Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Foreclosure Fraud; Rescue of Trapped Miners Imminent; Outside Groups Trying to Buy Votes; Good Pay Without a College Degree; CNN Equals Politics Update; Countdown To Election Day
Aired October 12, 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: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen.
Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.
A huge home foreclosure mess with families caught in the middle, forging dates and signatures to kick homeowners out more quickly. CNN investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's less about the truth and more about how fast we can get the property foreclosed on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Just 21 days until the election. Millions of dollars pouring into the races, but just where is some of that money coming from? Who is paying to influence your vote? The answers are really hard to find.
And you are online right now. We are, too. Chad Myers is following "What's Hot" -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm glad Josh is off. Now I get to do this thing here.
A 101-year-old woman becomes a citizen with a document that's 69 years old. That's trending. Well's have more coming up.
And don't forget, just go to CNN.com. All the stories are trending over there on the right side -- Tony.
HARRIS: Good stuff, Chad. We'll talk to you in just a couple of minutes.
Let's get started with our lead story right now. Another brick could soon fall in the foreclosure fiasco. Several leading lenders have suspended foreclosures because mortgage documents were signed without being properly reviewed.
In a CNN exclusive, Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff reports that signatures are not the only things in question. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REPLIQUE D'AMELIO, FIGHTING FORECLOSURE: Oh, man.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Replique D'Amelio bought her dream home in Wappingers Falls, New York four years ago. Hard times hit, and she fell into default on her mortgage.
This summer, D'Amelio declared bankruptcy, hoping to head off foreclosure.
CHERNOFF (on camera): How important is it to you to hold onto this home?
D'AMELIO: Outside of my children and my family, there's nothing more important.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The threat of a foreclosure looms from CitiMortgage, a division of Citigroup. Even though the company doesn't own Replique D'Amelio's mortgage, Fannie Mae owns it, along with millions of other home loans.
Yet Fannie Mae's name is nowhere to be found on the assignment of (ph) mortgage document CitiMortgage produced in the D'Amelio bankruptcy case. Instead, the document states the mortgage was assigned to CitiMortgage. D'Amelio's lawyer says the bankers are not following proper legal procedure.
LINDA TIRELLI, ATTORNEY FOR D'AMELIO: This is an improper assignment of mortgage that's meant to shortcut the system. It's less about the truth and more about how fast can we get this property foreclosed on?
D'AMELIO: What did you get wrong?
CHERNOFF: CitiMortgage, which collected D'Amelio's monthly payments as the servicer of the loan, says there's no foul play here. It's normal procedure. And Fannie Mae agrees, pointing out this is how it operates all the time.
CHERNOFF (on camera): In fact, CitiMortgage owned the D'Amelio loan very briefly, for only a couple of months back in 2006. The original lender, Home Loan Center, sold the mortgage to CitiMortgage on November 3rd, 2006, the very day Replique D'Amelio borrowed the money. Less than two months later, CitiMortgage turned around and sold that loan as an investment to Fannie Mae on January 1st, 2007.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Yet the assignment of mortgage document stating CitiMortgage still owned D'Amelio's loan is dated June 24th, 2010. That information on the document comes from a Virginia company owned by CitiMortgage, Fannie Mae, and other big mortgage players - MERS, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.
When banks sell mortgages, they use MERS as an electronic repository to keep track of the real owners. MERS has 64 million loans in its database. If a bank wants to foreclose, it simply turns to MERS for the necessary documentation, much faster and cheaper than retrieving local title records.
But the MERS papers, like those for Replique D'Amelio's home, sometimes don't reflect the true status of the mortgage.
PAULA A. FRANZESE, SETON HALL REAL ESTATE LAW PROFESSOR: We're seeing forgeries. We're seeing back datings. We're seeing post datings. Largely because lenders are scrambling to come up with a chain of title that MERS was ill-equipped from its inception to provide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: MERS says that it provides clarity, efficiency, transparency to the housing finance system. Indeed, CitiMortgage says it relies on MERS' data to pursue homeowners who are in default. But increasingly, lawyers for homeowners like Replique D'Amelio are challenging the way that MERS operates -- Tony.
HARRIS: So, Allan, if D'Amelio is delinquent on her payments, the question is, can she ultimately win here?
CHERNOFF: Well, she certainly can delay foreclosure. This is an interesting legal tactic, and it could certainly put off foreclosure.
Can she win ultimately? It's all going to depend on whether or not her lawyer can actually prove that these documents we've talked about, that these documents are fraudulent.
