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North Carolina Historic Tornado Outbreak; New Air Traffic Control Rules; Medicare's Uncertain Future; Mobile Organic Food Market; Learning From Your Mentor; Rescue Crews Trying to Reach Trapped Miners in Idaho
Aired April 17, 2011 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: You can catch our legal segment right here on noon eastern every Sunday.
Well, Rod Blagojevich retrial start this is week. The ex-Illinois governor wants to use some testimony from President Obama. Can he? Our legal guys will be back in the next hour. They're going to answer that question.
(MUSIC)
FEYERICK: And it's the top of the hour. So, let's get a check of our top stories.
Across North Carolina, stories of tragedy and survival. The state faces a massive clean-up effort after its worst tornado in more than a quarter century. The death toll in North Carolina is at least 23.
The storm system started Thursday in Oklahoma. It swept across the south. It has killed more than 40 people in six states.
One of the hardest hit areas in North Carolina, Bertie County, where at least 11 deaths are now confirmed.
And CNN's Catherine Callaway is in one of the devastated neighborhoods there.
Catherine, a lot of people right now are just trying to figure out where they begin to start, really.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. As you can see, this little area behind me here, it was where a number of homes, where there were several homes, several trailer homes, nothing left. You cannot tell where the homes were located. In fact, it's such a mess here.
And Charles Bond, we spoke with him earlier. He's agreed to talk to us again.
Mr. Bond, I know it's been a long day for you. You arrived here last night, shortly after the storm hit. And you were -- you found your mother in what was left of her home. Can you tell us about that last night? CHARLES BOND, BERTIE COUNTY RESIDENT: Yes, the first thought that occurred, I could see my shop. I said, Oh, Lord, I know something's going on here because I could see my shop was down. When I got to the stop, I was looking for -- I worry about mom and the house. I knew she was at home. When got there, I didn't see her. So, she was sitting in (INAUDIBLE), I said where.
Then I look for the guy next door, my neighbor. I saw him, and then I wondered where is his wife. They're going to be together. So, I went back to my truck. She was in front of my truck down there by the tree.
CALLAWAY: What he's talking about is the tree behind us. As you can see, it's bent over. And she was actually found underneath that tree. And Mr. Bond's mother was found not too far from that.
BOND: Right.
CALLAWAY: I know it's just total devastation here.
BOND: Never seen anything like it.
CALLAWAY: What's going to happen next?
BOND: Only thing we can do is try to take it one day at a time. That's all we can do.
CALLAWAY: And rebuild?
BOND: We're going to rebuild.
CALLAWAY: And good luck to you, Mr. Bond. We're so sorry for your property loss. We're glad your mother is doing better. She's still in the hospital but doing better, we understand, right?
BOND: Yes, ma'am.
CALLAWAY: All right. Thank you so much.
I want to show how the Salvation Army has showed up just a few minutes ago. And they're going to try to feed everyone who's been working very hard here today trying to clean up this mess.
What we found is that most of the debris did not actually end up here. It was found across the street. Property items like clothing and things like that, they've been found actually a block down the street.
Here, we're seeing is what's left of roofs and walls. And we've seen bathtubs and various doors, just really nothing that they're able to save as far as personal items are concerned.
I'm going to throw it back to you. Again, 11 dead in this community alone. And this is a very small community. So, just totally devastated here.
FEYERICK: Catherine, it's fascinating. I mean, these people, they're trying to find where -- they're trying to locate themselves. It's got to be so difficult to drive down a road, to be looking for landmarks, and those landmarks are simply gone. You lose your sense of perspective. You lose your sense of location, really.
And I'm sure just even going through all that debris, the gentleman you just interviewed, he's got to be wondering what is -- what is even left that he can salvage?
CALLAWAY: There's really nothing left. That's what's so surprising about it. I was spending some time in between live shots helping one of the homeowners here try to find something. And truly, the only thing we found was some pennies laying on the ground. And we just looked at each other like, there's not even photographs. There's just nothing. It has all totally blown away.
