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Sharron Angle on Secret Tape; Checking Economic Promises; Summit on Community Colleges; Guilty Verdict in Connecticut Home Murders
Aired October 05, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And 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.
Survival in this economy. For community college students, budget cuts make it tougher.
And live this hour at the White House, a summit on how these colleges can improve America's competitiveness in the world.
Survivor's story. We catch up with a soldier who survived the Fort Hood shooting rampage, now serving on the front lines in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get in my moods and stuff a lot, but I'm used to it by now. So I know it's not real. I know it's not happening anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You're online right now, we are too. And Josh is following "What's Hot" -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. Brand new crash test ratings are out under new, tougher rules today. We've got the details at SaferCar.gov and at CNN.com.
HARRIS: All right, Josh. Appreciate it.
Let's get started with our lead story.
Twenty-eight days and counting to elections and a secret tape emerges. Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle trying to cajole a fellow Republican into dropping his bid for Nevada's Senate seat. She is also heard disparaging Republican Party leaders.
Let's bring in our senior political editor, Mark Preston. He's joining us from Washington.
Mark, the tape makes the self-proclaimed conservative outsider sound, dare I say, a lot like a conventional politician?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SR. POLITICAL EDITOR: It certainly does. And she talks about how she has juice here in Washington, D.C., with some very powerful Republicans, Tony. But let me set the table here for our viewers.
What we're talking about is a secret tape that happened back in -- I guess last week, on Wednesday or Thursday. It was done by Scott Ashjian.
Scott is a Tea Party candidate, or a self-proclaimed Tea Party candidate. He's running for Senate out there.
Sharron Angle, who's supported by the national Tea Party movement, is the Republican nominee. She's trying to get Ashjian out of the race. She's trying to get him out of the race.
She sits down for about a half hour, tries to cajole him to get out. She talks very bad about the Republican Party, and then she had this to say. Tony, let's take a listen.
HARRIS: OK.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: That's really all I can offer to you, is whatever juice I have, you have as well. You want to see DeMint, I have juice with DeMint.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PRESTON: So there you go. You have her talking about how she has juice to be able to open doors here in Washington, D.C., with the likes of Jim DeMint, of course Mitch McConnell, who's the Republican leader.
Ashjian did not take the bait. He actually secretly recorded the conversation, gave it to one of Nevada's best political journalists, Jon Ralston, and of course here we are now talking about it.
Now, she is here tonight for a fund-raiser, Tony, with some very powerful Republicans, including John Cornyn, who is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Very interesting conversation I think that will take place at this fundraiser tonight here in D.C. -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. Let's -- I've got two questions for you. Let me deal with the first one first here.
How close is that race in Nevada?
PRESTON: It is neck and neck right now. If you were to look at polling, it shows that it is anyone's game.
In fact, let's look at this CNN/Opinion Research poll. It's a couple of weeks old, Tony, but you know something? This really tells where we are at the race.
Harry Reid is in a fight for his life. Sharron Angle, who, again, is this Tea Party candidate, came out of nowhere, the Republican establishment didn't want her to be the nominee. She is the nominee.
The Tea Party national movement is pouring a lot of money into Nevada. Harry Reid says he will spend $25 million to try to win this race. The big wildcard is what happens to this Tea Party candidate, Scott Ashjian? If he stays in, does he hand the race to Harry Reid?
HARRIS: Yes. OK. Is there the potential here for this tape to impact this race negatively for Sharron Angle?
PRESTON: Yes. You know, here's the thing. It could cause some folks who are on the fence to say wait a second, Sharron Angle has portrayed herself as this outsider, as someone who's going to go to Washington and clean things up and not do things as usual. However, when she makes statements like this, however, it puts her in that category and raises the red flag. It's certainly not helpful, certainly not 28 days before Election Day -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, good point. Mark, appreciate it. Good to see you, as always. Thank you.
You know, there are no signs Scott Ashjian plans to give in to pressure from Angle. He told CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" it is not his fault that Republicans put up what he calls a weak candidate. He went on to say politics in general is corrupt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: What do you think should come of it now that this is out there?
SCOTT ASHJIAN, TEA PARTY OF NEVADA Senate CANDIDATE: I don't think -- listen, people can listen to it. They can read it. They can make their own decisions.
Here in Nevada, we have an interesting situation. We have people from Washington, D.C., trying to effect the Nevada race. We have a Tea Party Express out of California that put in their candidate, Sharron Angle. It wasn't Nevadans.
They gave her the boost that she needed with 30 days left. They infused her race with money.
