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Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Meat; Pressuring Gadhafi to Leave; Tornado in Mississippi; Out of Work Military Veterans; The Help Desk; Tornado Warnings In Deep South; Talk Back; Spotting An In-Flight Risk
Aired April 15, 2011 - 11:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Let's get you up to speed.
New amateur video shows Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, in shambles after a month under a brutal siege. Rebels are warning it could end in a massacre. They suggest they cannot hold out much longer unless NATO steps up attacks against Gadhafi's fighters.
The leaders of the United States, Britain and France, in an opinion piece published on both sides of the Atlantic, say Gadhafi must go. The leaders write, "It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government."
New video posted to YouTube appears to show Syrian security forces hitting and kicking protesters. The detained men have their hands tied behind their backs. The video lends credibility to a new report from Human Rights Watch. The group says protesters have been tortured with electrical devices, cables and whips.
People who live or lived near the Fukushima nuclear plant will soon get a check. The Japanese government today ordered officials at Tokyo Electric to make those payments. Families will get $12,000; individuals, $9,000.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MALVEAUX: The 2011 budget is finally on President Obama's desk today for signing. And already, it is full speed ahead on the 2012 spending plan.
House Republicans are expected to pass their budget blueprint for next year. That's also happening today. The Republican and Democratic leaders both say that the 2012 plan sends a strong message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: It's a serious step in the right direction. And I'm really hopeful that the president will take his job as seriously as we're taking ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOHN LARSON (D), CONNECTICUT: -- Out to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid! There is a time to draw a line in the sand and fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Another bill the president does not like, an Arizona measure that requires candidates to present a birth certificate to get on the ballot. Well, the bill is in the hands of Republican Governor Jan Brewer. The president told ABC voters are not interested in conspiracy theories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Most people feel pretty confident the president was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. He doesn't have horns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Our big story this hour, a study out today that finds that meat and poultry produced here in the United States is widely contaminated with drug-resistant bacteria.
For what this means for all of us as we make our plans to eat and buy things, our Elizabeth Cohen here, joins us.
What does this study mean? Because when you first hear it, it's quite alarming.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is quite alarming. And so I want to try to put it in perspective.
What it found is these folks went to 26 different grocery stores in five cities and found that about half of the samples were contaminated with staph bacteria. Now, what's interesting is we're not talking, OK, here -- and 52 percent, so half of those samples were resistant to at least three antibiotics.
So we're talking about antibiotic-resistant staph, which, if you get that infection on your hand, is big and scary. So we're not talking about food-borne illness meaning you eat it and get sick, we're talking you handle it, and the possibility that you have cuts in your hand, and it could get you sick. And then if it's resistant to antibiotics, then you're in trouble.
But I want to tell you that there isn't a lot of science out there that shows that this happens regularly. So is the bacteria there? Yes. Is it harming us? That is a huge question mark. And the food industry tells us that this is very sensational, but there are some other folks who are concerned and think this ought to be studied more.
MALVEAUX: So, Elizabeth, show us how you should handle the food in order -- safely to protect yourself. COHEN: Right, that's the key, is that you should be handling food safely, whether you're worried about staph or salmonella or E. coli, or whatever. So, let's first take chicken. All right? Because this survey was chicken, beef, a lot of other things.
If you were going to take chicken and cut it up on a cutting board like this, OK, here is the worst possible thing that you could do. The worst possible thing you could do is then take this cucumber that's going to go in your nice salad, and put it here and cut it, because then any bacteria that's here or on the cutting board is now getting on your cucumber, and you're not cooking the cumber. You're cooking the chicken, so you're going to get things out when you cook the chicken, but you're not cooking this.
And so you have to wash your hands between each, you have to wash the knife, the cutting board, or you could also just get a whole different cutting board, a whole different knife. And some people even use gloves when they're dealing with raw food materials.
MALVEAUX: So, if that bacteria was on the cucumber or on the tomato, what would happen? The potential is that it could get on your hands, create an irritant?
COHEN: Right. Theoretically, what could happen -- I suppose it could happen to me right now because I touched this chicken, right? If this chicken had staph in it, and I had a cut in my hand, theoretically, it could get in there and create a staph infection.