FEYERICK: Wow, everything erased.
Well, Catherine Callaway, thank you so much. We really appreciate your staying there, eyes on the ground for us, taking a look at what's happening there. We'll check in with you. Thanks so much.
Well, there are 90 preliminary reports of tornadoes across North Carolina. The central and eastern parts of the state were the brunt of the damage.
More now from reporter Gilbert Diaz (ph) with our affiliate WTVD.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GILBERT DIAZ (ph), WTVD REPORTER (voice-over): The devastation is incredible. Trees snapped in half like twigs. Houses demolished. Cars stacked up like pancakes. And people helplessly walking around in disbelief.
TINA PALMER (ph), RESIDENT: Tornado ripped through my house. There's nothing left.
DIAZ: Tina Palmer lives on Yadkin Road. She tells I-Witness News she, her husband and six children jumped into a bathtub and rode the storm out. They all survived.
PALMER: The windows broke out. The roof went. The walls went. There's nothing left. There's a tree on my daughter's truck. I don't know where my cats are.
DIAZ: Michael Wilson is a Fort Bragg soldier who says he was watching news on TV about the storm when it caught him and his wife by surprise.
MICHAEL WILSON, RESIDENT: Branches started flying down the hallways. The roof blew off the house. One of the cats ran down into the den. And now, it's gone. And we can't find her. I think she got blown away. The other two hid under the bed. I'm surprised they didn't get crashed because our entire house has collapsed.
DIAZ: At a press conference this morning: city and county leaders talk about the damage and what's being done for those impacted by the storm. The Red Cross continues to provide food. One of three shelters remains open at Westover Recreation Center. And Ben Martin Elementary School on Raleigh road has been severely damaged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're presently evaluating all our schools for damages. We know we have major structural damage at Ben Martin Elementary. Part of the structural roof was completely removed from that facility. That facility will not be operational the rest of this year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Well, a switch in the way air traffic controllers do their jobs. The FAA issued new rules today aimed at keeping air traffic controllers awake on the job.
Sandra Endo is following this from Washington -- Sandra.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When planes come in for a landing, the communication shouldn't be like this -- of a pilot trying to get in touch with an air traffic controller.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRACON: They're not answering the phone line either.
PILOT: We're going to need to land.
TRACON: Landing will be at your own risk.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ENDO: But it reportedly happened at least seven times at airports across the country since the start of the year, because of controllers falling asleep on the job.
But now, the FAA and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood are making immediate changes to the schedules for controllers.
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We will not allow controllers to sleep on the job. We simply will not.
ENDO: Under the new guidelines, controllers will now have a minimum of nine hours off between shifts instead of eight. They'll no longer be able to swap shifts unless they get nine hours off in between. Controllers will not be able to work an unscheduled midnight shift following a day off. And there will be more FAA managers covering the early morning and late night hours.
The problem of fatigue has been around for years. Back in 2007, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended the schedules of air traffic controllers be revised to address the issue. Which begs the question: why wasn't more done sooner?
LAHOOD: I was not the second tear in 2007. I'm the secretary today. As soon as I learned about this, these controllers were suspended.
ENDO: Congress holds the purse strings for funding the FAA. And a key lawmaker says the issue is not the number of controllers employed, but how they're used.
REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: Air traffic controllers make on average $163,000 apiece, are professionals. But even the best professionals need some recurrent training. And with the changes in technology and procedures, we think it's important that we revisit that.
ENDO (on camera): What do you say to the flying public? Should they have confidence in this system?
LAHOOD: Absolutely. I believe that the airline industry in America is the safest in the world. But we can do better. And we will do better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENDO: Tomorrow, FAA officials and the air traffic controllers union are starting a nationwide tour in Atlanta to talk to controllers about their concerns, but really to hammer home the issue of safety -- Deb.
