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Egyptian Protesters Vow Not to Leave; President Obama Talks Before Super Bowl; George W. Bush Cancels Trip to Geneva; Talk Back Question; Hard To Be Out Of Work Boomer; Drugs Smuggled On Flights
Aired February 07, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Well, top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Let's get you up to speed.
Anti-government protesters form a human chain around Cairo's Tahrir Square. Their numbers, they're smaller today, but they're vowing that they're not going to leave. Protesters have rejected this weekend's democracy talks as a government ploy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was raining. It was cold here last night.
ABDUL HAMID DAOUD, PROTESTER: Yes, yes, yes, yes. And all the people stand tired, and tired and we will continue forever until that system is removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Iran says the trial of three young Americans will resume soon. Iran arrested Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal 19 months ago while they were hiking near the Iran/Iraq border. They are charged with spying. The regime freed a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, for medical reasons. She is on trial, too, though, even though she returned to the United States.
Well, two hours from now, Arizona lawmakers open hearings on Senate bill 1309. And what does that do? Well, it would deny citizenship to children born on American soil if their parents are illegal immigrants. Should the measure become law, it would conflict with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
And shuttle commander Mark Kelly resumed full-time training at Cape Canaveral, Florida, today. Kelly's life, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. Endeavour launches April 19th, and Kelly says his wife will be on hand to watch the shuttle liftoff.
Big, dangerous chunks of ice are falling off buildings in Boston and doing quite a bit of damage. The slabs of frozen snow and water crashed through the windshields of at least two parked cars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAUREEN MCCARTHY, BOSTON RESIDENT: You have to look up. I mean, if you're walking by one of these buildings, there's -- the ice falls right in front of you. And sometimes, you know, you miss it just by inches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Some schools are closed in New England today for snow removal, get all that snow out. The heavy weight has caused several roofs to collapse.
Well, you're now up to speed in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is day 14 of the uprising in Egypt, and President Hosni Mubarak has been meeting with his newly-appointed cabinet for the first time.
My colleague Frederik Pleitgen, he's joining us from Cairo.
And Fred, tell us, what are the protesters doing now in Tahrir Square?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're still going strong in Tahrir Square. You mentioned it before. It seems as if there were a little bit fewer protesters there today than maybe in the past couple of days. But what has been happening is that usually it gets quite a slow start in the mornings and then becomes more and more in the afternoon.
So, right now, I would say if I look around, still a good 4,000, 5,000 people here on that square. And you'll see people coming and going. However, they are still out there in masses. And the people have been telling us that they have no intention of going home until Hosni Mubarak steps down.
They are, of course, also following all the political developments that are going on, all these talks between the government and opposition groups. But there's a lot of people that I spoke to down there, Suzanne, who tell me they don't want anybody even from the established opposition parties representing them at all. They want Hosni Mubarak to step down, and they say that's when they'll wait and see how things go forward.
Now, the other thing that's happening is that, of course, so far into this demonstration, the people here in Cairo are trying to get their lives back together and trying to get something like their lives started up again. So there's more traffic rolling around. There's a highway overpass right below me that the past couple days was a battleground, where pro-and-anti-Mubarak protesters were going at it. Now there's traffic rolling there again, so people sort of are starting to get their lives back on track, or at least they're trying to -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Fred, it may seem a little too soon here, but perhaps you can give us a sense of this. We know that tourism is critical for Europe, particularly those that go to see the pyramids, the antiquities.
Do we have sense of how this chaos on the streets and now these demonstrators in the middle of that main square are impacting tourists? Are they afraid? Have they left? What's going on?
PLEITGEN: Well, I mean, it's a very difficult situation, to say the least. Tourism is about five to six percent of this country's GDP, so it's massive. It's one of the biggest industries here in this country and it's come to a complete standstill.
I mean, as you'll recall, as the rioting was going on here in Cairo, almost all the tourists that were here fled. I mean, they just left the country.
And I spoke to some tour guides around the Giza pyramids today. I spoke to some people who offer camel rides. And they say that there hasn't been a single tourist since that time, since January 28th, when a lot of this rioting began.
And so right now most of these people say they have no idea how to feed their families. They have no idea how to feed the animals that they have that were taking the people up and down to the pyramids. And a lot of these people are very, very worried, not just about the time right now, but about the long-term consequences for this country.
How are the hotels going to get filled up again? When are tourists going to be coming back? And who wants to come to Egypt when there's tanks in the middle of the road and no police forces out in the streets?