But again, there's not a lot of science saying that this actually happens. I mean, we know that people get staph infections in their skin, and we know that it's bad, but no one said, ah-ha, we know that it's from the chicken.
MALVEAUX: So how concerned should we be about this new study?
COHEN: You know, I don't think this is anything to freak out about. And I'll tell you why.
Even if this is true, even if there is staph in our meat, it doesn't change what you should do. Cook food thoroughly, clean cutting boards, clean knives, all that kind of thing, that's what's important. So this doesn't really change what you ought to do in your own home.
MALVEAUX: OK. All right. Good. And hopefully restaurants are doing the same thing, that they are --
COHEN: Yes, one does hope. And that's where you see these gloves a lot. And you can do that at home as well.
MALVEAUX: Right. Good. All right. Thanks. Great tips.
COHEN: OK. Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Elizabeth. Now it's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the week. There are tough choices that lay ahead in Washington. It's over Social Security, the deficit, taxes, and some think that this debate is pitting the rich against the poor.
Well, our Carol Costello, she's got more on today's "Talk Back."
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've heard it all before.
If you listened to our politicians this week, you might think America is at war. Not in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya, but right here at home, in a kind of class warfare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: The president and all those rich liberal Democrats who are eager to pay higher taxes can do just that. They can write a check to the IRS and make an extra payment on their tax returns to pay down the federal debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For Republican deficit hawk Paul Ryan, Mr. Obama's speech was the same old partisan politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: When the commander in chief sort of brings himself down to the level of the partisan mosh pit that we've been in, that we are in, it makes it more difficult to bring that kind of leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, it's deja vu all over again. Hello? 2008, anyone? Will we see "Joe the Plumber" and hear President Obama calling Wall Street executives "fat cats" again?
At his inauguration, Mr. Obama urged both parties to rise above partisan politics. Now, says independent political analyst John Avlon, Mr. Obama's speech opened him up to accusations of class warfare on the campaign trail going into 2012 -- Wall Street versus Main Street. As long as politicians keep reinforcing it, we will never get out of that partisan mosh pit.
So, "Talk Back" question today: Is class warfare the right political fight?
Write to me at Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll read your comments later this hour -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.
Here's a look at what's ahead "On the Rundown."
Storms that produced tornadoes in the Midwest moving now into the Deep South. Our Chad Myers, tracking the watches as well as the warnings.
Also, will stepped-up pressure on Gadhafi help end the fighting in Libya?
And what has changed and what hasn't since the earthquake in Haiti.
Plus, the missing woman who set off the search for a serial killer.
And finally, driving tips to get the most from every gallon of gas as those prices keep going up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from back East. I'm used to public transportation, which I could use that out here, but don't have that option really.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
MALVEAUX: Fighter jets over Tripoli today, as Moammar Gadhafi's forces pound rebel positions in Misrata. Western leaders describe the assault on the city as a medieval siege. Some 1,200 people have been rescued by an international aid group.
And President Obama has written a joint opinion piece with the leaders of France and Britain, calling for a transition from dictatorship. The leaders say, "For that transition to succeed, Colonel Gadhafi must go, and go for good."
Our CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend joins us by phone. Fran was a member of the CIA External Advisory Committee, and she visited high-ranking Libyan officials, including Gadhafi, at the invitation of the Libyan government just last year.
Fran, I want to start off -- first of all, thank you for being here. We're taking a look at this op-ed piece that was written by President Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy, saying Gadhafi must go, and go for good.
How useful do you think it is that they write an opinion piece with some tough words? FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I think it doesn't get you any closer to achieving your objective. You know, the words are nice, but the op-ed, Suzanne, is really a political document. It's a statement of what their policy intentions are to the world, and obviously to the Libyan opposition. But it's not an action item, right? It doesn't actually advance the policy goals, it simply articulates them.
And that's one of the -- I think that's one of the challenges of having this effort to support the rebels and protect civilians be an operation by a committee, by NATO. They make perfectly clear in that they want to see Gadhafi go. They also make perfectly clear in the op-ed, as you see, that they are not -- they do not believe -- they will not use military force to achieve that objective.