HARRIS: Is this a potential approach for others in this foreclosure squeeze to pursue?
CHERNOFF: Indeed, it is. More and more attorneys are taking this tact, and there have been some state cases where Supreme Courts in some states, including Kansas, Arkansas, have actually ruled against MERS. So they have suffered a few legal defeats. They have plenty of victories, but they see a chink in the armor, these attorneys do, and they are pursuing it aggressively.
HARRIS: Allan, appreciate it.
Allan Chernoff for us in New York City.
I want to bring in Tammy Luhby. Let's bring Tammy into this conversation. She is a senior writer for CNNMoney.com.
Tammy, you've indicated that we can't move past this housing crisis unless foreclosures continue. Explain that, please.
TAMMY LUHBY, SR. WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, everyone thinks that foreclosures are the new F-word, but they are a necessary part of the system. The housing market needs to be able to clear these vacant properties.
They're abandoned. They look terrible. They're bringing down the housing values of all the people around them. So we need to be able to have foreclosures to clear out the system and move on from this crisis.
HARRIS: So what's the best outcome for delinquent borrowers?
LUHBY: I'm sorry?
HARRIS: What's the best outcome for delinquent borrowers here then?
LUHBY: Well, what this might be able to do is it may be able to pressure the banks to give more modifications and more, you know, principal reductions and things like that that they have been very resistant to do. So, some borrowers who can legitimately pay their loan, they can actually, you know, get some assistance here.
But most people, look, if you're not paying -- you know, the woman in Allan's story is a very unfortunate case, but if she can't afford to pay her mortgage, what is she going to do? How is she going to be able to pay going forward?
HARRIS: OK. No, it's a good point. It's a fair point.
All right, Tammy. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Sixty-eight days trapped underground, and if all goes as planned, 33 Chilean miners will be back above ground tomorrow or soon after.
Our Karl Penhaul is at the mine in Chile.
Karl, good to see you again. What has to happen before officials start bringing the miners up?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what we've all been asking. And I've got some answers to those questions now for you, Tony, because just a few moments before we came to air, rescue officials were giving us the daily news conference.
So, the first question up to the mines minister, Laurence Golborne, we're all asking, when is this rescue operation going to begin? Because we've been hearing all morning the timelines have been telescoped, everything is now ready, and the first extraction could happen sooner rather than later.
Let's listen to what he had to say on that one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENCE GOLBORNE, MINISTRY OF MINES (through translator): We hope to finish today, Tuesday, which is day 69 since our miners got trapped. We're really working as fast as possible to get these miners out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now, when he says finish there, Tony, let's not misunderstand that. What he means is the preparations will be finished well before the end of today, and the actual extraction process will start today, because remember yesterday, when we were talking. We were talking that the extraction may not start before midnight tonight.
Now it looks like extraction could start as early as possibly 8:00 p.m. local time. That makes it 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. And what the mines minister said, he hopes certainly by midnight to have at least the first miner up on the surface.
Now, of course the process of when the Phoenix capsule is down in that mine, it's only going to take about 10 to 15 minutes for each miner to come to the surface. But the whole possess of lowering the capsule, loading the miner aboard, strapping him in, all that is going to take about an hour.
So the rescue officials are calculating about one hour per miner, and thus the total rescue operation of about 33 hours once it kicks off. So, it's going to be long, but, of course, as each miner comes up, they're going to have all the safety conditions that rescue officials think they need.
They're going to be strapped in there with a harness. They're going to have a hard hat on just to make sure that there are no rock falls, they don't get damaged by any debris that makes its way into the Phoenix capsule.
They're also going to get an enriched oxygen mixture fed to them through an oxygen mask that they're going to be wearing inside that cage. And also, crucially, they're going to be wearing dark glasses, because even if they come out during the nighttime, there's a lot of bright lights here, not to mention if they come out in the daylight. After so long living in semi-darkness, the doctors say one of the main risks is if these miners are exposed to bright sunlight like that, they could suffer retinal damage.
All measures being taken to combat that as well -- Tony.
HARRIS: So, Karl, if I'm a miner coming up, taking that 15- minute trip up to the surface, I would like to be able to be in constant communication with the folks on the surface. Is that going to be possible?
PENHAUL: Absolutely right. And that is one of the things both to calm the miners themselves. If they feel any panic, if they feel any anxiety, then they're going to be talking to rescuers up there, rescuers that include medics and psychologists. But also the rescuers want some feedback as well. And so if they see any spinning of the rescue capsule, if they see any fraying of cables, if they see any rock falls, or even what they call underground subterranean water, if that starts to flow in through the rescue cage, again, the rescuers want to know that.