So right now there's a lot of worried people here and a massive industry that is just bleeding this country every day -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: They're going to have a lot of work to do. Thank you so much, Fred.
Well, President Obama tried to make nice with Washington's most powerful business lobby today. In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce just a short time ago, he called for corporations to keep jobs in America and to hire American workers.
There you're seeing live pictures as he makes his way through the crowd shaking hands. He got a rare applause from this organization. He had once called some of the business leaders there "fat cats."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand you are under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep your margins up. I understand the significance of your obligations to your shareholders and the pressures that are created by quarterly reports. I get it. But as we work with you to make America a better place to do business, I'm hoping that all of you are thinking what you can do for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Relations between the Obama White House and big business were chilly, at best, over the last two years. Obviously, they're trying to do a lot to change that, which brings us to our "Talk Back," your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day.
And our Carol Costello has more on this.
Carol, obviously a lot of people weighing in on this.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people are weighing in.
This wasn't just any speech, Suzanne. The president spoke before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful pro-business lobby. It was meant to be a sort of kiss and make up kind of thing.
At the height of the recession, President Obama called CEO types "fat cats." Today, to the chagrin of union types, he seems to be embracing big business, although big business doesn't see it that way.
Still, the president's new chief of staff is a former JPMorgan Chase guy. And the chairman of the president's Council on Jobs is a former GE executive.
So, will the president's new pro-business strategy work? And it hasn't so far.
The unemployment rate, as you know, is 9 percent. The median income in 2008 was $50,112. It fell slightly in 2009 to $49,777. Wall Street compensation actually went up 5.7 percent.
And if you look at the bigger picture, according to the Commerce Department, corporations have nearly $1.6 trillion in profits, and they're sitting on it.
And the middle class?
So, "Talk Back" today: Will the president's move to embrace business leaders help ordinary Americans?
Let us know what you think on Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your answers coming up within the hour.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.
Well, here's a look at stories "On the Rundown."
The president takes on Bill O'Reilly. We've got the nuts and bolts of their Super Bowl pre-game conversation.
And we'll tell you why former President Bush canceled his trip to Switzerland.
Plus, separating fact from fiction. We are testing some big stories on our Truth-o-Meter. And don't forget to "Choose the News." That is right. Time is running out for you to choose to vote for the story that you want to see here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We're giving you a chance to "Choose the News." Vote now for the story that you want to see air on CNN. Now, here are the choices.
Millions of dollars worth of drugs smuggled into this country every year on commercial flights. We're going to show you how homeland security plans to stop it.
Or what it's like for same-sex couples raising kids in the Bible Belt.
Or, finally, grandparents spending billions every year on their grandkids. That's giving the economy a big boost.
So here you go. Vote by texting your choice to 22360. Vote 1 for drug smugglers; 2 for same-sex parents in the South; or 3 for grandparents spending big money. The winning story is going to air in the next hour.
President Obama is talking at the White House with Bill O'Reilly. That happened during the Super Bowl pre-game show. I don't know if you had a chance to see it, but our Jim Acosta had a chance. He joins us live from Washington.
You think the battle in the Super Bowl is big, that was a pretty testy exchange at one point, huh?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Suzanne. I think there was some betting going on about this confrontation as well.
You know, Bill O'Reilly and Barack Obama, it was billed as "O Versus O." And they touched on Egypt and health care. One of the more testy exchanges though was over the tension between big business and the White House, and this was pretty timely considering the president's speech over at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today. Bill O'Reilly asked Mr. Obama about a comment made in a "Wall Street Journal" editorial that said the president is a determined man of the left.
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: Do you deny that you're a man who wants to redistribute wealth?
OBAMA: O'REILLY: You deny that?
OBAMA: Absolutely. Bill, I didn't raise taxes once. I lowered taxes over the last two years.
O'REILLY: But the entitlements --
OBAMA: I lowered taxes for the last two years. O'REILLY: But the entitlements that you champion do redistribute wealth in the sense that they provide insurance coverage for 40 million people --
OBAMA: What is absolutely true is I think in this country there's no reason why if you get sick you should go bankrupt. The notion that that's a radical principle, I don't think the majority of people would agree with you on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So the president goes on Fox. He's talking to the Chamber of Commerce. The president is thinking re-election.
