes negotiation on Wall Street reform. But is that enough to move the markets?
We're on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, asking traders what they're seeing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Welcome back here at CNN. We are your source for news. CNNMoney.com, your source for money news. Checked out the website. Talked about this a little earlier. The name and the face you know attached a golden parachute now. Well, they say it's unlikely for Tony Hayward, who, of course, is the BP CEO. Some call him the most hated man in America. Check that story out and many more. All your money needs right there on CNNMoney.com.
Speaking of money, gained a little ground. The Dow only down six points right now. But let's go ahead and go to the New York Stock Exchange now. Alison Kosik is there.
Alison, so much financial news to keep an eye on, but also how are people, traders down there reacting to this new deal that was apparently made up on Capitol Hill, this new Wall Street financial reform?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And you're talking about new rules for the road for Wall Street. And that's why we're bringing in Ken Polcari with ICAP Equities.
And we want to find out, how much are these rules really going to matter? Are we going to see things change or are these banks really just going to go through loopholes to play the game differently?
KENNETH POLCARI, MANAGING DIR., ICAP CORPORATES: I think ultimately what's going to happen, when it's all said, is they're going to find a way around the regulations. They'll create, you know, new subsidiaries and all that stuff. They'll end up continuing to do what they do, but they will find loopholes around in order to remain competitive and to remain profitable.
KOSIK: So does it even matter that reform has passed?
POLCARI: Well, you know, on a certain level, I think it does psychologically. I think it makes sense that reform is passed. I think we've gone through such a difficult time the last couple of years that, you know, the investing public is - everyone's frustrated. People in this country are mad. So on a certain level, passing reform is a good thing. But to say how it ultimately is going to work out in the end, I guess we're going to watch over the next couple of months how it unfolds.
KOSIK: All right, just want to get your gauge on the economy. I mean we've gotten these economic reports. We're taking baby steps forward. You know, technically, we're out of a recession, but if you ask pretty much anyone on the street, people are feeling like they're in a recession. Are we going into a, quote, "double dip recession"?
POLCARI: Well, if you ask me, I absolutely think we are going into a double dip recession. I don't -- I'm not feeling all the good news that's coming out there. You look at 46 out of the states are in Greek-like circumstances. They're broke. They're going to raise taxes. They're going to cut services.
I don't think there's a sense out there -- there's a sense - there's a dire sense out there of where this economy really is. Housing. These numbers we got this week are not helpful at all to people's sense of well-being. I think people are just really nervous. I don't see it. I don't see this - I don't see us coming out of it.
KOSIK: What's it going to take this turn this economy around? To turn things on Wall Street around?
POLCARI: Listen, it's going to take the real creation of jobs. Not temporary census type worker jobs, but real creation of jobs. It's going to take a stabilization in the housing industry. It's going to take - it's going to take a stabilization of Europe. It's going to take a stabilization of Asia. It's going to have to be a global, global force that's going to take place where everybody's kind of on the same page. Right now it's very sporadic.
KOSIK: But what's it going to take to get things really moving? I mean things are moving very slowly and sluggish.
POLCARI: Listen, it's just time. It's going to take some time for the economy to work its way out. Rates -- interest rates are at the lowest they've been for years and years and they're going to stay low. So, you know, they're going to stay low well into 2011.
KOSIK: All right, Ken Polcari.
There you have it. You know, it does - it does take jobs, T.J. It's going to take jobs. That's usually where it's at these days.
T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: Well, Ken sounds like he should be on somebody's economic team somewhere. He certainly sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Tell him thanks.
Alison, thank you so much.
KOSIK: You got it. HOLMES: Well, coming up here, we're going it turn to talk food. We've got a new website, it's on CNN.com, that will literally make your mouth water. It's our eatocracy. We'll explain this next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We've got something new and delicious here for you. Kat Kinsman joining me now to tell us about a new site on CNNMoney.com -- CNN.com, eatocracy.
Now you start from the name. What does the name mean in the first place?
KAT KINSMAN, EATOCRACY MANAGING EDITOR: The democratic food culture. Everybody has a food story.