MALVEAUX: So, Fran, in making that point, how does this have any impact on the ground? I mean, obviously, it's a political document here. They spell out their goals. But Gadhafi doesn't care. The rebels are losing on the ground.
What can be accomplished here? What should this administration be doing moving forward?
TOWNSEND: Well, exactly. Suzanne, I agree with you completely.
Look, this does not advance the cause of getting Gadhafi out, this op-ed. At some point the coalition, NATO and the United states and our allies, are going to have to decide, when do actions like this medieval siege, as they put it, that's happening in Misrata rise to the level of a humanitarian crisis that requires them to go back and re-evaluate the use of military force?
They may decide to enlist the help of the Arab League, which the op-ed references. They may decide to go back to the U.N. and a U.N. resolution to amend it, which the op-ed also mentions. But as it currently exists, the op-ed doesn't advance the cause of seeing Gadhafi go, and nothing they say in this op-ed indicates a willingness to use force to achieve that goal.
MALVEAUX: So you worked with President Bush. I covered President Bush. And it was no secret that he was frustrated with international organizations groups like NATO, like the United Nations, because he felt that they didn't move fast enough, that there was always consensus-building. And that took a lot of time.
Do you think that under the Obama doctrine, do you think the administration is doing what it can at a pace that's fast enough to accomplish this mission in Libya?
TOWNSEND: Suzanne, look, President Bush was not against using coalitions. And we saw a large coalition operation in Afghanistan, and still do.
And so I think what you're seeing now is the downside of a coalition. This is a time -- this is a point in the effort in Libya where time will matter and Libyan lives, additional lives, will be lost if we are too slow.
And so, frankly, Suzanne, given what we're seeing in places like Misrata, Brega, Benghazi, I really do think the coalition needs to consider now, before it gets any worse, amending the use of military force to achieve the objective of ousting Gadhafi.
MALVEAUX: Fran Townsend, thank you very much for your perspective. A very interesting piece, this op-ed the president wrote with two other world leaders. And we will see whether or not it really does make a difference politically, or even on the ground in the fight, the mission inside of Libya.
Thank you, Fran.
We are starting now to see some damage, storm damage, from those winds that are happening in Mississippi.
I want to go directly to Chad, who's got more information on this.
It looks very serious, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A tornado was on the ground in Clinton, Mississippi. We know now of at least a roof off one of the banks there in the town of Clinton.
Now, here's Jackson, the town, the big city of Jackson. And then Clinton. And the storm did -- the tornado did move across and along the interstate here, very close to that.
And we had Reed Timmer with some video of it. Now it's actually very close to Ridgeland, up there, and moving off toward the northeast very quickly, almost 45 to 50 miles per hour.
We also know that there's been hail with the storm. We also know that the airport has been affected.
Here's Reed's video. It keeps coming in and out of focus. We keep losing the signal. And there may be some cell towers down.
This is obviously just video from his car on a camera mounted inside the car as he's driving and streaming the video live. And we did see quite a bit of damage. I at least saw one gas station with the top completely gone. There's the video. It's unlocking itself now. But it comes and goes.
But we've had Reed Timmer on. He is a professional storm chaser. Do not try to do this yourself.
A NOAA weather radio and a pickup truck do not make you a storm chaser. They have a lot of equipment in that car that you wouldn't have access to keep themselves safe, because it's very difficult to chase tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, in Georgia, or anywhere across the Southeast -- in Arkansas and Missouri, for that matter -- because the trees limit your visibility as you're driving down the roadway, and the hills and the valleys can block the tornado. You can be under the tornado or in the tornado in an instant and you wouldn't even know it. So, no storm chasing today. Get inside if you're up near Ridgeland, up into Mississippi, north of Jackson, Mississippi, right now -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Good advice, Chad.
We're going to continue to follow this tornado as it moves across Mississippi. We are back right after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Two devastating earthquakes in just over a year wiping out entire cities and killing thousands of people. The recovery could take years, if not decades.
It was just five weeks ago a magnitude 9.0 quake struck northern Japan. Its epicenter, northeast of Tokyo.