And one other note on that. Remember the two teams in the Super Bowl last night, Suzanne, Green Bay and Pittsburgh. They both hail from states that are traditionally Democratic but elected Republican senators in the midterm. So this was a pretty smart move on the White House in terms of getting the president in those TV markets big-time.
MALVEAUX: Well, obviously part of the White House strategy, and a sense -- I guess there was another exchange as well, asking President Obama if he was moving to the center.
ACOSTA: Right.
MALVEAUX: And give us a sense of how the president responded.
ACOSTA: Well, Suzanne, you know. You covered the White House. This was a pretty big change that we've seen from President Obama over the last couple of months.
After the president cut that tax cut deal in December and brought on Bill Daley as his chief of staff last month, there's been a lot of talk here in Washington about whether the president is moving to the center for his re-election campaign. And Bill O'Reilly asked him if that's what he's up to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: You're the same guy?
OBAMA: I'm the same guy, and my practical focus, my commonsense focus right now, is how do we out-innovate, out-educate, out-build, out-compete the rest of the world? How do we create jobs here in the United States of America? How do we make sure that businesses are thriving, but how do we also make sure that ordinary Americans can live out the American dream? Because right now they don't feel like they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And there were other highlights in this interview. On Egypt, of course, the president did not give a specific timetable for when he'd like to see that country's leader, Hosni Mubarak, step aside. But Mr. Obama did say rather definitively, "Egypt is not going back to what it was."
And surprisingly, the president did not offer up a Plan B, Suzanne, if his health care law is struck down by the Supreme Court, not because Bill O'Reilly didn't try. He tried to pin him down a couple of times, but the president is not willing to go there.
MALVEAUX: Yes. They don't want to concede defeat on that, they wan to just keep projecting a positive image --
ACOSTA: I don't think so.
MALVEAUX: -- that that is going to stay in tact. So we'll see how that develops.
Thank you so much, Jim. Appreciate it.
ACOSTA: You bet.
MALVEAUX: Groups in Switzerland want to try former President George Bush on torture charges. Our Michael Holmes will tell us if they have got a case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Michael Holmes is here now with the international stories that are lighting up our radar. The segment is called "Globe Trekking," and we begin with a change in travel plans for former president George W. Bush.
It was long -- in covering him, it was long kind of a concern of that administration that there might be not only complaints, but charges following.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And not just for him, too. I mean, there would be a lot of the administration that are worried about traveling outside of the country because of what could happen.
The former president, in this case, was packing up for his first trip to the continent since leaving the White House. Now, what was going to happen, he was going to speak in Geneva this weekend. The trip was canceled, though, after the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and some human rights groups in Europe said they were going to file a criminal case against Mr. Bush for torture charges once he landed on their soil.
Now, the organizers of the event, they're also saying that it was the threat of violence from anti-Bush demonstrators that made the former commander in chief decide to stay home. But this whole debate over whether a foreign leader could be picked up in this way, he's not the first one to face that sort of threat.
BENNETT: So we know that President Bush -- I mean, he's not very popular overseas. And that continues to remain so.
Could they have actually charged and perhaps taken him into custody? Is that even realistic, do you think?
HOLMES: Maybe is the short answer. And, you know, the thing is this all comes out of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which were negotiated, of course, in the aftermath of the world war, when in order to try the Nazis, you first had to decide where your jurisdiction lay. And so, legally, they absolutely could have attempted to try him if he landed on the soil there. It certainly would have been a headache, that's for sure.
Now, Mr. Bush of course could try to assert diplomatic immunity. It's an option. He would have had an argument on that.
But diplomatically and domestically, quagmire. Not the first time we've said that, have we?
So maybe not, but it certainly would have been an interesting scenario. And I think the short answer, as I said, is maybe, probably not worth the trip.
MALVEAUX: Certainly not worth the trip. We saw them cancel that.
And I understand Australia is another spot where we see a lot of news just because of the national disasters that are taking place.
HOLMES: Tough times for my homeland. And we've been talking about Queensland a lot lately, but this was actually about 15 kilometers, about 12 miles from where I lived and grew up.
MALVEAUX: Really?
HOLMES: It's a bushfire in Perth, in western Australia. It's in fact five different bushfires. Fifty-nine houses have been destroyed. I think it's over 60 now. Another 28 badly damaged.
Fire crews have got a tough fight. I covered bushfires there my whole early career.
MALVEAUX: Do you still have property there?
HOLMES: No. My mom is about 12 miles from there.