And that's why it's important that these miners stay conscious. And that's why they're also having that oxygen mixture fed to them so they don't get dizzy, so they don't faint.
HARRIS: And one more, Karl. I just want to fix this timeline as best we can right here.
So, we could have the first extraction of the first miner by 8:00 p.m. local time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time? That process could actually begin?
PENHAUL: I would say that that is when the process is going to begin. But remember, before the first miner comes up, four rescue workers have got to go down. Those are two rescue experts and two paramedics.
They're going to go down to keep a check on the miners, to help them into the cage age, and also sort out the backing order, the order of which miner comes up first. And after that process is complete -- and figure it out, if there are four rescue workers, that process could take an hour per rescue worker to get them down.
And so we're talking about four hours to get the rescue workers in, and then, boom. Then we could see the first extraction of the first miner. But the officials say that by midnight tonight our time -- that's 11:00 p.m. your time -- we could see the first miner back on the surface.
HARRIS: This is exciting stuff. We've been following this story for months now, two months and a few days, and we're really close.
Karl, terrific reporting. I can't wait to see this unfold later today and tonight, and in the early morning hours.
Karl Penhaul for us.
Really, we've been watching this for a total of 68 days now, ever since August 5th, when part of the San Jose mine collapsed. As luck would have it, all 33 miners were in a refuge shelter eating lunch at that exact moment. But no one knew they were alive until 17 days later.
That's when rescuers who had been drilling boreholes found the note from the miners attached to one of their drill bits. Amazing.
Equipment and experts came from all over the world to help drill deeper holes, three of them simultaneously. And on Saturday, the first one broke through. It has since been widened and reinforced, and now it is ready for rescue, late tonight, early tomorrow.
We are back in a moment with our "Random Moment of the Day."
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Exactly three weeks to the midterm elections, and tens of millions of dollars are flowing into ads on these final critical days before voters start casting ballots. The money is from outside groups trying to sway your vote. That's according to OpenSecrets.org.
Just who are these secret sources? Two members of "The Best Political Team on Television" are on this story.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, joining us from Capitol Hill. And Senior Political Editor Mark Preston is at our Political Desk in Washington.
Now, first, let's watch Dana's report, and then we will dig deeper on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. RICK BOUCHER (D), VIRGINIA: We're doing far more than we've --
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Embattled 14-term Democrat Rick Boucher says he's never had an election enemy quite like the one he's facing now -- not his opponent --
BOUCHER: This is an organization that is truly shadowy.
BASH: A third party Republican group running this ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM AMERICANS FOR JOB SECURITY POLITICAL AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boucher has failed to protect our jobs. Now it's time Rick Boucher loses his. Americans for Jobs Security is responsible for the content of this advertising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH (on camera): Americans for Job Security is responsible.
You know who they are?
BOUCHER: We have no idea who these individuals are. And this could be a foreign entity. It could be someone who has a corporate identity in the United States. It could be a -- a very wealthy individual who has some grudge against me.
BASH: Americans for Job Security is one of those outside groups likely benefiting from a Supreme Court decision which, on free speech grounds, said corporations can spend unlimited money to promote or defeat candidates without disclosing donors.
(voice-over): It does have this Web site, which says it promotes "free market ideas" and its more than 1,000 members are, quote, "businesses, business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the country," but also bluntly states it won't disclose donors because, "too often politicians or the media define an organization or message not by the merits of the argument, but rather by the perception of the people associated with it."
(on camera): Republican sources say Americans for Job Security only has one fulltime employee, Steve DeMaura, whose offices are right across the river from Washington here, in Alexandria, Virginia. Now, we've left multiple phone messages for DeMaura, to try to get more information about his group and we never heard back. So we came here to his office, knocked on the door and we were told he wasn't there.
DAVE LEVINTHAL, OPEN SECRETS/CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: Because of the type of group that they are, you don't know if that's one American for Job Security, a million Americans for Job Security.
BASH: What we do know, with the help of the nonpartisan, OpenSecrets.org, is Americans for Job Security has spent nearly $8 million against Democratic candidates nationwide, and, overall, conservative outside groups have already spent $108 million; liberal groups, $69 million.
Tim Phillips, with Americans for Prosperity, another GOP group, did talk to us. It's been singled out by the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even though they're posing as non-profit groups with names like Americans for Prosperity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH (on camera): By the time we reach election day, how much will your group have spent?
TIM PHILLIPS, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: This year, we'll have spent around $35 million.