The massive tsunami it set in motion leveled whole towns and villages. The death toll is at least 13,500. And it triggered an ongoing crisis at the nuclear plant in Fukushima. Well, today, the search for bodies is under way near that plant.
But as the world watches the crisis in Japan, Haiti is still trying to recover from a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck in January of last year. Now, it caused massive damage in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. The death toll, more than 300,000. And after the quake, the country had to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak.
Edvige Jean-Francois is a producer for CNN International who was in Haiti after the quake struck. And right now she's in Port-au- Prince.
Edvige, you were there in the days right after the quake. You returned six months later.
What are you seeing on the ground now? Has anything changed?
EDVIGE JEAN-FRANCOIS, CNN SPECIAL PROJECTS PRODUCER: Well, Suzanne, I actually spent the bulk of my time since I've been here in a rural community called Montrouis (ph) in Gwanla (ph). And today I'm actually in Port-au-Prince. So the rural communities are as devastated as Port-au-Prince was during the quake.
I'm very near to the Chatamars (ph), which was basically a staging area for CNN where we did a number of reports. And while I'm happy to report that it seems some of its tent camps have diminished; however, it is still pretty much a tent city as it was back in January, as it was six months later, when I returned, and then late January, when I was here.
I talked to someone from the U.N. today who said that an estimated 650,000 people are still living in tents. And the interesting thing that's developed is, because of land rights issues, I was told about a third of the people who remain in tent cities actually are threatened of being evicted because much of the land is owned by private citizens. And people took refuge at the time of the quake, but now some of those people want their land back. So it's still very, very much dire.
Housing is still the predominant problem here. I'm happy to report that it seems that a lot of the rubble has been removed. But again, according to U.N. estimates that I got today, only 20 percent has been removed.
Earlier on, estimates were that it could take up to 20 years. Not sure how accurate that is, but you can imagine from January, 2010, to today, only 20 percent has been removed. A predominant issue obviously -- I'm sorry, Suzanne. Go ahead.
MALVEAUX: What is the one story that really stood out to you, that illustrates what people are going through right now?
JEAN-FRANCOIS: Well, right now health issues are very much a big part of what people are talking about. I actually came here as part of a medical mission trip from Atlanta to St. Paul (ph) and in Saint- Marc's Episcopal churches, and we set up medical clinics for people, a lot of the issues from basic care, hygiene issues, intestinal parasites for children. It is still very much a big deal.
Obviously, people are trying to be helpful because of recent elections where a former musician, Michel Martelly, was elected, a sort of bawdy, flamboyant background, and not an old-line politician at all. And his election is seen as a total repudiation of Haitian politician, the old guard politicians, because he's a musician. So people are hoping that he can find an answer to the housing situation, the health situation, education situation, and the list goes on.
MALVEAUX: All right. Edvige, thank you very much for your time and obviously your good work there in Haiti.
Edvige Jean-Francois.
Well, this week marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and the announcement that the country's first black president is running for re-election.
While race relations have improved over the years, stereotypes about African-Americans, of course, they still exist. Actress Jasmine Guy and director Kenny Leon are directing a play that tackles these issues and takes a closer look at what it means to be black in America.
It is this week's edition of "What Matters."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took me to Washington, and I love to party.
KENNY LEON, TRUE COLORS THEATRE COMPANY: We're doing "The Colored Museum" right now directed by Jasmine Guy. That play was written by George C. Wolfe and was done, like, in the mid '80s. And I thought that Jasmine was the perfect person to direct it because she didn't see the original.
JASMINE GUY, DIRECTOR, "THE COLORED MUSEUM": When you do that, it looks like the room is rising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
LEON: I think it's important to bring Broadway-caliber theater to the people.
GUY: My younger friends, some of them have never seen the play. And I'm trying to say, no, it's cool to go to plays.
So speak in the volume that you usually perform in.
This play brings up a lot of issues -- where are black folk now, have these stereotypes gone away, are we still perpetuating them? So it's almost like a town hall meeting.
We have profound moments in rehearsals because there were some tender spots that, playing somebody nappy-headed, that got made fun of for the way they looked, opened some wounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was deep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If only he'd been born into an all-black musical!