The Republicans put 12 or 13 people on the ballot, chopped up the vote, so the most popular candidate didn't get in. It wasn't Scott Ashjian. So, you know, it was it is.
At the end of the day, we're going to put on a good race. The people of Nevada will have a third choice, and hopefully they vote for me and see through the political rhetoric that's out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: OK. Let's do this -- let's try to shift the focus just a bit here to some of the economic pledges being made from both parties, particularly on jobs.
President Obama promised unemployment would stay below eight percent if stimulus passed. It is now at 9.6 percent, as you know.
In their "Pledge to America," Republicans promised policies that lead to -- quoting now -- "national economic prosperity," but offer few particulars on how to make that happen.
Joining me now from New York is CNN's Christine Romans.
And Christine, do you see anything -- and we're looking as you're looking -- in this pledge where Republicans can actually stimulate job growth?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they give a few particulars about how they would try to do that, Tony, and among them, it's some of the traditional Republican platform, like cut the size of government, cut bureaucratic red tape. They say that kills small business. Whenever you have too much red tape, that's job- killing.
They also talk about a small business tax deduction, a pretty hefty one, a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their business income. They think that would provide -- make the way for investment and for capital purchases and the like. They go on again about excessive federal regulation and say that all of these new Obama proposals in fact create uncertainty for small business, and that is a de facto tax hike and also means that small businesses are less likely to hire if they just can't kind of figure out the landscape that they're operating in.
It's interesting because one of the things that is an advantage for the Republicans here is that as you pointed out, the president said we've got to have this stimulus. A year ago February, we've got to have this stimulus, and we'll be able to keep the unemployment rate at eight percent, which is an uncomfortable level. And, in fact, it still went up, knocking on the door of 10 percent.
And so that gives the Republicans a lot of ammunition heading into the midterms. So they do offer some traditional ways for job growth, but these are -- you know, it's an ideological line that they're drawing that is a familiar ideological line -- get the government out of things, let small business and the job creators create jobs, and get government out of the way. That's basically what their "Pledge to America" contains.
HARRIS: OK. All right. And there you have it.
All right, Christine. Appreciate it. Thank you.
The White House is about to host a Summit on Community Colleges. President Obama will speak on the critical role they play in developing the U.S. workforce. Josh is back with us for a look at that -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.
You know, we have been hearing a lot about the troubles that all sorts of schools are facing in this country. They're running out of cash, they're dropping teachers, they're having bigger classes.
Well, this today, this is a big piece of that that we've been hearing a lot about. But the White House wants to specifically focus on these -- on community colleges -- and how the economy is impacting them.
We have some video here. Let's go to that.
There are more than 1,600 community colleges in the U.S., and they are critical to training the workforce. In fact, the American Association of Colleges and Universities says more than two years into the economic downturn -- and this is their view -- they say community colleges, more than any other type of institution, are feeling the pressure to do more with less.
So, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, a long- time community college teacher, will be hosting this summit.
All right. Let's get back to me. I want to show you some of these key stats, what's happening to these colleges all over the country. We're calling it the "Community College Crunch."
Take a look here. Community colleges educate 43 percent of the undergraduates who are in public institutions in America. So that's a huge chunk of our workforce. The future workforce being educated right there.
Now, enrollment in this economy has gone up. As people have lost jobs, they decide to get more training. Virtually all of them, 94 percent, say enrollment's going up. So you've got a lot more students in there, which means you need teachers, you need resources for them.
Meanwhile, 18 percent are reporting budget cuts in the latest year. And it was even more the year before. So they're talking about still, now, at this point, we're hopefully starting to come out of the difficult times for schools. But they've still got these budget cuts going on there.
And I'll show you one more thing. Twenty-three percent are reporting hiring freezes.
So when you have these community colleges that, according to the White House, enroll about six million young people in America, when you have a country that wants to educate our young people so that we can compete better in the global marketplace, we need these to be operative, but they're losing their money. So that, today, is what this summit is focusing on, what can be done and how to fix that.
HARRIS: Right, because state budgets are a mess. LEVS: That's right.
HARRIS: Municipal budgets, state budgets are an absolute mess right now, which is why I suppose the administration is trying to get private corporations to partner with some of these community colleges to get programs and to train some of these workers for the jobs that they have available.
Is that the logic here on this?
LEVS: Yes. I mean, look, they need to get private investment where they can. That's going to be a big part of it. And they also need to take a good, hard look at the funding and see what can be done.
You know, it's also about schools giving ideas to each other. Right? What some schools have come up with that can help them deal with less money and still educate as many people as possible.