There's 15-mile winds at the moment. And if you covered bushfires before, you know that when they get that intense, they create their own weather system, too, and they create extra problems in terms of shifting winds on the ground.
Now, a couple of these fires, one of them was sparked by a tree branch falling on power lines, which then sparked the brush. Another one, a guy using an angle grind -- go figure -- during a total fire brand (ph), as we'd say in Australia, bloody idiot.
Western Australia's premier, Colin Barnett -- used to be a mate of mine, actually -- he's declared a state of emergency in order to get these folks some help. It's actually the anniversary of the Black Saturday Fires. I don't know if you remember that back in 2009 -- 173 people were killed.
No one killed in this current outbreak of fires. Ironically, some firefighters from Victoria have gone over to western Australia to help out, which is like in the United States saying going from Atlanta to L.A. So it's a big deal. It's a really big deal in Perth, yes.
MALVEAUX: And as you say, your mom, how is your mom?
HOLMES: She's all right.
MALVEAUX: She's OK?
HOLMES: She's nervous. She gets nervous like that. You know?
MALVEAUX: OK. Got to check in on your mom.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes. No, people kept asking me with the floods, "Oh, is your family there?" "No, other side of the country." And then this happens, yes.
MALVEAUX: Yes. All right. We're glad they're safe.
HOLMES: We'll keep an eye on it.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Michael.
Well, stars behaving badly, one in a barroom brawl, another waiting to find out if she'll be charged with stealing. Our showbiz report is up ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: One star in a barroom brawl, another outwits the paparazzi. And Lindsay Lohan in trouble again.
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer joins us from New York with all this -- I guess the Lindsay Lohan, police in trouble again.
What do we know about this? Risking her probation violation?
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes. That's pretty much what it comes down to here, Suzanne. And I hate to say here we go again, but the train may indeed be off the tracks once again for Lindsay Lohan.
She's accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace. Now, there are reports that the L.A. district attorney could file charges against her as early as today. But a spokeswoman for the D.A. will only officially say this case is now under review.
A jewelry store owner says the troubled star stole a one-of-a- kind necklace. And Lohan says it was given to her.
Now, this item in question was returned to police by Lohan when they started their investigation. And while Lohan's attorney tells "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" they vehemently demand these grand theft allegations, this certainly does complicate her probation situation.
A judge told Lohan if she violated her probation, she'd go to jail for 180 days. Now, Suzanne, I am no legal expert, but I would think grand theft would certainly qualify as a probation violation.
MALVEAUX: And there's another young Hollywood star that got in trouble over the weekend. What is this about a "Transformers" star getting into a brawl?
HAMMER: Yes. Well, as this story goes, it looks like trouble found this star.
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" has confirmed Shia LaBeouf, the actor, wound up in handcuffs after police broke up a rowdy bar fight over the weekend. Now, a source close to the star tells us several guys started the battle with LaBeouf as he was on his way out of a tavern in Sherman Oaks, California.
Witnesses tell TMZ when cops arrived, they cuffed everybody involved, but no one was arrested. They eventually did let LaBeouf go.
So, apparently Suzanne, Shia's fight, not his fault.
MALVEAUX: And what about Pink? I understand she's trying to outwit the paparazzi. How did she do?
HAMMER: Yes, I love Pink. She's got some style, to be sure.
The rock star announced she was pregnant back in November. And she says the paparazzi have been hounding her and just trying to get a revealing picture of her ever since.
Well, over the weekend, Pink posted this, her own picture of her baby bump on her Twitter account. And she blasted the paparazzi. I love what she wrote.
"Because paparazzi today have absolutely no photographic skill or artistry whatsoever, and their pictures are hideous, I'm going to post a self-portrait I took yesterday morning for all of you to see, asking to see belly shots." And she added "Three weeks of photo classes for me, I'm already a far better photographer than any one of them."
So you could see, it's actually a pretty good picture there, Suzanne. And that is the brilliance, by the way, of social media for stars. They really do get to take control and say whatever they want.
MALVEAUX: Well, good for her. Thank you, A.J.
Ahead on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Kardashian outrage. A brand new controversy over Kim Kardashian's racy Super Bowl add. Was it too hot for TV? The heated debate, live at 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEUAX: Defiance in the Egypt crisis. Anti-government protesters have formed a human chain around Cairo's Tahrir Square. They are fewer numbered today, but as determined as ever to stay until president Hosni Mubarak leaves office. The Egyptian president today is meeting with his new cabinet for the first time. He seems determined to stay until his term ends in September.