BASH (voice-over): That money funds ads like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY POLITICAL AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Small businesses that see Marquis (ph) as the same as Nancy Pelosi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Who are its donors?
The Texas billionaire Koch brothers are the group's founders and give significant dollars.
Besides them, who knows?
PHILLIPS: Most of it is private individuals. But we're glad to have their support and -- and we do tell them, look, we're going to protect your privacy, as the law allows us to do.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
BASH: And that's a key thing to remember. It is legal for these particular groups to spend tens of millions to effect elections without anyone knowing who is funding them.
Now, the Supreme Court said that Congress should fix it. Democrats had legislation to do that. It was blocked in the Senate. But, Tony, you know, we focused in this piece on Republican outside groups. It is important to note that Democrats are hitting GOP candidates too. They're not as well funded, but they're out there, and we're going to take a look at that in our next story.
HARRIS: OK. And Dana, I want you to take the lead on this, and I want you to work Mark in on this, as well. Would you explain to everyone, particularly folks outside the beltway, why this issue is starting to pick up and gain so much traction?
BASH: Well, really, the primary reason why we're hearing so much about it is because Democrats have made this a campaign issue. From the president on down, we have been hearing about it more and more from them, saying that these Republican shadowy groups are out there spending unlimited dollars.
Now, I will tell you, in talking privately to Democrats, the reason they're doing that is because they are being outspent and they're very worried about it. They're also hoping that the more they talk about it, the more they hope that Democratic donors will pony up and help their candidates.
So that's the reason why we're hearing so much about it. But it is a huge thing. The spending is enormous this year, and outside groups, especially in some of the most competitive Senate races, are spending more than the candidates themselves.
HARRIS: Mark, I know you've got a couple thoughts on this, as well.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SR. POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. You know, Tony, I mean, look, why we've seen Republicans use these outside groups so effectively, as Dana's piece shows, is because Democrats control Congress, they control the White House. They have the bully pulpit, and they were expected to raise tons of money.
And they've done very well. So we haven't seen the Democratic groups really rise to that level. But these outside groups play a very important role in an election.
You know, Tony, just in the last 60 days, there has been $53 million spent on ads by outside groups. Now, 89 percent of those ads have been negative.
Now, Evan Tracey, who is our analyst on political television commercials, tells me that, look, it makes sense, because the job of these groups are to be disruptive, to be negative, and to allow candidates to be able to talk in more positive messages. And as Dana points out, the majority of that money is there to benefit Republicans.
HARRIS: OK. So, Mark, is there any evidence to substantiate some of the claims that are floating around this political season that suggest that there are foreign companies, corporations investing in these third-party groups in a way to influence this election cycle? PRESTON: Tony, a major talking point right now by the president, by the vice president, by Democrats, as Dana had said just earlier, they're going out there saying that the Chamber of Commerce is accepting money. They have these entities set up overseas. And, in fact, what Democrats are saying is the Chamber of Commerce, which is spending a lot of money on this election, needs to prove that this foreign money is not influencing the election.
Now, there's no proof at all except that Democrats say they want disclosure. And the Chamber of Commerce, based upon the law, does not have to disclose.
I should say what the Chamber of Commerce says -- look, we're not doing anything wrong. We're not using any of this foreign money on American politics. That's all on international business.
So, while the Democrats are saying it, they've offered no evidence -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
And Dana, one last one for you here. Why is the president, President Obama, taking this one on? Why aren't, you know, some of his foot soldiers fighting this one out?
BASH: They have been. They have been, but the president has something that they don't have, and that is the bully pulpit.
And I can tell you, Tony, talking to Democratic lawmakers, other Democratic strategists for months leading up to this point, they were so frustrated that the president wasn't doing this enough, that it wasn't political enough, that he wasn't rolling up his sleeves and fighting the fight for the party enough for them. So they are very, very happy that he is out there. They wish that he would do it more, a la Bill Clinton, perhaps.
On the substance of this particular fight, look, this is one of the major Democratic talking points right now. So they say if this is going to be our fight, let's have the president be the mouthpiece on it.
HARRIS: Dana, appreciate it.
Mark, good stuff.
To both of you, thank you both.
A quick programming note here.
Tomorrow night, CNN's Wolf Blitzer hosts the debate for the U.S. Senate seat in Delaware, Republican Christine O'Donnell versus Democrat Chris Coons. That's at 7:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.
You know, we have been talking about the miners' rescue, right? In just a minute or so, Chad Myers will join me at CNN's replica of the capsule that will be used. There it is, and we will talk about what the miners may go through on their way to the surface.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Only a matter of hours. Man, this is really exciting stuff, Chad.