HARRIS: All right, Josh. Appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: And coming up in just a couple of minutes, I'll talk to a 21-year-old student who is having a hard time getting the classes he needs because of those budget cutbacks. And I'll talk to the chancellor about the problem.
An Army Ranger with a long combat resume runs out of luck in Afghanistan.
First though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, later this week America's longest war will open its 10th year in Afghanistan. A U.S. Army Ranger on his 12th combat deployment killed in action there.
Sergeant First Class Lance Vogeler died Friday in Kandahar province in a firefight with the Taliban. He joined the Army in 2001 and had been in combat or combat training almost continuously every since.
The commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment says Vogeler was the quintessential ranger and a hero to his nation and his family. He leaves a wife and two small children.
U.S. troops attacked and killed inside their Army base by one of their own. Thirteen soldiers died when a disgruntled Army major allegedly went on a shooting rampage inside Fort Hood, Texas, last November.
CNN's Ivan Watson caught up with one soldier who made it out alive. He is already serving a tour of duty, tracking down IEDs in Afghanistan. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Some of the soldiers fighting this war are survivors of one of the deadliest domestic shooting incidents in American military history.
(voice-over): A bomb-hunting patrol rolls home in a cloud of dust. Among the road weary troops, Alan Carroll a 21-year-old soldier from New Jersey. He moves with surprising strength and speed. Less than a year ago Carroll was shot four times with a pistol.
SPECIALIST ALAN CARROLL, U.S. ARMY: I got hit one right there. And I took one right there. And it came out here. And I took the one in my side and one in my leg.
WATSON: Carroll was wounded not in Afghanistan but at Fort Hood, Texas, during a shooting rampage by a lone gunman last November. At first, Carroll thought the shooting was a joke. Then, after being hit by two bullets, Carroll says he came face to face with the suspected shooter, Major Nidal Hassan.
CARROLL: And me and him just like looked at each other and the only thing you think was (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you know? Damn it, I'm dead. Then he fired off two shots. And apparently the one go past my ear and the other hit me in the leg.
WATSON: By the time the smoke cleared, 13 people were dead. Carroll's company lost three soldiers that day.
CARROLL: It's bumpy.
WATSON: Three months later the company deployed to Afghanistan. Despite his wounds, Carroll was determined to be here with them.
CARROLL: They all said, no, you're not fine, you won't make it. You're not going to make it. I like proving people wrong. It's my thing, I guess.
WATSON: In Afghanistan, the 20th Engineering Battalion hunts roadside bombs. Carroll spent his first six months here operating a one-man bomb sniffing husky vehicle that his sergeant nicknamed "The Coffin". Improvised explosive devices have hit all but one of the vehicles in the platoon including Carroll's.
CARROLL: I had one hit underneath my truck. But it really wasn't that significant. Still scared the crap out of me, but it wasn't really all that crazy.
WATSON: Thanks to armor, Carroll survived.
CARROLL: Kevlar.
WATSON: But Taliban ambushes have claimed victims, including a fellow platoon member who was killed last August.
CARROLL: You. WATSON: Nine years ago, Alan Carroll was in seventh grade, waiting for a school bus when he first learned about the September 11th attacks. A lot has changed since then.
CARROLL: I get nightmares and stuff a lot. But I mean, I'm used to it by now, so I know it's not real, I know it's not happening anymore. You still wake up sweating and your heart is beating real fast. And as long as you tell yourself, you know, you wake up, and I look around and I see all my friends here and it's just like, all right never mind, go back to sleep.
WATSON: Today, these young soldiers are veterans of battles both at home and abroad, with the physical and mental scars to prove it.
(on camera): The soldiers of the 20th Engineering Battalion have received hours of counseling and therapy, and now say they just want to leave the Ft. Hood shooting behind them. Their officers say their true test of their emotional and mental health will come when they return home from Afghanistan after their dangerous tour of duty.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, the problem of bullying in middle and high schools. A CNN viewer speaking out. A live report is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Now to our weeklong focus on bullying. Victims are taking a stance. Many gathered in downtown Las Vegas last night to demand federal anti-bullying legislation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TITUS: There's just been too much news lately, too many deaths, too much discrimination, too much harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We just have to stop it. We cannot tolerate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Many at the rally shared stories of emotional or physical torment. The rally was called in response to the death of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi. He killed himself by jumping off of a bridge after his sexual encounter was broadcast online.
Let's look closer now at the bullying problem as seen through the eyes of CNN viewers in middle and high school.
Carl Azuz is the anchor of CNN Student News.
Carl, good to see you. CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: And how widespread a problem is this among the group of young people that you communicate with?