A look now at the Egyptian leader's long-standing relationship with the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): The assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ushered in a new era of U.S. relations with Egypt. Radical Muslims, threatened by Egypt's peace with Israel, took out Sadat.
The U.S., desperate to protect Israel and eager to keep its most important Arab ally embraced Egypt's new leader, Hosni Mubarak.
That was October 1981. The U.S. has held on to Mubarak as a critical friend ever since despite his autocratic rule and documented human-rights abuses. Egypt's alliance with Israel is at the heart of the U.S.' alliance with Mubarak.
The Egyptian leader has steadfastly supported numerous attempts by several American presidents to establish peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
HOSNI MUBARAK, PRESIDENT OF EGYPT: The exercise of the right to self determination cannot be denied to the Palestinian people.
MALVEAUX: Mubarak also gave President George H.W. Bush the troops he need for the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Mubarak's cooperation with the U.S. in taking on terrorists, including al-Qaeda, has often made Egypt a target of their rage.
In 1997, radicals killed dozens of tourists in Luxor and struck again in 2005 in the resort enclave of Sharm El Sheikh, slaughtering 88 people. Mubarak has tried to moderate Hamas and keep radical Islamic groups at bay, ruling with an iron fist.
His cooperation with President George W. Bush's war on terror became even more crucial after the September 11 attacks.
Oil also plays a critical role. While Egypt is neither a major oil producer nor a consumer, the Suez Canal, which cuts through the country, is a vital waterway that keeps oil from the Arab region flowing to the West.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Flared tempers, raised voices. And a heated exchange when I asked a panel of experts to provide some perspective on Israel's stance on the crisis in Egypt. I want you to take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONA ELTAHAWY, EGYPTIAN JOURNALIST: It's interesting to hear Aaron use the word democracy because that's exactly what Egypt is working on right now. These millions of Egyptians who have been on the street for the past 12 days want to be democratic.
So, it's very hypocritical of you to describe Israel as a democracy then try to be alarmist about what's happening in Egypt because surely you and everyone in Israel should be happy that your neighbor wants to be a democracy, and democratic neighbors are happy.
ALAN DERSHOWITIZ, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: It if is! If it's a real democracy, not a Hamas type --
(CROSSTALK)
ELTAHAWY: You know what? You can't label democracy. Democracy is a people choosing a government they want. And what you're doing is being alarmist.
DERSHOWITIZ: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The people -- the people chose --
(CROSSTALK)
ELTAHAWY: -- without anyone else's interference.
MALVEAUX: David, you want to response?
DERSHOWITIZ: The people chose Adolf Hitler in 1932 by democratic means, and the people would probably would have chosen Ahmadinejad by democratic means. So, democracy has to be both structural, that is, elections. But also functional. If you elect people who then take away the rights and make women wear burqas and deny people the right of the Senate --
ELTAHAWY: Wait, wait, wait! Who said women -- wait, wait, wait! This is nonsense. This had nothing to do with -- it has nothing to do with burqas. You're talking nonsense.
DERSHOWITIZ: You're just wrong.
MALVEAUX: I obviously -- obviously --
DERSHOWITIZ: Of course it has everything to do with the --
DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Suzanne?
MALVEUAX: David, please weigh in if you will. Yes, David, please weigh in if you will.
GERGEN: Yes, I just - I think this illustrates better than anything I could the tightrope that President Obama is walking. And I think he's walking it well. And to my good friend, Allen Dershowitz, clearly we need to remain firm friends with Israel. But it's also true that Israel be best served if the United States has more than one friend in the region. And if we do have friends among Arab leadership and with democratic Arab countries, in the long term -- I think the president has been wise to say our principles support the people in the streets, but the way we get there has to been an orderly transition so we do not have chaos and we do not have radicals that take over that government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Controversial issue, obviously. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979.
Well, President Obama today trying to make nice with the business community. Today, he met with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. The group hasn't always been on friendly terms with the administration. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here today because I am convinced, as Tom mentioned in his introduction that we can and we must work together. Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of us share a deep abiding belief in this country. A belief in our people. A belief in the principles that have made America's economy the envy of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Our CNN's Money, Poppy Harlow joins me from New York. And Poppy, the president said in quite plain language today, he says, I get it, but --
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes.
MALVEAUX: You know, who knows if it's going to be convincing? What do you think?