GUY: Unfortunately, our history has been regurgitated back to us in a bad way. But there is beauty in there. There is beauty in Mammy.
She was the heart and soul of the family. She helped families, together, her own and white families. But they made fun of that, so we became ashamed of it. That's why the information is important, so that the way we receive it, we can live in pride.
We don't have to reject it. We can embrace it and claim it and understand it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Snap if you know what I'm talking about.
GUY: It's theater that is the groundbreaking medium.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My power is in my madness!
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Madness!
GUY: It's the one that's going to push the envelope on social issues for the first time. And we have to preserve that, we have to respect that, we have to know the value of that. And that is cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: More air, land and water searches are underway on New York's Long Island as authorities push forward with their hunt for evidence leading to a possible serial killer. A helicopter has been hovering over a stretch of beach since the morning. Police and FBI agents have finished searching 18 spots of interest without finding any additional evidence. They used high-tech FBI cameras to scour the area.
Now police are also using diver teams to search the waterways on the north side of the barrier island and canine search units to scour the thick brush. At least eight bodies have been found since December. Only four of them identified.
The bodies started turning up when police began searching for Shannen Gilbert. Her sisters have been speaking with our own Kaj Larsen. And he joins us in the NEWSROOM. Kaj, thank you very much for being here.
Clearly they didn't realize that they had a serial killer on their hands, the authorities, until they went looking for Shannen Gilbert. What did the sisters tell you? Do they even believe that she is still alive?
KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's exactly right, Suzanne. I mean, Shannen Gilbert actually was the catalyst for this entire investigation. In fact, the whole reason that we're aware that there is a serial killer on the prowl is because of her sisters who have been on the relentless quest to find out what happened to her. So, I actually had the opportunity to speak to them about that very question. Here's some of that interview that I did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARSEN: So tell me about what was going on with your sister.
SARRAH GILBERT, SHANNEN GILBERT'S SISTER: As far as her profession, she was an escort. and she posted through Craigslist and went to go meet a client. And through phone records, we determined her last call was to 911. and we pretty much from there tried to do our own little investigation, meaning we made up flyers, passed them out, knocking on doors, door to door, making up notes to give detectives. Actually found a piece of her jewelry, which happened to be an earrning.
LARSEN: Sherre, I know this is hard, but what do you think happened to your sister?
SHERRE GILBERT, SHANNEN GILBERT'S SISTER: I don't know, I really can't say. You know, in the back of your mind you want to believe that everything was okay with her. But at the same time, it is just like so much time has passed that is just seems like it's impossible to really think that she's still alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LARSEN: It's pretty amazing, Suzanne. I just have to say, these girls, two of the three sisters, are essentially single moms. They're working, they're going to college, and at the same time, they've essentially become investigators in this case looking to find out what happened to their sister.
MALVEUAX: Do they realize how important it was that they were looking for their sister that now they have opened up this whole possibility that other families can find people who have been missing and now who may have even discovered that they've lost?
LARSEN: I think they're aware that their efforts have created this snowball effect. But one thing that's important to remember is all of this attention on the family, all of the investigations, it's a lot of it has had the effect of all motion and no distance. They're still not that much closer for the Gilbert sisters to find out what happened to their sister, and for everybody else exactly who who could be responsible for this.
MALVEAUX: Kaj, thank you for your excellent reporting. Really appreciate it.
And you don't want miss this special, the CNN special on the Long Island serial killer. It really takes a closer look at the time line, the leads that are related to the bodies that are found on New York's Long Island. That is tomorrow night, 7:00 Eastern, here on CNN.