AZUZ: Very much so. We took sort of an informal poll in the spring on CNNStudentNews.com about how many of them had seen bullying in any form whatsoever, and 87 percent of our middle and high school audience told us they'd seen it, they'd been affected by it.
And, you know, honestly, as you're going to see -- there's this comment that I have for you from Teddy today -- you're going to see there's sort of a sense of hopelessness among them, a sense that they're just going to have to live with it.
He's saying, "It's a part of life. We all have to live with it."
There's not a great deal of optimism among our student audience from what we've seen that this is going to go away anytime soon. And you can see an example of how widespread, you can hear it in this student's words. She sent in this iReport, Mrs. Speace (ph) from Ohio. Take a listen to what one of her student's said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think if you think about it, everybody's bullied someone at some point in time, whether it's shoving someone into a locker or calling somebody a name. So, yes, I have bullied someone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: And that's part of the reason I think why it's so difficult to come up with a definition for what exactly bullying is, because it occurs in so many different forms.
HARRIS: Yes. What types of bullying did the students talk about with you?
AZUZ: There were three main types they discussed: physical, verbal and cyber. And as you see from a graphic we have, also CNNStudentNews.com, where we took this survey, verbal got the most responses.
It's still pretty well split among the three, but most of the students who commented, commented specifically on verbal. And we have a comment for you from a student named Angela. Listen to what she's saying about how verbal bullying sticks with you.
"You can never get the words out of your head," she says. "When you fall asleep you hear them. These things never leave you."
And as far as the experience goes, what it feels like for students who are being bullied, I haven't seen a comment that phrases it as well as this other student from Mrs. Speace's (ph) class in Ohio. Listen to this, Tony. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes you feel like you have a bottomless pit in your stomach. Like, you're always worried about when the bully is going to come and pick on you and stuff. And it feels like nobody wants to help you. They want to laugh along with the bully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Again, a good example of the sort of hopelessness that many members of our student audience feel, that this is something that's going to stick around, an d they don't see, by and large, efforts, at least among their peers, to curb this.
HARRIS: I wonder how we would approach this if we talked about this in terms of young kids being terrorized in their school. I wonder how we would treat it, bullying. Bullying has been around forever, right?
AZUZ: It has.
HARRIS: But if we talked about it in terms of kids, young people being terrorized, I wonder how we would treat it. Are there some resources available for young people, for parents to help with this problem?
AZUZ: Yes. CNNStudentNews.com is the place to go. We have some resources we're providing free, commercial free. That's CNNStudentNews.com for parents and teachers who want to address the issue of bullying with their students. And the CNN special is at CNN.com/bullying.
HARRIS: Yes. Terrific stuff. Carl, as always, thank you, sir.
AZUZ: Thank you very much, Tony.
HARRIS: Anderson Cooper takes a look at bullying in our schools and now online. Why do kids do it? And what can be done to stop it? An "ANDERSON COOPER 360" special report tonight at 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Let's see -- do we have a live picture of the White House from the East Room? The White House Summit on Community Colleges this hour. There is Dr. Jill Biden.
The president wants a better fit between work in the classroom and work in the real world. We will check in when the president begins his comments shortly, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Happening right now, the president about to begin his remarks addressing the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges. President Obama believes they will play a key role in better preparing workers for jobs. You know, I wanted to kind of get past the "thank yous" in all of this. All right. I don't think there's a way to avoid it without getting to our guest, and then we would miss the comments from the president, obviously.
What the president wants to do here is to make remarks designed to better align private corporations with community colleges so that the community colleges are in fact training young people, students, and older people who go back for additional and new training for the jobs available in this economy as it shakes out and turns into this new thing, this new economy that is taking shape.
All right. Let's do this -- let's listen to some of the comments from the president, and then our guest in just a couple of minutes.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm so grateful for Jill being willing to lead today's summit, first of all, because she has to spend time putting up with Joe.
(LAUGHTER)
And that's a big enough task. Then to take this one on, too, on behalf of the administration is extraordinarily significant.
I do not think she's doing it for the administration. She's doing it because of the passion she has for community colleges.
Jill has devoted her life to education. As she said, she's been a teacher for nearly three decades, although you can't tell it by looking at her.
(LAUGHTER)
A community college professor for 17 years. I want it on the record, Jill is not playing hooky today. The only reason she's here is because her college president gave her permission to miss class. And this morning, between appearing on "The Today Show," receiving briefings from her staff, and hosting the summit, she was actually grading papers in her White House office.
So I think it's clear why I asked Jill to travel the country visiting community colleges, because as she knows personally, these colleges are the unsung heroes of America's education system. They may not get the credit they deserve, they may not get the same resources as other schools, but they provide a gateway to millions of Americans to good jobs and a better life.