HOLMES: Yes.
KINSMAN: You don't have to be a foodie, you don't have to be high-faluting (ph), everybody eats. So we are an eatocracy.
HOLMES: OK, what do -- how will this -- is this a place for people to do the talking or to do some learning, if you will, about food?
KINSMAN: All of the above.
HOLMES: All of it. OK.
KINSMAN: We want to have passionate conversation with people. We want -- this is about people's personal food stories. There are great websites out there that do restaurant culture, that do cooking culture. We want people's personal food stories, like we have here in the heirloom recipe index. Every single day, we get people via iReport to upload their family's hand-written recipes.
HOLMES: Oh, that's cool.
KINSMAN: And we -- as we always make a joke that we are here to make your grandma a rock star. So people scan in the recipes or photograph them and then they include a story about the person who brought that recipe into their life. So we really want to create a real national archive of these recipes that are otherwise in the back of your drawer, in your cupboard.
HOLMES: That is very cool.
KINSMAN: So we have a lot of fun with that.
What else do we have going on here? Oh, how good does that look?
HOLMES: That looks awesome.
KINSMAN: So because it's CNN there are people all over the world, all the time, who are eating. It's photographers, it's correspondents. So we got Mark Hill, who's a director of photography who is in Abu Daubi, he showed me a picture of this meal. I said, how did you happen to have that meal? And he was saying that he -- he was doing a shoot and asked the driver to take me somewhere good to lunch. And the driver took him to Subway. And he said, I was thinking something a little bit more local. So he ended up at one of the driver's favorite restaurants.
HOLMES: And he shared that. All right.
Now, where can people find it? We want to make sure they can find it on the website in the first place.
KINSMAN: Well, you go to eatocracy.com or you can go to CNN.com/eatocracy. You can always go to the Living section of CNN and often times through the front, but eatocracy.com.
HOLMES: All right, just launched.
KINSMAN: We launched last Thursday.
HOLMES: Launched last Thursday, so it's up and running. People can find it. Eatocracy.com.
Kat, thank you so much for sharing this with us around lunch time.
KINSMAN: I'm here to make you hungry.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you so much. I like that.
Well, stay with us here, folks. We've got a story coming up about you - about a guy that broke away from gangs and guns and he returned to help others, meeting a man who went home again in a struggling neighborhood. Stay here with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're on day 67 here now of the Gulf oil disaster. And on this day, BP says the costs are climbing. Take a look here now. BP says it's costing them a pretty penny. Shooting up more than $300 million less than a week now totaling $2.3 billion that they've been paying out. This includes money for containment, relief well drilling, state grants, claims paid. So you can expect that number to go up even more.
Also take a look here. We were telling you about this earlier. The president is now there for the G8, G-20 summits this weekend. They're happening around the Toronto area today. There's the president you're seeing there. The G8 summit begins today. That's going to be followed up by the G20 conference. It expands a bit over the weekend.
Also, I want to take you over to London to the birds of London. You know what we just saw the other day, the longest match in the history of tennis at Wimbledon. Well, we went from that marathon to a sprint. A day after he won the longest tennis match ever, it was 11 hours, American John Isner, he hit the court again and he lost. Quickly. In an hour and fourteen minutes. That is the shortest match so far this year at Wimbledon. You can understand. Brother's probably a little tired.
Well, Luis Rodriguez, grew up in Los Angeles. Teenage years filled with gangs and guns. Mike Galanos, now, introduces us this man who decided to return to his hometown years later to give back to that neighborhood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUIS RODRIGUEZ, GANG EXPERT & ACTIVIST: Do not turn over your whole life to anybody or anything. What I'm asking of you is to own your life.
MIKE GALANOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luis Rodriguez encourages people to take control of their destiny.
RODRIGUEZ: I think they appreciate that I can be honest with them and also guide them.
GALANOS: Rodriguez is fulfilling a call to serve the community. But the plans for his life weren't always promising.
RODRIGUEZ: I was hooked on heroin, and I ended up just wanting to be in the street. I never thought of a future.