HARLOW: He certainly did. You know, he's sort of struck this tone, Suzanne, ever since the day after the midterm election saying, "I know to get Americans back to work we need big business. He's taken steps. He's put Bill Daley in his cabinet, former banker. Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE, now in his inner circle, running his team on jobs and competitiveness.
What the president said clearly in this address directly to the business community at the Chamber of Commerce just about an hour ago is "I need you to start spending the $2 trillion that American companies have sitting on the sidelines to hire people, and I need you to do it in a significant way."
That said, there has been a big divide between the Chamber and the people it represents and the administration. That divide is closing. This is in a sense sort of yet another gesture that the president's reaching out to the business community. But I had a chance to speak with Tom Donahue, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, just about a week ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And I want you to take a listen to exactly what he said he and business leaders want to see from this administration. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DONOHUE, PRESIDENT, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: We have got to become more competitive by reducing regulation that we don't need and by becoming the world trader again. We have to get off the dime and get back in the trading --
HARLOW: What are the biggest barriers? I assume you'll seE regulation. What form of regulation right now?
DONOHUE: The health care bill that just passed and the capital markets bill that passed. It blows your mind away.
HARLOW: It's a Wall Street reform and health care reform.
DONOHUE: The health care bill creates 158 new agencies, commissions, committees. That's not going to help. And the capital markets bill creates 320 mandatory regulations and 220 suggested ones.
I think the president has begun to turn on the issues that concern us. We have never had a personal argument with the president. It has always been about some of his policies. We've supported him on stimulus and banking and GM and all of that, but we have raised questions about the questions of capital markets and health care and labor issues, and we will, again, if we have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So you hear right there, Suzanne, there's still a divide. The Chamber doesn't like health care reform and the way it is. They don't like Wall Street reform the way it is. They want to see both of those acts changed. And I don't think president wants to do that. Now, so they still have that divide.
That said, we heard the president in the State of the Union talk about cutting corporate tax rates. He wants to double our exports, which would help businesses in the next five years. So, you're seeing this divide closing a little bit. Still not exactly on the same page, but the dialogue increasing between big business and the administration, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: The administration trying to do as much as they can to bridge that divide. Thank you so much, Poppy.
There's so much news and so many different sources where we get this from. You have to wonder, well, what's true? Stay tuned. We're going to put some of that through our Truth-o-meter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEUAX: All right. The story of the tortoise and the hare is a classic, of course. The story of the tortoise and the fox. That's our "Random Moment of the Day." All right. This is Ron, a domesticated red fox trying to figure out why this shy turtle won't come out and play. Ron turns three in April. His owner got him when he was just a baby. Ever heard a frustrated fox talk? Not only does Ron talk, he uses a litter box. Ron the red Fox, that's today's "Random Moment."
All right. So what's true, what's false? Bill Adair is the Washington bureau chief with "The St. Petersburg Times." He's here a tackle a few of these topics for us.
I want to start out with this one, Bill on our Truth-o-Meter segment here. The claim the Muslim Brotherhood has ties to Osama bin Laden. A lot of people worried about the Muslim Brotherhood and their role, their potential role in Egypt. Bill, what do we know?
BILL ADAIR, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "ST. PETERSBURG TIMES": We rated that half-true on our Truth-o-Meter on PolitiFact.com, our fact checking Web site. It was a statement made by Glenn Beck on his radio program. The claim was Bin Laden and two of his deputies have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
We rated it half-true because it's true that at least two of them do have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, but it's really important to note that the Muslim brotherhood has very much broken with al qaeda, is now a bitter rival, and is pursuing what it says is a campaign of peace. And so half-true for that claim.
MALVEAUX: All right. A second claim, this obviously hits home for a lot of folks here. This is seven out of ten Americans will have to change their health care insurance due to the new health care law. Very political, very controversial. How true?
ADAIR: We rated that one false on our Truth-o-Meter on PolitiFact. It was a statement made by new congressman, Republican from Texas, Blake Farenthold, and he made it in an op-ed in the Corpus Cristi newspaper. And he's just incorrectly describing what the Obama administration has said.
Obviously, the health care law very complicated. One of the things it does is grandfather in health care plans and allows them to not comply with every particular provision as long as they don't cut benefits. But Farenthold mischaracterizes what the Obama administration has said, so he earns a false on the Truth-o-Meter.