These are places where young people can continue their education without taking on a lot of debt. These are places where workers can gain new skills to move up in their careers. These are places where anyone with a desire to learn and to grow can take a chance on a brighter future for themselves and their families, whether that's a single mom or a returning soldier or an aspiring entrepreneur. And community colleges aren't just the key to the future of their students, they're also one of the keys to the future of our country.
We are in a global competition to lead in the growth industries of the 21st century, and that leadership depends on a well-educated, highly-skilled workforce. We know, for example, that in the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate's degree are going to grow twice as fast as jobs that don't require college. We will not fill those jobs or keep those jobs on our shores without community colleges.
So, it was no surprise when one of the main recommendations of my economic advisory board, who I met with yesterday, was to expand education and job training. These are executives from some of America's top companies. Their businesses need a steady supply of people who can step into jobs involving a lot of tech knowledge and skill. They understand the importance of making sure we're preparing folks for the jobs of the feature.
In fact, throughout our history, when ever we faced economic challenges, we've responded by seeking new ways to harness the talents of our people. And that's one of the primary reasons we have prospered. In the 19th century, we built public schools and land grant colleges, transforming not just education, but our entire economy. In the 20th century, we passed the GI Bill and invested in math and science, helping to unleash a wave of innovation that's helped to forge the great American middle class.
But in recent years, we've failed to live up to this legacy, especially in higher education. In just a decade, we've fallen from first to ninth in the proportion of young people with college degrees. Not only represents a huge waste of potential. In the global marketplace, it represents a threat to our position as the world's leading economy. As far as I'm concerned, America does not play for second place, and we certainly don't play for ninth.
So, I've set a goal. My 2020, America will once again lead the world in producing college graduates. And I believe community colleges will play a huge part in meeting this goal by producing an additional five million degrees and certificates in the next ten years. That's why last year, I launched the American --
HARRIS: OK. Just a sense of the president's remarks. The president addressing the first ever White House summit on community colleges from the East Room. President Obama believes they'll play a key role in better preparing workers for jobs.
Let's have a conversation about this, real time. Joining me from our Los Angeles, Elvery Landavazo. He is a community college student. And Jack Scott, chancellor of the California community colleges and former state senator.
Thank you both for being here. Let's talk about what the president is talking right now. And Eddie, let me start with you. If you would, what is your situation right now? Describe for us your frustration with getting classes to fill out your schedule. You go to sign up and what happens? ELVERY LANDAVAZO, COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT: The problem we're running into is that people are sitting on the floor. We have room for about 30 students in each classroom, and we get about 60, 70 students that don't get seats in the classroom. They have to pull chairs from outside or wait outside for a waiting list that sometimes doesn't even get to because of the large number of students that are signing up for courses at all the schools here in the L.A. area.
HARRIS: Wait, wait, wait a minute. So, you're saying you go to classes and there are folks sitting on the floors trying to get a chair, a desk. And you're on a wait list, right? And what do you do? You wait for someone to call and say there's a space, that a space has opened up? Or if someone drops the class and you're sitting in the classroom on the floor, you go and grab that chair? What's going on here?
LANDAVAZO: Well, that's sort of correct. People just wait to see who drops the class to hope and get a seat. Sometimes, they take up to two, three weeks of the class. And then they get told, oh, you know what? There's no space or your going to have to drop the class even though you weren't registered at first. Or just wait it out and at the end of the semester, hope to register for the class and get credit for the class you already took.
HARRIS: Wow. OK. So, Jack, you have a good-news, bad-news scenario happening here. Surging enrollment at a time of budget cuts at the state level, meaning fewer classes. How are you responding to the demand and supply problem you're facing in your state in helping folks like Elevy here?
JACK SCOTT, CHANCELLOR, CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Well, we're doing the very best we can. The demand is, frankly, more than the supply. We wish the resources were present. Last year, we took an eight percent cut in the community college budget in California. And all of our 112 colleges, which enrolled 2.75 million students, are struggling with this problem.
Our classes are jam packed. We would like to schedule more classes, but of course, our colleges can't bankrupt themselves, so when they take an eight percent cut, they naturally have to reduce the schedule. But I have to say that the California community colleges are very heroic as far as I'm concerned because they're working as hard as they can.
We wish -- you know, our demand is so great with the job retraining, with the impacted California State University and University of California, with the fact that many students want to come to us for the first two years of college. And we just hope the resources and state will get greater in order for us to meet that demand.