FEYERICK: Well, Sandra, do you think this is -- you showed us the examples where it's happened. It happened at Washington, Reagan National Airport. It happened in the Reno International Airport.
Is this just the tip of the iceberg? Are we going to see that this has been going on for quite some time?
ENDO: It really could be, Deb. Keep in mind, this is not a new issue, because back in 2007, the National Transportation Safety board issued its own recommendations, saying that air traffic controllers need to be more rested and that the union should really look into this issue of fatigue.
So, this issue has been around for a while, for a number of years. But it really kind of brings up the whole issue of why more wasn't put in place earlier, years earlier, than right now.
But talking to Secretary Ray LaHood in a one-on-one interview, he is saying that under his watch, this is not going to happen. And if these changes don't work, there will be more changes to come.
FEYERICK: And let me ask you, now, at 26 airports, they have now added another air traffic controller on the midnight shift. It's a high paying job. Clearly, there's a lot of stress. Do you have a sense that this has been a cost issue? That they haven't been staffing properly because of cost?
ENDO: Well, some people might look at it as a cost issue because of the fact that at some airports on the midnight shift, there would only be one air traffic controller. But the FAA says that staffing levels really depend on the number of airplanes coming in to land. So, really, that's not an issue. But again --
FEYERICK: So, if it's a smaller airport.
ENDO: -- they have implemented a new role -- yes -- to have two controllers in those towers.
FEYERICK: All right. Well, we'll see where it goes. Sandra Endo in Washington, thank you so much.
ENDO: Sure.
FEYERICK: Well, crews are searching for a missing minor in northeast Idaho. He is believed trapped about 6,000 feet underground at the Lucky Friday Mine after a roof collapse. A second miner escaped unharmed on Friday. There's no word on the condition of the trapped miner. Special digging equipment is helping in that rescue effort.
And a national church held a special service today for a missing nursing student. Twenty-year-old Holly Bobo disappeared from her home last week. Police say her brother last saw her being led into the woods by a man dressed in camouflage. The pastor today said attendance was down because a lot of the parishioners are helping with the search for that young lady.
And a Texas congressman doesn't want to call Mexico's drug cartels criminal groups anymore. He prefers the label "foreign terrorist organizations." And he feels so strongly about it, he introduced legend on Capitol Hill.
I talked to Congressman Michael McCaul just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: First, this is not without precedent. President Clinton designated the FARC in the 1990s down in Columbia as a foreign terrorist organization. And it worked. It gave us greater penalties in terms of the ability to go after these drug cartel members, a 15-year enhancement on their sentencing. We can seize their bank assets here in the United States. And we could deport them even if they're here legally.
But, I think, most importantly, it sends a bold statement to the drug cartels if they're going beyond just being a criminal enterprise and now really are acting as terrorists. And so, it would open up the idea that we can treat these drug cartels just like we go after al Qaeda and Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.
And I think it gives us a greater ability to work with Mexico more in a joint military fashion.
FEYERICK: Though, Mexico, with all due respect, is not particularly keen on this. What they point out is that, look, drug dealers, drug cartels, they do not operate in any sort of vacuum. There are the people who buy the drugs. There are the people who deal the drugs.
Are those people going to be arrest and charged with material support of a terrorist organization? Do we change the laws here in the U.S. to make that happen as well? MCCAUL: Not at all. You know, I respect the ambassador. He's a friend of mine. But he's completely misconstrued the intent of this legislation. It's not to go after the casual drug users. It's to go after the members of the drug cartels.
And "The Dallas Morning News" piece that you mentioned, wrote an editorial supporting my position, saying McCaul gets it.
And I think I do. I think in addition to what we're doing with this foreign terrorist organization designation, we need to look at what worked in Columbia in terms of a joint intelligence, joint military operation to eradicate these very, very dangerous drug cartel members. When you look at their tactics, the gruesome decapitations, the burning people, you know, alive -- it goes beyond that also to a political movement in terms of assassination.