MALVEAUX: All right. And, Bill, you know, this is far from politics, far from news, but we've got to -- you know, we want to know anyway. General Lee, OK, he's the groundhog that's here in the Atlanta area and he -- we want to know if he's more accurate than Punxsutawney Phil when it comes to predicting the weather.
ADAIR: Yes, we rated this one last week. PolitiFact Georgia, our colleagues from "The Atlanta Journal Constitution," rated this one. Gave it a mostly true.
MALVEAUX: Really? ADAIR: They examined whether it's true that General Beauregard Lee, who is the -- who is Atlanta's answer to Punxsutawney Phil, could correctly boast about this. And PolitiFact Georgia went and crunched the numbers and found that, for the most part, he was right. He does a little bit exaggerate his accuracy. So he earns a mostly true on our truth-o-meter.
MALVEAUX: We just couldn't help ourselves with that one, Bill. But thank you so much for setting it all straight for us. We appreciate it. Obviously it's going to be a weekly feature, our truth- o-meter segment. Thanks.
ADAIR: Thanks, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Bill.
A lot of you are responding to our "Talk Back" question, will the president's move to embrace business leaders help ordinary Americans? David Hamilton says, "only if the business leaders see this as being in their own interests." We're going to have some more responses straight ahead.
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MALVEAUX: Well, here is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. President Obama is reaching out to the nation's business leaders with a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Which brings us to the question, will the president's move to embrace business leaders help ordinary Americans? That's what our own Carol Costello is dealing with today and all your response.
Carol, what do we think? And what are people saying?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of different things, Suzanne.
President Obama told business leaders he gets it, he understands business leaders are under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep margins up. But, the president says, as we work with you to make America a better place to do business, ask yourselves what you can do for America.
So our "Talk Back" today, will this directly from the president work? Will the president's move to embrace business leaders help ordinary Americans?
This from Jim. He says, "when has big business ever cared about the middle class? They're like locusts. They'll strip the country of everything and then move on to the next feeding ground." Whoo.
This from Riley. She says, "embracing business leaders will lead to the creation of good middle class jobs." Hey, you've got to work together.
And this from Crystal. "No, ordinary Americans are getting squeezed to death and Obama/business doesn't care. They got theirs." We want to continue the conversation. Facebook.com/carolcnn. And thank you so much for responding. We appreciate it. Always interested to hear what you have to say.
MALVEAUX: And, Carol, how many people sided, do you think -- how was it split when you heard these responses?
COSTELLO: Pretty much against big business. Although there were people that were hopeful that the president reaching out to business leaders and business leaders reaching back, which they have done because they did invite the president to speak before the U.S. Chamber today, that that might actually help things and get, you know, businesses who are making incredible profits this year to loosen their hold on some of those profits to create jobs for middle class Americans.
MALVEAUX: Yes, so many people are so frustrated with the way things are going now and they're just looking for some sign that it's going to get be better.
COSTELLO: Well, I think the thing is, it's been such a slow recovery for middle class Americans. And, really, if you look at upper income Americans, they haven't really been all that hurt by the recession. And I think that there's a real split in this country, still. You know, you can just look at the wage gap and see that.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
COSTELLO: It's a huge gap. It's amazing.
MALVEAUX: Sure. OK. Thank you, Carol. Appreciate it.
COSTELLO: Sure.
MALVEAUX: This year -- this year the oldest baby boomers turn 65. Many, though, they've got a still 10, 15 years before retirement age. So if they leave the workforce before then, it can prove pretty tough to actually get back in. Our Christine Romans, she is looking at this, these out of work boomers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
E. VON MCCANTS, JOB SEEKER: I'm not trying to move up the ladder.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Von McCants is a 27-year telecom veteran with an MBA. A baby boomer who has been looking for a job since July.
MCCANTS: If I had to describe how it's been going, well, it's not been very fruitful.
ROMANS: She's followed all the advice about networking, the resume and online job searches.
MCCANTS: I spend a lot of time looking at jobs. Looking and saying, is this something I really want to do? Do I have the skills that this employer is looking for?
ROMANS: The good news for Von, the jobless rate for boomers is actually lower than the national average. The bad news, once out of work, it's harder for a boomer to get a new job. Men aged 50 to 61 are 39 percent less likely to get a job each month than younger works, women, 18 percent less likely. For even older workers, that number jumps to 50 percent.
Glenn Grossman found himself in Von McCants' position about 10 years ago.