HARRIS: Well, Jack, talking about the resources, I think I read something recently that there is some kind of budget agreement in your state. If that holds, will that offer you some relief?
SCOTT: It certainly will. For instance, the governor had recommended a two percent increase in our enrollment, which is not enough to meet the demand, but would be helpful. And the word I'm getting is that perhaps that proposal will be part of the budget. We hope that budget will be adopted this next week, but of course, we can't spend money that we don't have. And right now, because of the failure of the budget to be signed, some of the money that's been promised us this year has been held up.
HARRIS: Oh, Lord. All right, so you're looking -- one more for Jack, then I'll get back to Elvery on this one. We're looking for community colleges - the president is certainly banking on community colleges -- to better match students with available jobs. Can you do that?
SCOTT: Well, we do have a wonderful jobs training. We turn out firefighters, nurses, dental hygienists, machinists, auto mechanics. And then, of course, we provide that transfer education for those individuals that go to us for the first two years and transfer on to the university.
I applaud the president's emphasis on community colleges. I'm thrilled we're being recognized. Here in California, 70 percent of the undergraduates in the education in the undergraduate education in California are in our community colleges. So, we're doing a Herculean task, and we intend to continue to do it. The demand the there. Right now, the supply is a little bit weak.
HARRIS: And Elvery, one more for you. Given the difficulty in getting the classes you're looking for now, how long will it actually take you to graduate and get started in your new life, your new professional life?
LANDAVAZO: It depends on how hard you actually want to work on getting your classes. There are a lot of community colleges around here, around L.A., so you could go to various colleges and get out as soon as possible with two semesters. For me, possibly three, depending on class availability.
HARRIS: What do you want to do? What kind of work?
LANDAVAZO: I want to study history. Go into law.
HARRIS: What do you want to do? You want to teach?
LANDAVAZO: Yes.
HARRIS: As a profession?
LANDAVAZO: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: Okay. Elvery, good luck, all right? And maybe we'll check back and see how you're doing.
And Jack, good to see you. Appreciate your time as well.
SCOTT: Well, it's great to be here. Appreciate being on the program. HARRIS: No, it's our pleasure.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, more moms and dads are cashing in the money they've been saving for retirement to put their kids through college. We look at why some experts say they might be a mistake. The mistake of a lifetime.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: A verdict is in. Breaking news for you here at CNN.
A second day of jury deliberation ends in a gruesome Connecticut murder trial - has produced a verdict. Stephen Hayes, one of two men charged in the 2007 deaths of Jennifer Hawk Petit and her two daughters -- just a horrible case. Prosecutors say the pair burst into the Petit home and tied up the family and forced the mother to drive to a bank to withdraw cash. I think you remember seeing some of that surveillance video.
The men allegedly returned, raped the mother and a daughter, then set the house on fire. The husband badly beaten. He escaped.
And there was another man charged in this case we mentioned in just a moment ago. He will be tried separately. We will certainly share the information on that as soon as we get it, but we understand a verdict is in, and the judge is returning to the courtroom. The jury is returning to the courtroom. When we get that information, we will pass that along to you.
Let me tell you , parents make a lot of sacrifices. But here is one that has a lot of financial experts more than a bit worried. Almost one-fourth of parents in the United States are looking to their retirement savings to pay for their kids' college.
Christine Romans talks about it in her new book, "Smart Is The New Rich." Christine joining us now.
I got to tell you, some might argue that desperate times call for desperate measure, but I know this is generally speaking, not a good idea.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's generally speaking not a good idea, Tony, because you can borrow for your kids college, but you can't borrow to fund your retirement. It's one of those cardinal rules of personal finance.
But parents are up against a wall here because another cardinal rule is your kid has to have the right education, the right skills to compete in what is going to be a more nimble and a different labor market of the future, so you want to give them the best so they can survive and succeed, too.
Here's what this study found from Sallie Mae and the Gallup organization. Twenty-four percent of parents surveyed said they plan to raid their 401(k), their IRA, their pension to pay for college. The same percentage said they are planning to use 529 accounts. What are those? Those are those tax-advantage accounts you can put money in to grow tax-free to pay for college. So, 24 percent are going to raid their own retirement. Twenty-four percent said they were going to use 529s.
That's what they plan to do, Tony. What are they doing right now in 2009, 2010, the end - we think, we though, right? -- of the recession? Six percent did tap their retirement accounts. That's up from three percent the previous year.
Couple of things to remember. There's a fantastic story on CNN Money about this. Mark Cantowitz (ph), who is the publisher of finaid.org, he says if you tap that money, take that money out of your 401(k), it's counted as adjusted gross income. So the student loan office, the financial aid office - to them, it'll (INAUDIBLE) more money, anyway. And that's going to count against you on student aid.