When you look under federal law, the definition of terrorism, it says to intimidate or coerced a civilian population or government by kidnapping and assassinations. That is precisely what the drug cartels do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And one of the cartel leaders that Congressman McCaul is talking about, well, he was arrested this weekend. A suspected drug lord nicknamed El Kilo is in custody. He is linked to several mass graves discovered near the Texas border.
And working 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday and maybe you put in a couple extra hours on the weekends? Well, Americans are definitely known to be hard workers. But guess what? We are not putting in nearly as many hours as people in other countries. The U.S. isn't even in the top three hardest working nations. Hard to believe, right?
Well, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Portugal is number three. Japan is number two, with workers averaging nine hours a day.
But can you guess what country works harder than any other. Well, we're going to have that for you. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, we're taking a look at the hardest working countries. Portugal and Japan made the top three. So what country works harder? Well, it's not the United States. It's our neighbors to the south, Mexico. The Organization for Economic Development says the average worker there puts in 9.9 hours a day. And in case you're wondering, the U.S. came in ninth, working 8.2 hours each day.
Well, street to street fighting raged today in the Libyan cities of Ajdabiya and Misrata today. This is Misrata where an opposition spokesman says six people were killed. Nearly 50 were hurt in clashes with forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Misrata is reportedly still in rebel hands. But we're told there are still hundreds of Gadhafi's troops there. And in Tripoli, the supporter of Gadhafi surrounded his compound yesterday. They danced and sang songs, praising him as their leader.
Elsewhere overseas, could we soon see the end of a Castro-led Cuba? Some surprising suggestions are coming out of Cuba's communist party congress, the first one in a very long time.
And Ralitsa Vassileva is here from CNN International with us.
The president of Cuba, Raul Castro, he's been in power for 40 years with his brother, obviously. Now, he's talking about term limits?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: That is a stunning declaration. He has called for politicians not to be in power for more than two terms, limited to five years. Of course, this is not going to affect him that much. He is in his first term after succeeding his brother in 2008. He'll be 84 years old by the end of his second term.
But it is a way for the communist country to control the next generation of younger leaders as it passes on the baton, because he chided his party for not preparing a younger generation of leaders to take over. So that's what they're going to focus on right now. But it is a stunning announcement.
He also said that the communist party is not a prerequisite for somebody to hold power. Again, the communist party controlled everything -- political posts, the economy.
And now, we're also hearing that they are not going to control the economy as they did. He is calling for some radical economic reforms that we discussed just yesterday, which is very, very disorienting for the people. Imagine you've lived all your life in a state where you worked for the government. That's the only option you've had. You've had cradle to death security. Everything, you know, benefits, education.
FEYERICK: Sure. And the health care for those people. So, yes.
VASSILEVA: Yes. And now, you're told you have to deal with layoffs. Twenty percent of the state workers will be laid off, according to those plans, in the next five years.
FEYERICK: Is there even a system in place? It's one thing to call for term limits, one thing to call for small business entrepreneurs to begin. But how -- this is brand-new to them -- how do they find their way? Is a system in place? It doesn't seem that way.
VASSILEVA: Well, they started issuing some permits for people to set up their small businesses. Two hundred thousand people have already applied. It's mostly hairdressers, people opening up little food stalls, little things like that. They've given some people some land to develop.
But they're not prepared for this. They need credit. They need money. They need -- they just need know-how to know how to do this. So, it's going to be a big challenge. That's the way they're hoping that these people will create the jobs so that the laid off people --
FEYERICK: And not only that, it may be an opportunity for investment, too, which could be interesting if they shift leadership.
Nigeria -- I want to talk about Nigeria. Elections there. Where do things stand?
VASSILEVA: Well, Goodluck Jonathan, who's the incumbent, is in the lead in early results. And, surprisingly, the presidential vote was peaceful and there were very few allegations of fraud, although there were some attacks in the north. This is quite a surprise, because elections up to now have been marred by extreme violence and fraud. So, we'll see what happens.