GLENN GROSSMAN, FOUNDER, DINOSAUR SECURITIES: I actually had no real opportunities. I got very depressed about it and, you know, you've got to take, you know control.
ROMANS: Now he is the one hiring. With his background in finance and accounting, he started Dinosaur Securities, pun intended.
ROMANS (on camera): You've got basically four generations that work here that are working for you then, is that right?
GROSSMAN: I think more generations -- 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s.
ROMANS (voice-over): Yes, it is hard to be an out of work boomer, but he says ideas, contacts and sales are what counts, not age. Emphasize that.
GROSSMAN: It's not about age. It's about working. And just forget about, you know, gender, age, anything like that.
ROMANS: Recruiters see better days ahead for boomers. Boomers have experience and less turnover.
FORD MEYERS, AUTHOR, "GET THE JOB YOU WANT": And that means ultimately less cost for the employer. So it's good to have some adult supervision around the office and employers are finally beginning to realize that.
MCCANTS: All right, then, you know, let's start over again.
ROMANS: Von McCants is an adult ready to supervise again.
MCCANTS: It's a new year. I feel like, OK, it's a new year and a lot of new things are going to happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Christine joins us from New York.
So, Christine, it's great to see you. Tell us what is happening now. You featured that woman there, Von McCants. Has she found a job?
ROMANS: She hasn't found something yet, but she's looking -- she thinks something is going to percolate here pretty soon because she has been reconnecting with former telecom colleagues and she feels good that this is going to be a year where she's going to get a job. She's got 27 years of experience. She's really -- she's a grown-up. You know, she's made her mistakes and learned from them and she's got an MBA. So she's -- you know, she feels like she's going to have a better year this year.
MALVEAUX: How are the others doing as well?
ROMANS: Well, it's interesting, Glenn Grossman, you know, he is hiring everybody. I mean he's hiring baby boomers. He's hiring people in their 70s. He's hiring people right out of college. And we talked to a lot of career coaches, quite frankly, Suzanne, who, you know, they say you've got to look for a few things. You've got to make sure that you've got good tech skills because, look, even generation x, quite frankly, we weren't born with a cell phone in our pocket like, you know, the younger generations are. So make sure you build your tech skills. Make sure that the potential hiring manager knows that you're very savvy with all the technology.
Update your appearance. Career coaches also say it doesn't have to be something crazy like a facelifts or all that stuff but, you know, go ahead and get a new pair of stylish glasses or something. That's something that career coaches -- the first thing that they do when they are doing grooming for baby boomers.
You know, stay really energetic in the meeting. Show that you can go from one thing to another at, you know, to hyper speed, which is what this economy is in. And make sure you research a company's culture and know that you're the right fit. A good company, good hiring managers, Suzanne, they're looking for somebody with a lot of experience who can pass on some of their education and training and all they know to the younger generation. You want to get a place that has a lot of different -- a lot of different ages.
MALVEAUX: Excellent tips. Thank you so much, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: We are tallying up the votes for the story that you said you wanted to see. Your choice next in our "Choose The News" segment.
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MALVEAUX: Well, you voted. We listened. Here is the story that you told us you want to see. Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of drugs are smuggled into this country on commercial flights. Our Deb Feyerick, she's got the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's in crew seats, food carts, control panels, toilets. Drug traffickers using commercial planes to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars of narcotics into the United States from places like South America and the Caribbean.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all the flight controls, flight computers. We've discovered narcotics underneath the floor in here.
FEYERICK: These special agents are with Homeland Security investigations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this covering is easily removed.
FEYERICK: They work intelligence, intercepting drugs like cocaine and other contraband.
FEYERICK (on camera): If they can bring in drugs or they can bring in guns, they could hide potentially bomb components anywhere in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's the most trouble thing to me.
FEYERICK: What makes an internal conspiracy so complicated is that the people involved work for the airlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Primarily baggage handlers. We also arrested mechanics, flight attendants, security guards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the first places we go to is generally the cockpit.
FEYERICK (on camera): That's a pretty gutsy thing to be putting narcotics in the cockpit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I mean you're sitting right next to the first officer and the captain. The organizations will actually construct bricks to fit in these locations.
FEYERICK: You could be a passenger sitting on drugs and you'd never know it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At New York street prices, you could be sitting on $100,000 worth of product.
FEYERICK (voice-over): And timing a everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have an hour and a half to get the passengers off the plane, to get the bags off the plane, to get all of the narcotics, and then to get that plane prepared for its outbound trip.