So remember, your kid can borrow for college. You can't borrow for your retirement. Sounds simple, I know. A lot of families are really in a bind right now. But it's tough.
One thing in here I thought really interesting. Of the 60 percent of families are saving, of those, the number one place they're saving, CDs and general savings account. Very, very safe, safe, safe. Not a lot of return.
HARRIS: Not a lot. Right, right.
ROMANS: Safe, though.
HARRIS: You wonder what the yield is on that. When you're talking about -- there are tax implications to tapping into your retirement, right? I mean, you've got -
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. You've got penalty and all kinds of -
ROMANS: Yes. You can take a loan against your 401(k), but you've got to pay it back within 5 years, I think. Look, all of those are seen as a sign of desperation. When you're robbing your retirement to try and get education for your kid, that's something that could spell trouble down the road, especially if we remain in a weak economy. In chapter eight in the book, you know, I talk a lot about, you know, if you save $200 a month today, that's the same as borrowing or paying interest $396 a month later on.
HARRIS: A good point. Good point.
ROMANS: $200 today is better than $396 down the road.
HARRIS: Hey, Christine, we want to make sure everyone gets the book. What's the title of it one more time before we run?
ROMANS: "Smart Is The New Rich." HARRIS: All right, Christine, appreciate it. Thank you.
ROMANS: For you it's smart, good looking and rich.
HARRIS: Yes. We will push this book every all day, all day in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Christine, appreciate it. Thank you.
We want to join our folks at "In Session." Our friends at our sister network "In Session" HLN. As we told you, there was a verdict in on that gruesome Connecticut murder trial. Let's listen to our friends at "In Session."
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BETH KARAS, "IN SESSION" CORRESPONDENT: So that's why. They simply didn't find that. They didn't believe it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Hayes lit the match.
VINNIE POLITAN, "IN SESSION" HOST: All right. And count 17, which is assault, second degree of Dr. William Petit, that is guilty. So let's review once again. Counts one through 15, guilty. Count 16, not guilty. Count 17, guilty. So really the story here, Beth Karas, is, is that this case is moving on to the penalty phase. Stephen Hayes will now be on trial for his life, Beth.
KARAS: That's right. And assuming these verdicts stand up on appeal, Steven Hayes, at a minimum, will never be a free man again. He will serve, at a minimum, life without parole. The jury will move on to this penalty phase. If they vote death, then he may not actually die by lethal injection just because they don't execute people very quickly here in Connecticut. It can take decades. Sometimes you die -- a better chance of dying of natural causes. That's not unusual around the country. But if the injury cannot agree unanimously on a verdict of the penalty phase, Vinnie, then the penalty phase gets retried before a new jury. It's considered a hung jury, a mistrial on the penalty phase. So 12 jurors have to agree on whatever that (INAUDIBLE).
POLITAN: Have to agree either life or death. That's interesting because many states don't have it that way.
KARAS: Correct.
POLITAN: Let's bring in Sunny Hostin. Sunny Hostin, your reaction. This man has, in fact, been found guilty of all six capital murder counts. They find him responsible for the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley Petit and Michaela.
SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION": Well, this evidence was just so overwhelming, Vinnie, I'm not surprised that he was found guilty of the murders of all three, Michaela, Hayley, Jennifer Hawke-Petit. They did ask this question about arson and whether or not this -- you know, starting the fire meant sort of lighting the match. And when the judge instructed them, no, obviously that's one thing that they were grappling with. But 16 out of 17 counts makes this, of course, a capital case. A death penalty case now. And I think that we're going to hear a lot more evidence for the death penalty phase because this judge indicated early on one month.
POLITAN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
HOSTIN: Possibly one month.
POLITAN: We'd like to welcome our CNN viewers who have joined us. To recap what has happened. Steven Hayes, a triple murder case, has been found guilty of 16 of 17 counts. But, most importantly, he's been found guilty of the six capital felony counts. That means this case moves on to the penalty phase where this man, Steven Hayes, will, in fact, be on trial for his life. And these same 12 jurors will decide whether or not he lives the rest of his life in prison or dies in prison.
Beth Karas, "In Session" correspondent is with us in New Haven.
Beth Karas, there were some questions, but it's four hours and 15 minutes of deliberations and this jury spoke very loudly today.