Gas prices rising. Did you know there are simple driving skills that you can do to save you a lot of money?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really the best way to drive to maximize fuel economy is to think that you're driving with a cup of coffee sitting on your dashboard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: We'll show you more techniques, tips, ideas, how to increase gas mileage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We are following breaking news regarding the weather. Want to go straight to Chad. Chad, I understand there are more tornadoes that are in works.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We knew the one on the ground just north of Jackson, Mississippi. But now we also have damage to the south of Melvin, Alabama. So, every time you see a pink box on our map, that means a storm is rotating. Doesn't mean that something's on the ground yet because the weather service tries to give you some lead time. They try to predict that a tornado's going to come down in the next 10 or 15 minutes to give you time to get the kids, the dogs and everything to get below ground. Well, we do know that storm with the pink box near Melvin, Alabama, that storm did have a tornado on it and may very well still. Now, Ridgeland, Jackson -- up towards Ridgeland this storm is probably still on ground though now in an unpopulated or lightly populated area as it went across the Barnett Resevoir. Kind of moved away from where the people actually live.
The next storm -- every time we see a storm like this, one, two, three, four, that are all out by themselves, those are the most dangerous -- super cell tornadoes, you can possibly get. We'll watch them probably at least three of those storms have the potential to have a tornado on the ground right now. We'll keep you up to date. This is going to be a very busy day. When the storms are in a line, they don't produce tornadoes. When they are all balls by themselves, they begin to spin and that's when you get those warnings.
MALVEAUX: All right. Chad, let us know if we need to get back to you. All right. Thanks.
It is costing more and more these days to fill the car with gas. That's all across the country. Almost $3.82 a gallon on average. AAA finds folks in Hawaii paying the most at $4.46. Wyoming has the lowest price at $3.54.
And if you'd like to make that tank of gas go a little bit further, our Stephanie Elam has found a few ways.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So we're here at Consumer Reports. I'm joined by John Linkoff (ph), who's here to show us really how to do better about our gas mileage. I mean, lot of people think about it now, gas prices are above $4 in a lot of cities in the country now. We are getting really close to the national average being near that all-time high we hit in July 2008.
So, with that in mind, what do you think we should do?
JOHN LINKOFF, CONSUMER REPORTS: Well, I think we should take a ride, and we can talk about ways people can save money on fuel.
ELAM: All right, let's do it!
So one thing that I think a lot of people do, obviously city drivers do it more, the idling. But that's a bad to do, right?
LINKOFF: If you're going to be idling for 30 seconds or even up to a minute at a time, it is really best to turn your car off. You don't use that much fuel turning the car on and off as much as you do if you're just sitting there.
ELAM: What about the speed?
LINKOFF: Really the best way to drive to maximize fuel economy is to think you're driving with a cup of coffee sitting on your dashboard. You want to accelerate slowly, tip into the throttle, not really splash the coffee back up on you. That's one thing that you have to avoid.
ELAM: So, go ahead and tell me about the need for slowing down.
LINKOFF: If you really think about it, try a week where you do drive gently. You do drive a lot easier not with huge inputs on your throttle, and you may find you'll go half a way longer without having to put fuel in the car. And that's going to be a savings in your wallet.
ELAM: Tell me about the trunk. There's something you want to tell me, John.
LINKOFF: OK. Well, one thing you want to think about is not keeping that much junk in the trunk. Your vehicle is carrying around more things. Carrying around more weight. You using more fuel to drag that stuff around.
ELAM: Does it matter whether you get 89 or 91 or whatever kind of gas for your car?
LINKOFF: Well, it is really important to know the type of gas your car takes. For example, this Chevy Cruze, in the owner's manual will tell you exactly what fuel type it is. For this car, it is an 87 octane that's recommended. That's the lowest grade. Right, right. So, you gain nothing by putting 91 in this car at all. However, if you have a vehicle that says recommended 91, if you drop down and put an 87, you're saving a little bit of money, but you run the risk of damaging the engine.
ELAM: Is there any good way to track gas prices?
LINKOFF: Well, you know, you can use Gas Buddy. That's one site out there that a lot of people reference. A lot of Web sites link to that. Use your local newspaper. Use your local Web sites.
ELAM: John, thanks so much for the good information. Really good to meet you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Out of the military and out of work. The staggering jobless rate among young veterans. One of our undercovered stories of the week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: It's Friday. It's a day that we like to look at stories that didn't get the attention they deserved during the week. One of them, the staggering unemployment rate among young military veterans. More than 27 percent can't find a job after they leave the service. Now, this week, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing to search for solutions.