MYERS: Yes.
HARRIS: Forget the lead. Before the trapped miners are extracted from this shaft, from this mine, right? And we've created a replica here.
Will you talk us through what the experience is going to be like? They're sending down some medical personnel first, and then they check everyone out, talk to them about the process. And then the miners get strapped up and then we start the process here. Right?
MYERS: First of all -- and this is strong enough I can do this -- this does not go up like an elevator. This does not just go -- because the hole is not a vertical shaft.
HARRIS: Yes. Oh, come on.
MYERS: The hole is tilted over about 10 to 15 degrees. So this thing is going to be banging along this side. And we also know that because of the way it's built, it will be rotating around as --
HARRIS: So you get some spinning?
MYERS: You'll get spinning, as well. Yes.
Now, I did get in this thing, and it doesn't seem to be as small as we've really made it out to be.
HARRIS: Exactly.
MYERS: OK? I think this thing is technically usable.
HARRIS: OK.
MYERS: You're going to close it up. OK, it doesn't feel great. I don't really want to be in here for 20 minutes.
HARRIS: But I really want to get out.
MYERS: But I'm going up. Right? This is my option. I'm the first one in.
HARRIS: Yes. I'm taking it, right.
MYERS: We don't think there's going to be any lighting in here, although there will be electronics in here, because I think they want to monitor these guys as they go up. They don't want to -- you know, if all of a sudden, something very much goes wrong with somebody on the way up, they may crank this thing up pretty fast whether they want to or not.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: The ride should be about 20 minutes. The ride was going to be longer. The ride was going to be an hour, but -- 45 minutes to an hour. But the good news is, as they understand it now, from taking the original capsule and sending it down a number of times, at least four times yesterday -- not all the way down to the men -- they were 40 feet from the men, still in -- still in the tube, still in the borehole.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: But as they took it up and took it down, they found no snags whatsoever. And the bottom part of the bore is very smooth because the rock was so hard. So -- and then they put wheels on this. So, unlike the one at Quecreek, there are wheels on the sides, so as it is banging along the sides, it's rolling along rather than bumping along.
HARRIS: It sounds like they've really worked this out. I mean, they brought experts in from all over the place to work this out.
What I love is that once they're all strapped up here, they will be able to communicate -- the miners will be able to communicate with the folks at the top. Right?
MYERS: Yes. There will be oxygen in the tube. It will be cooler as they make their way up.
We thought about this, like the mines in America. You get down there, it's 55, 60 degrees. It's cold all the time.
It's not cold down where they are. They're closer to the center of the earth.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
MYERS: They're down by the magma almost, so they're in the 80, 90-degree air. As it goes up, it's going to get better and better for them.
HARRIS: And you've got the big shades, glasses on. So -- and that's important, too, because you don't want to -- even if it's in the evening, nighttime in Chile, you still don't want that difference in light and the camera lights, or whatever else is going on there.
MYERS: I would be surprised if they didn't limit the number of camera lights as they came out.
HARRIS: Yes. OK. Chad, appreciate it.
MYERS: All right. You can get in later.
HARRIS: No, no, no. All right.
I did it last hour. It was a hot mess.
All right. We're back in a moment.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: This just in to CNN. And I'll read it to you -- thanks to our CNN's John King for working his sources to get this information.
CNN has learned from two government sources now that the Obama administration today -- and I'll just read this to you - "will lift the deepwater drilling moratorium that was put in place in the wake of the BP oil spill." It looks like a month ahead of schedule. If I've got my facts and figures, my recollection is correct here, it would be a month -- about a month ahead of schedule.
One of the sources said the announcement would include "enhanced oversight initiatives," that makes sense, but the source declined to be more specific pending the official announcement. And that information hustled up for us by our John King, the host of "JOHN KING USA" 7 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We'll continue to follow developments here and work that story up in its broader context.
Marijuana is on four state ballots this November. In California, voters will decide on Prop 19, which would allow small amounts of marijuana on a person to be legal and taxable. In South Dakota and Arizona, the issue is legalizing marijuana to treat various medical conditions. And in Oregon, where medical marijuana has been legal for some time now, the question before voters: should the sale of medical marijuana be available through dispensaries?
Now, over the next couple of days, CNN NEWSROOM will take a close look at the marijuana argument as it stands today, and ask what yes votes could mean for Americans in the future. A growing number of law enforcement officers are saying the war on drugs is counterproductive, a waste of taxpayer dollars and completely unwinnable. Here's CNN's Casey Wian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kyle Kazan was a foot soldier in the war on drugs. He's taking us back to his old battleground in Torrance, California, where he says it's time to give up the fight.