GALANOS: Rodriguez grew up in the gangs of east Los Angeles. By 13, he was heavily involved in drugs and a string of crimes. In the midst of this life, Rodriguez was introduced to activists in the Chicano movement who helped steer him in another direction.
RODRIGUEZ: They were the ones - part of the civil rights struggle. They were connected with the Black Panthers, but they were the Brown Berets. They taught me how to paint mural. And those were the beginnings of me changing my life.
GALANOS: Rodriguez's steps toward redemption came with setbacks.
RODRIGUEZ: When I was 18 years old, I was facing a six-year prison sentence for fighting with officers. I got out of the county jail when people wrote letters on my behalf, and by then 25 of my friends had been killed. That's when I made a decision to leave that life.
GALANOS: Rodriguez moved to Chicago, and eventually turned his life around. He continued working in the community, met his wife. Together, they decided to return to L.A. and give back.
RODRIGUEZ: When we got here, there was no movie houses, no culture spaces, no bookstores. And being in Chicago, I have to say, kind of opened up my idea of cafes, local cafes, (INAUDIBLE), singing. We created our own nonprofit cafe cultural space.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As I listen to the wind blow, and the birds flutter without a sound. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tia Churcha's really is an outlet that is very unusual. It's about community, regardless of who you are. That's what reacted to me.
GALANOS: People have embraced the cafe and the culture.
RODRIGUEZ: We have our little store, which includes t-shirts made by the community. We have art from our local artists. And we feature them as -- like an art gallery would feature them. We also sell their music, their poetry. All of this is a package that we have created for the community to be engaged.
GALANOS: And bringing the neighborhood together is Rodriguez's ultimate goal.
RODRIGUEZ: I've kind of sentenced myself to a lifetime of community service. This is the price that I have to pay for the hurting that I've done.
GALANOS: Mike Galanos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. A lot of parents out there would love to know what their son or daughter is up to when they're not around. Well, our tech expert, Katie Linendoll, has been helping us navigate the difficult spy world. She's here with her teddy. The teddy has glasses on.
KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN TECH EXPERT: Yes. Yes.
HOLMES: And I don't know if the teddy comes with that or if you put that on to match you today.
LINENDOLL: No.
HOLMES: But tell us, how is this bear supposed to help?
LINENDOLL: Yes, talk about upstaging Teddy Ruxpin by about ten fold. What looks like a teddy bear - it's super cute and fluffy - actually has a hidden camera built right into the eyes, which is pretty remarkable. This is like that thing you see all over "Dateline" NBC where the nannies get busted because there's a camera spying on them at all times.
And I just want to show you, too, there are a number of these different models out there available. You'll see that there's wires on this one. This was an inexpensive one. And it actually has to be hooked into your VCR or your TV directly, whereas, you know, in a nanny finds that, they're going to think you're totally nuts.
Now, more expensive options have color feeds and DVR is built right in. So it's wireless technology. But I mean it is pretty remarkable to think that you're capturing video right through a teddy bear.
HOLMES: Now, are these things -- do they continue to gain traction and popularity, because, like you mentioned, some of the "Dateline" and some of the stuff we see on TV -
LINENDOLL: Yes.
HOLMES: Are people starting to use these things more and more and are they more affordable as well?
LINENDOLL: They're more affordable. You know, they start anywhere around $200, but for the wireless versions, and the DVR version that have them built right in, you can see them upwards of $600 and $700. And really it's the exposure. You know, showing them on TV shows, of course, like "Dateline" that we see all the time, makes them more popular.
HOLMES: OK, Katie, we've got one more we can get to here. And this one, parents would be very interested in this one, a GPS tracker.
LINENDOLL: Yes. This is a GPS tracker. This is Track Stick (ph). And what it is, it's a little unit you can put on any object. You can put this on a purse, you can put it on a backpack, you can stick it to a vehicle and it will tell you the location of that object every five seconds. And in addition to that, it's also going to record and map the route, the speed, the number of stop times and other information on any vehicle or person that it's hidden on. So talk about covertly busting that teen that says they're going out to a science project, but you find them over at the Chick-fil-A and then you find out they're speeding, as well. You just stick this into your computer and there is all your evidence. Pretty remarkable technology.