We want to talk more about why the unemployment rate among veterans is so much higher than the national jobless rate and what can be done to change this. Our Robert Walker, he served in the military for more than five years. In 2005, he signed on with RecruitMilitary. It's a firm that helps veterans find jobs, urges companies to hire veterans. And he joins us now from Cincinnati.
Thank you so much for being with us. First of all, can you explain to us why do you suppose -- and you've worked with many veterans -- why are things so bad for veterans now? Why are so many out of work?
ROBERT WALKER, RECRUITMILITARY: Well, what we did find is we -- I know the Department of Labor -- actually the Bureau of Labor Statistics, put out some numbers last month that we're a little bit happier about. We found out with that 21.9 percent from 1824 (ph) were out of work, but the civilian counterpart was more like 19.7 percent. So the good thing is, the numbers are beginning to come down. But sometimes a matter of --
MALVEAUX: Robert, you've worked with veterans. You're a veterans. You work with veterans.
WALKER: Yes.
MALVEAUX: What are they telling you? What are they saying to you? What are their frustrations?
WALKER: Yes, and I kind of know how it is to get out of service because I was a young veteran myself when I got out. And sometimes it's a matter of transitioning your skills into the civilian workplace and finding out, how do I go about doing that.
MALVEAUX: So, how do you do it? Obviously everybody wants the dignity of a job to be productive. What are some of the skills that veterans have that can be applied for civilian work?
WALKER: Most definitely. Some of them, of course, when they come back from overseas they have some money saved. So they kind of get reacclimated to their family. But then it (INAUDIBLE), hey, look, this is the skills you guys have that are really available. You have discipline, you're driven, your dedication, the fact that you're trainable every day and working under extremely arduous conditions, those kind of things make veterans great employees. And we're now training and talking to companies about why they should hire veterans based on a lot of those things available.
MALVEAUX: And what kind of companies have you found are receptive to hiring veterans?
WALKER: Most definitely a lot of great companies. Companies, you know, like Military Sea Lift Command, Verizon Wireless, Walgreens, Home Depot and a lot of other great companies, even some educational institutes that are looking to have companies as their GI Bill (ph), but also hiring, like, one of our patriot partners, DeVry (ph) Institute.
MALVEAUX: And real quick here, what would you say -- what would be the recommendation to give to a veteran who is out of work and who's frustrated? WALKER: Most simply, one thing is that -- that they're valuable. More valuable than they think. I was at an opportunity expo a while ago and I had a sergeant that had been in for 20 years, didn't realize that he had a lot of operational things that he did on a daily basis, that he had planning, implementation. And after talking to him he went, I didn't realize I did all that stuff. And when he began to backtrack, he went, I should relook at things. The fact that he didn't realize he was as valuable as really what he was, it changed everything for him. So sometimes a matter of educating the veterans on --
MALVEAUX: OK.
WALKER: You have lot to offer.
MALVEAUX: Know your worth.
All right, Robert Walker, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. All the best to you and great work.
WALKER: Thank you, guys.
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CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is time now for the CNN "Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Donna Rosato is a senior editor at "Money" magazine, and John Ulzheimer is president of consumer education at smartcredit.com.
Guys, our first question is from Maureen in Georgia. She asks, "I'm a 62-year-old widow and I've lost my job. I was considering a reverse mortgage. Is this safe? Who can I trust to do it?"
Donna, the first question, should she and then with who?
DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, it is a really good question. Reverse mortgages have gotten a lot more popular, which is always more -- which is always a red flag. You know, and, of course, a reverse mortgage is when you take a loan out on your house, but the bank actually pays you for the loan. And that you repay -- so you actually get income over time. Which is a good benefit if you're on a fixed income and you really -- you don't plan to leave the house to say your children or other heirs. So it can make sense for some folks.
But it doesn't always make sense. These are complex loans. They cost a lot of money. There's a lot of fees and not everybody understands them. But the good news is, there's some help out there. There are reverse mortgage counselors that are provided by the Housing and Urban Development Division of the federal government. And she can find a housing counselor to determine if it's right for her at hud.gov.
ULRICH: Great. Thank you so much, Donna.