KYLE KAZAN, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: I made a lot of dope arrests out here.
WIAN (on camera): How much of your time when you were a police officer would you say you spent dealing with drug-related issues?
KAZAN: I'd say drug-related stuff was probably -- I'm just going to shoot in the dark and say half of what I dealt with. Most police officers look at drug arrests as a way of saying, look, I didn't catch the burglar burglarizing, but I got him with dope. So, I'm getting him off the street for something.
WIAN (voice-over): After nearly five years on patrol among pawn shops and flop-house hotels, Kazan changed his mind.
(on camera): How would it make the streets of Torrance and other cities safer if marijuana was legalized?
KAZAN: Well, number one, it takes the criminal element that is selling it today and when I say criminal element, the people willing to break the law to do it. And remember they can't call the police if they're getting robbed when they're selling drugs. So, they've got to carry guns.
We either make it a legitimate business, or we let the gangsters run a business, which is bad for all of us.
WIAN (voice-over): Kazan belongs to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a national group of former cops prosecutors and judges supporting a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fellow cops on the street, they'll tell you right up, it really makes sense. First of all, they don't want to be wasting their time locking up someone for possession of marijuana, minor dealing on the streets. What they want to do -- they want to pay attention to those serious crimes against people: the rapes, the homicides, the armed robberies, the missing children.
WIAN: Publicly most law enforcement groups remain opposed to drug legalization.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole argument about taking away crime profits and reducing crime is all nonsense. We haven't reduced anything when it comes to the casualties of alcohol, and we haven't reduced anything when it comes to the casualties of narcotics. The truth is is that it's too prevalent. It creates nonproductive element of society.
WIAN: James Gray is a retired Orange County, California judge who used to hear drug cases. He says the United States has spent a trillion dollars waging a war against drugs, and that it's been a waste of money.
JAMES GRAY, RETIRED ORANGE COUNTY, CA JUDGE: In my view, drug prohibition is the biggest failed policy in the history of our country, second only to slavery. And that sounds like an exaggeration, but the more people seE what's going on, the more they will understand it has its tentacles in pretty much everything that's going wrong in the country.
WIAN: Gray says that illegal drug money is at the root of threats, ranging from street gangs to international terrorism.
GRAY: If our government really cared about fighting terrorism, they would adopt the one solution to take away its money. I swear that drug prohibition is the golden goose of terrorism.
KAZAN: I got to know a lot of the guys that I arrested. I got to know a lot of the local drug users, and as I humanized these people, I realized, you know, they had been to jail numerous times. That didn't work. They're still on drugs. I actually -- as you get to know them you feel bad for them.
WIAN: Casey Wian, CNN, Torrance, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Hey, we have got more on marijuana on the ballot during our next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Ali Velshi takes a look at the four states trying to make marijuana a little more mainstream. That starts at 1:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Want to get John King, host of "JOHN KING USA." John, you have a breaking development on the Obama administration's plans of moving forward with the moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil.
JOHN KING, HOST, "JOHN KING USA": You remember, Tony, that deepwater moratorium put in place almost immediately after the big BP oil spill, due to expire at the end of November. But we are told now by two government sources the administration will announce in the next hour or so a lifting of the deepwater moratorium. They will say that drilling can now resume, although there will be some new oversights and enhanced safety regulations, if you will.
As you know, the governor of Louisiana, all politicians, Democrat and Republican in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast have been complaining about this moratorium for some time, saying it's costing them millions in revenue, costing them thousands of jobs. But the administration will announce it's being lifted today.
Although Tony, it will be interesting to talk to the industry. Because the industry says that's great news. They want the moratorium lifted, but they say they still don't understand all the new regulations. So, six weeks essentially. It was due to expire at the end of November. They're going to lift it now in the middle of October, but we'll see the back and forth now between the industry as to when actually the work can resume and drilling can resume. And as you know as the industry celebrates, you can be certain some environmental groups will raise some concerns here, Tony.
HARRIS: Ah, good stuff. Breaking development. John King. John, appreciate it. Thank you.
Let's take a break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: No degree, no problem. You won't hear that a lot in today's job market, but we have the ten best paying jobs out there for people without a college diploma. You can find these in the new book out today.
All right. "Smart Is the New Rich." Let's talk to the author and CNN Money Team contributor, Christine Romans.