KARAS: Yes, they did. And I'll tell you one reason why it was a quick deliberation is because the defense got up and conceded his guilt on many of the charges. They admitted he committed arson, although they didn't find him guilty of that because of one element, starting a fire. Pouring the gasoline wasn't enough, he needed to have lit the match in the jury's mind. That he burglarized the place. That he kidnapped, that he killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and that he raped Jennifer Hawke-Petit.
But they always said that he did not intended to kill those daughters, Michaela and Hayley, and that could have saved him had the jury believed that from some of the capital felony counts, because at least four of them were based on an intention killing of the daughters. However, they rejected the defense here.
Four hours and 15 minutes, not a long time for a case of this magnitude, but there aren't that many issues. They ran into the arms of the police coming from the burning house. It's not like it was a case of mistaken identification. And they admitted to many of the crimes also.
POLITAN: Yes, this was not a who done it, but it was a -- you know, what exactly did each of these defendants do and who would be held responsible for what, because there were three women who were tortured, raped and killed in this case. They have found Steven Hayes responsible for all three deaths.
Now, don't forget, his co-defendant will be tried in about a year for these same crimes. But before we get to any of that, Steven Hayes is going to be on trial for his life.
We've got some of what happened inside the courtroom as well. Dr. William Petit, the father, the lone survivor of this home invasion, was inside the courtroom for this verdict and all reports are that he, again, was the way he has been throughout this entire ordeal, incredibly courageous, incredibly stoic as he listened to those verdicts as the jury reeled them off one at a time.
The rest of his family members hugging each other. This is a difficult time for them as well. They've been inside that courtroom from the beginning of this trial to the end.
Again, let's review what we've learned here. Sixteen of 17 counts guilty, guilty for Steven Hayes. There he is. He was facing charges dealing with the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, her oldest daughter Hayley, her youngest daughter Michaela. Included in that were charges of raping Jennifer Hawke-Petit, of kidnapping this entire family, of assaulting the husband. He's been found guilty of everything except the arson.
And that was the only question that this jury had was, if in fact do you have to light the match to be guilty of arson, can you be found guilty of arson for just pouring the gasoline. The judge said no and the jury said no to that one count. But that is minor compared to these other charges that we're talking about here.
Sunny Hostin is also with us.
HARRIS: OK. And our thanks to TruTV's Vinnie Politan of "In Session." The breaking news coming in just moments ago. Steven Hayes guilty of 16 of the 17 counts he faced in that gruesome Connecticut murder trial.
When we come back, we will speak with Jean Casarez with TruTV's "In Session" in just a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: Just moments ago a verdict in the gruesome Connecticut murder trial. Steven Hayes found guilty of 16 of the 17 counts he was facing. Jean Casarez with TruTV's "In Session" joining me now with more on this verdict from Connecticut.
And, Jean, first of all, good to see you.
How is it -- the first thing that strikes me, how is it that Hayes, Steven Hayes, wasn't found guilty of that loan charge. How did that happen when you look at the evidence in this case? Maybe explain that to us.
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, you're talking about count 18, which was the arson.
HARRIS: Yes.
CASAREZ: First degree burning of an occupied building. Well, obviously, the jury must not have believed that he was, in fact, the one responsible for an arson. We know the house burned down. We know accelerants were put on the two young girls while they were still alive, but they have to find every element of that charge beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant did it. They did not. But I can confirm with you, there's going to be a penalty phase because this is a capital murder case. They found him guilty of the capital counts. And this will go on to determine whether or not he receives the death penalty.
HARRIS: Jean, in covering this trial, maybe it would be fitting here for you to remind us all of just how gruesome -- I've used the word five or six times already in describing this case, this crime was.
CASAREZ: It is unbelievable, this crime that now a jury has found Steven Hayes guilty of. It was a family, a mother and two daughters, the Petit family. They went to the supermarket on a Sunday night, getting some things for dinner, and that's where Steven Hayes saw them. And he followed them back to their home. He didn't go in at that point, but late in the night he and his buddy, Komisarjevsky, another defendant who will have his trial next year, went to that home, gained entry and with Dr. Petit, they bound him and beat him, took him down to the basement, tied him to a pole. The two daughters, they tied them their beds. The mother. We saw the bank surveillance tape. They made her go to the bank and draw out $15,000, taking her back, but not before she was raped and strangled to death. The last act, that accelerant, all over the home while the girls were alive led to the burning of that home and what they thought a lot of evidence.
HARRIS: And Steven Hayes found guilty by this jury in Connecticut on just about all the charges.
Jean, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
CASAREZ: Thank you.
HARRIS: We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with our chief business correspondent, Mr. Ali Velshi.
Welcome back, Doctor.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: Good to see you.
VELSHI: You have a great afternoon.