And now we have Tim in California. Tim asks, "I have attempted to remove and dispute bad credit from my credit report. The three major reporting companies don't respond to my letters. What to do when these companies don't do their job and follow the rules?"
John, what's going on here?
JOHN ULZHEIMER, PRES. OF CONSUMER ED., SMARTCREDIT.COM: Well, Tim is right and wrong in the same question. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives everybody in the country the right to challenge things on credit reports that they feel are inaccurate and the credit reporting agencies are obligated to investigate and within 30 days either correct it, delete it or leave it as is.
Now, here's the issue that he's running into. There is a provision in the Fair Credit Reporting Act that allows the credit reporting agencies to ignore your disputes if they consider them to be frivolous. So if he continually disputes the same thing over and over and over again and the lenders are saying, no, no, it's right as reported, then the bureaus can say, that's it, we're not challenging them any longer.
ULRICH: All right. Interesting. Thank you so much, John and Donna.
Do you have a question that you want answered? Well, send us an e-mail any time to the cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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MALVEAUX: More breaking news. There's a tornado that is on the ground in Mississippi. Want to go straight to our own Chad Myers for the latest information.
Chad, what do we have?
MYERS: State Line, Mississippi. And that is just over the line, Mississippi-Alabama line. And that storm was on the ground producing damage. No real prediction whether it's going to stay on the ground. But if it does, it will go toward Millry, Alabama. We do know that this storm around Jackson is probably still on the ground as well and we're getting in video of the first pictures of some damage. We'll get those on for you as soon as we get them all cut.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: Now your responses to our "Talk Back" question. Does making a class war out of the budget debate get us anywhere?
Carol, what are folks saying?
COSTELLO: Folks have a lot to say. The "Talk Back" question is, class warfare the right political fight? This from Michele. "We have a choice? The Republicans are choking us just so they can serve their rich campaign contributors. I know money isn't everything, but sadly it is if you're old and gravely ill."
This from Tim. "Tired of this being called class warfare, which serves nothing but to continue the great divide between the wealthy, middle class and the poor. The well-to-do of this country made money hand over fist during the last Republican administration. Bumping income tax by 4 percent is not going to hurt them."
Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn. And thanks, as always, for your comments.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol. Appreciate it.
COSTELLO: Sure.
MALVEAUX: And up next, the story that you wanted to see. Our "Choose The News" story up moments ahead.
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MALVEAUX: Here's a story that you wanted to see. CNN has exclusively obtained a list of about 70 behaviors that the TSA uses to identify people who might pose a threat onboard a flight. Because of the sensitive nature of the information, we're going to reveal just one of those behaviors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you get upset at airport security, you might want to watch how you show it, because behavior detection officers deployed at the nation's airports to ferret out security threats are on the lookout for, among other things, anyone who displays arrogance and verbally expresses contempt for the screening process, according to information obtained by CNN.
Civil liberties groups say it is absurd that the exercise of free speech should be considered suspicious.
MICHAEL GERMAN, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: If you complain about the government, that's just an occasion for the government doing more intensive scrutiny of your behavior. It seems, you know, just so anti-American.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrorism experts also question whether it's useful. They say terrorists usually try to blend in, keep a low profile, because they don't want to draw attention to their activities. Challenging airport security would have precisely the opposite effect.
PETER BERGEN, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This idea that a terrorist would be very arrogant, express contempt for airport procedures, that doesn't make any sense to me, from a commonsensical point of view, and also from the record of what is known about behaviors of al Qaeda terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the immigration agent who stopped the so-called twentieth 911 hijacker from entering the U.S. did use arrogant to describe Mohammed al-Qahtani.
JOSE MELENDEZ-PEREZ, IMMIGRATION OFFICER: Upon establishing eye contact, he exhibited body language that appeared arrogant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The TSA used that interaction and others to design its program. When new, more intimate pat-down procedures were instituted last year, checkpoint protests became something of an art form.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they want to try and see what I've got hidden in my bikini, they're welcome to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the TSA says no single behavior on its list would, by itself, ever be enough to draw increased security scrutiny. A behavior detection officer would only select a passenger for closer examination if they showed several indicators of stress, fear or