HOLMES: Oh, I thought the GPS - I know you're supposed to put them on vehicles and cars have them that you can stick on, but you can just throw that anywhere.
LINENDOLL: Yes.
HOLMES: You can slide it into the kid's pocket, a jacket or anything.
LINENDOLL: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. I like that one.
LINENDOLL: Totally. I know, it's very tricky.
HOLMES: All right, Katie Linendoll. I'm actually going to see you tomorrow morning on our show, on CNN "Saturday Morning."
LINENDOLL: Yes.
HOLMES: We'll be doing some stuff as well. So, Katie, I will look forward to seeing you in the morning. Thanks so much.
LINENDOLL: Talk soon. Thanks.
HOLMES: All right. Now, here are two people who don't often travel in the same circles. President Obama and Lady Gaga. Ines Ferre going to explain why these two are a trending topic on the Internet, and why they're competing against each other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. What's hot? Ines Ferre, this doesn't make any sense to me. Why are we talking about Lady Gaga and President Obama in the same breath? Why?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And President Obama. Their fan pages. And now both of them are so close to reaching the 10 million mark on fans. And that would be a record for a living person that reaches 10 million on a social media website. So President Obama has 9,105,000, and Lady Gaga has -- if we can --
HOLMES: There it is. There it is.
FERRE: There it is?
HOLMES: Right there. Right there.
FERRE: Yes! Lady Gaga has surpassed President Obama so far, but they're close. They're close.
HOLMES: OK. But they're trying to get to 10 -- you're telling me that she's more popular than the president, at least on Facebook?
FERRE: I believe so.
HOLMES: What has the world come to? All right, Ines, thank you so much.
We've got some answers to some questions out here for you, including maybe that one. Questions about car buying, though. Some answers from CNNMoney.com. "The Help Desk." Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management. Laura Rowley is from Yahoo! Finance.
OK. Let's start off with Rose in New Jersey. "If you file for bankruptcy, I understand there's a five-year payment term to your creditors at a negotiated rate. During those five years, can you purchase anything, like a new car? Does your bankruptcy have to be discharged before you can establish any other credit?"
Ryan.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, they're talking about Chapter 13 bankruptcy. And essentially, to be eligible for that, you have to have under about $300,000 in unsecured debt, and maybe $1 million in secured debt. So essentially that's between your trustee and the debtor in which you owe money to. So if your trustee is able to amend it, or extenuating circumstances, they might allow you to buy a car, maybe if you lost your car and need a car to get back and forth to your job, but a lot of debtors might not even want to touch you. So trying to get another loan for your car, it might be a little bit difficult in order to get a secured debt.
ROMANS: And that's the thing, Laura, about filing for bankruptcy, it makes everything very, very difficult in your financial life.
LAURA ROWLEY, YAHOO! FINANCE: It does. That's true.
ROMANS: All right. The next question is from Allison. Allison asks, "can you change realtors before the listing agreement period expires? Since we put our house on the market, I've watched three other homes go on the market and sell. We haven't even had an offer yet."
Laura.
ROWLEY: Those agreements are typically binding contracts in most states in the country. So there are sometimes a termination clause where you could get out of it if you give a certain period of notice. You may have to pay a fee.
But before you dump your broker, go look at those other homes and find out why they sold? I mean it may be that they're in a different school district or on a larger piece of property. On the other hand, it's because they had really smart landscaping or they hired somebody to decorate the interior before the open house.
And talk to your broker about your marketing plan. Are you doing the right advertising? Are you online everywhere that you can be? What kind of brochures do you have to hand out? Have you done enough open houses? So before you dump the broker, try to glean some lessons from those sales and see how you can sort of kick up your marketing.
ROMANS: All right, Laura Rowley, Ryan Mack, very good advice.
"The Help Desk" is all about getting you answers. Send us an e- mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com or log to CNN.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.
HOLMES: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now. Time for me to hand it over to Ali Velshi, who is live from Toronto, the site of the G8.
Ali, hello to you, sir.