Christine, good to see you. The book is out today. Congratulations.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Today, thank you, Tony. The first person who tweets me or Facebooks me a picture of it in an airport, I'm going to send you a free copy, autographed. How's that?
HARRIS: That is - that is awesome! If you would, run us through this list, please.
ROMANS: OK, well, first I want to point to CNNmoney.com because they have their own fantastic gallery of top pay for jobs. Anesthesiologists is on the top of that list. Lots of different job categories.
I wanted to direct you to this one, though, that I've put together with the folks at payscale.com because it's really fascinating. Takes a long time to become an anesthesiologist. But what are the kinds jobs you can get if you don't need a college degree but still have good pay? Here's what we found.
Radiation therapist. Median pay, $77,000, top pay is in the six figures. Construction superintendent, $77,000. General sales manager, $75,000 -- if you can sell it and you work up the ladder, you can get some really good pay. Fashion designer on this list, doesn't require a college degree. Senior charge nurse, and as I move through here, you'll see more health care-related fields. Journeyman lineman, supermarket store manager, an ICU registered nurse.
Now, keep in mind, these do require training; some of them require extended training. But these are the kind of jobs that you can start. Many of these are ladder jobs. You start maybe not for great pay, Tony, but then as you're smart and you put in your time and you add your education, you begin to move up the list. So, there you go for all of you who can't become anesthesiologists and make $290,000 a year, there are a lot of other diverse fields that have very good pay if you're smart and savvy and you can move up the list.
Now, Tony, any discussion of jobs has to be accompanied by a discussion of the gap in available jobs, and I want to show you a little picture that the folks at the Economic Policy Institute put together. It's a chart showing you where we are, where we are supposed to be, and where we're supposed to be going. That gap between the top line and the bottom line is the gap between how many jobs we are supposed to have right now, including the jobs that absorb new people -- you know, absorb new people in the labor market and where we are.
HARRIS: Wow.
ROMANS: It's a gap of some 11.5 million jobs. We have a big hole to fill here. And it's why I think, Tony, lists like these are so important about good pay, no degree, best paying jobs, where the jobs are. Because you're going to have to be smarter than ever, right, in the next few years to find your place in this economy with fewer jobs available.
HARRIS: Wait a minute, Christine. Can we put that graphic up again? That's stunning. I mean, really which is why you made it.
ROMANS: Yes.
HARRIS: But let's put it up again --
ROMANS: You know, and I'll tell you, I didn't make it. The Economic Policy Institute made it. And it's been widely, widely spread around this morning. "Huffington Post" picked it up. It was tweeted to me at least 15 times.
I mean, people out there are sitting at their desks and talking about this. They're talking about what's going on out there wrong -- around them, even as they're talking about where the good jobs are, where the opportunities are. Pointing out that all of these discussions about where we're going, this is the backdrop right there.
HARRIS: Well, Christine, you made it for us. It wasn't made originally by us, but you made it for us.
But here's the point. Can we put it up against please, one more time? You're talking about 11 million jobs, is the gap from where we are and what we need, right? Where we should be right now.
ROMANS: That's right, even. Just to get even, we need 11 million jobs.
HARRIS: And the reality is -- people are having this discussion right now, we are not going to close that gap. You need sectors running at top proficiency to even think about closing that gap. Manufacturing isn't working at the top of its levels right now. Housing, come on. You're not going to get those jobs any time soon.
ROMANS: And it gets even more philosophical than that. Do we have an education system that's churning out the workers who are going to be the software architects, who are going to be the mechanical engineers and the chemical engineers? Are we graduating enough kids from high school with the right skills? Are we still facing a public education system that for many years had a safety valve of a manufacturing base that could take a lot of unskilled workers and turn them into middle-class workers, and then their children could go on to higher education? Have we dismantled the safety valve and have bigger issues to talk about with education?
It's all tricky and thorny and complicated, but the manifestation of that is that big gap you see on that chart.
HARRIS: Do you understand, as you look at that, that gap, folks watching us, how prepared you need to be, how competitive you need to be moving forward, the skill sets you have to have at your disposal moving forward with that gap staring at you?
ROMANS: Yes, there are four point -- what is it, 4.6 available workers for every job opening. That means you have to be smarter than four other people. Savvier and luckier, I guess, to get an available job opening in this country right now. You know, so that's -- I guess that's really the premise of the whole 'Smart Is The New Rich," right?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
ROMANS: That you have to really be on your toe because the economy is not working in your favor right now.
HARRIS: Well, yes, it's a timely book. Well done. Congratulations.
ROMANS: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: Thanks, Christine. See you tomorrow.
ROMANS: Thank you.
HARRIS: We are updating efforts to stop the toxic sludge in Hungary. Now, that's after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Here are some of your top stories right now. The Army psychologist accused of killing 13 people in a rampage at Fort Hood is inside the courtroom right now. Major Nidal Hasan is facing a preliminary hearing to determine if he should be court-martialed.
Authorities in Mexico are getting conflicting accounts right now about the investigation into the disappearance of a man from a south Texas lake. Some say authorities are pursuing two brothers in the case. Others say they know nothing about any suspects. The man's wife told authorities her husband was shot and killed while jet skiing on the lake.
In Hungary workers are racing to finish three backup dams today to keep the remaining sludge at an aluminum plant contained. The owner of the plant has been arrested and now faces criminal charges over the environmental disaster.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Voters at the polls three weeks from today. These critical midterm elections determine which party calls the shots in the Congress. CNN chief national correspondent John King, the host of "John King USA," with "The Best Political Team On Television," live from Washington, D.C.
Good to see you again, John. And what is crossing right now?
KING: And, Tony, you'll get a sense from what's crossing right now which party has the momentum three weeks out from the election. One of the big things today is Karl Rove, remember him --
HARRIS: Yes.
KING: The architect of the Bush campaign, the former top Bush administration official, calling the current Democratic president of the United States a hypocrite. Karl Rove saying that because President Obama has been insinuating perhaps there's some foreign money getting involved in these outside campaign ads. Karl Rove and others involved in that effort say there's not a dime of foreign money and the White House keeps saying this, including the president himself, with no evidence. So a war of words between the president and his former nemesis from the Bush administration there.
Here's a new poll that tells you quite a bit about the president's political standing today. This one out just today. Does Obama have the personal qualities a president should have? Well, 59 percent, nearly six in 10 Americans say, yes, he does. That's a good embrace of the president as a person and as a leader. However, do you agree with Obama on the issues that matter to you? Fifty-five percent answered no to that question, Tony. That's proof of one of the reasons Democrats are in trouble this election year.
And the president, lastly, trying to turn this around. He's trying to gin up the excitement from 2008. Trying to get young voters and African-Americans to come out and vote this November. Tonight he'll be on the campus of George Washington University. That event will be streamed to other campuses around the country. And the president will take questions from an audience there and also from FaceBook and Twitter. And we are told tonight will be the first time a sitting president of the United States uses Skype at an official event.
HARRIS: Huh.
KING: How about that, Tony?
HARRIS: Yes. That -- well, OK, the technology again at work and at play here.
You know, John, you had -- I want you to revisit the breaking news that you brought to us earlier this hour, and then I've got a question about timing and perhaps even cynically maybe a bit of a calculation here. You had to know I was going to go there.
The breaking news is about the Obama administration making some changes in the ban, the moratorium, on deepwater drilling.
KING: Right, that deepwater drilling moratorium that was put in place right after the BP oil spill will be lifted within the hour. We are told that by several government sources, the administration will say that deepwater drilling can resume so long as the operators meet a new and tougher set of safety regulations. So that has been a big policy fight, as you know, and also a big, political battle for the administration because the industry didn't like it and a lot of politicians along the Gulf Coast, Democrat and Republican, didn't like it either, Tony.
HARRIS: The timing of this. Can we read anything into the timing of this? You're a smart, savvy analyst of political events. My understanding from you is that this is happening a month earlier than expected, right? KING: The moratorium was due to expire at the end of November. The administration is announcing this now. One of the reasons it says it would move as quickly as possible to get the review done. But there are people who will say, wait a minute, a Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, put a hold on the president's nominee to run the Office Of Management And Budget, saying until they lifted this moratorium, she wasn't going to let him go forward.
You have some Democratic politicians, Republicans and Democrats, but what hurts the White House is Democrats along the Gulf Coast raising this in their own campaigns this year, saying the administration is off on the wrong course. Plus, there are a number of actions in the federal courts that are pending. Those will be affected by this as well. So the cynics might say, hmm, doing this three weeks before the election as opposed to a few days after the election, curious.
HARRIS: Curious. There he is, John King, the host of "John King USA," tonight and every night, weeknights on CNN at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Your next political update coming up in an hour. For the latest political news, just go to cnnpolitics.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Just wanted to put that up and tell you that we ran long with the breaking news of this hour, so we won't be able to get to "What's Hot" today. Chad will be manning "What's Hot" tomorrow for us. Just time for a quick break before we get to Ali Velshi at the top the hour. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