However, people are a little concerned about an emerging north/south divide in the country because Goodluck Jonathan is from the south and there's some murmurs in the north that a northerner should have been a president. So, we'll see how things go.
FEYERICK: Always an interesting country to watch. And, right now, at least right if there's no corruption, perhaps that means people will accept the results of the election a little bit more?
VASSILEVA: We will see. It's a divided country.
FEYERICK: All right. Ralitsa Vassileva, as always, a pleasure. And you can see Ralitsa on CNN International, of course, most days.
Well, $1 for every day of marriage. That was the gift a North Carolina man gave his wife for their anniversary. It's pretty romantic. We're going to talk about that in the chatroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Time to enter the chatroom for a look at lighter stories making news this week.
Karen Maginnis is here with me.
Our first story -- this is really heartwarming. When I first saw it, it is a little bit romantic.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is.
FEYERICK: Art Schumacher decides he's going to put $1 away every day he is married to his wife, Jeannette. They celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary, and he hands her a stack of bills worth close to $18,000.
MAGINNIS: And this was terribly sweet. There you can see them, they said they used to go out and party, and all that kind of things. Now they drive their grandchild home from daycare. They spent their honeymoon in, let's say, Great Falls, Montana, and ate at a bowling alley. FEYERICK: You know, that was a much simpler time, wasn't it? And it's still going to be, because when I first read, well, $1 a day, I thought, you know -- I don't know, wives these days probably deserve like 10 bucks a day or something, like 20, pushing it up there. But the dollar a day I think also shows a certain continuity, that, you know, he was investing in the marriage and the wife and his future.
MAGINNIS: Yes.
FEYERICK: So, really a heartwarming story.
Now, there's a watch. What would you do if you lost a watch worth $90,000?
Well, Aaron Parthemer took his rare diamond encrusted base Cartier watch with an alligator band to New York for repairs after a diamond fell out. After it was repaired, the watch was sent to the wrong address. What happened? He got it back.
MAGINNIS: Hmm. Who knew? I guess it was sent to Northeast 2nd Street instead of Northwest 2nd Street. And that's a lot of bling right there.
FEYERICK: That's a lot of bling. A lot of diamonds. OK, an alligator watch band.
But that's good. You know, it really -- it's wonderful when you see a story like that where somebody sees that the value of something is greater to the owner than it is even to them. And how do you keep a $90,000 watch knowing that somebody's missing that watch, that it belongs to somebody else?
MAGINNIS: Yes, it restores your faith in the goodness of people.
FEYERICK: It really does. OK. He may want to get a cheaper watch for day-to-day things.
OK. This one we all laughed about. We had trouble understanding this. Bacon cologne. I am not kidding. Bacon cologne, and I'm sure all of you are going to put this on your list of gifts you want to get for your birthday. People love to eat bacon.
But the question is: do they really want to smell like the bacon?
MAGINNIS: Who are they attracting? Who are you --
(LAUGHTER)
MAGINNIS: Now, I was just thinking something, but I won't say it out loud.
But, apparently, there are other scents. You can get scents of mildew or dust. Maybe my cat. Maybe we could do something like that, or cheesy grits. Certain things.
FEYERICK: You know, I'm just wondering, it's probably one of those things where you spray your bacon cologne on and you go to a bar. And people start looking around to see who's cooking, or if somebody brought in a sandwich from outside.
Anyway, well, to each his own. Bacon. Mildew. Exactly. Whatever attracts you.
So, Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich -- well, he's about to go on trial again. The last time the jury was unable to reach a verdict on all but one count. What about this time? Our legal guy is going to weigh in with the odds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I don't think it's going to happen again. I had predicted the convictions the first time around. In fact -- and we're seeing this theme in these high visibility, high celebrity cases, the jury came back 11-1. He would have been convicted on all 21 counts, they convicted him on one.
The truth is, this time around the U.S. attorney and Justice Department ready to go even more strongly. The defense team actually can't sit there and watch the train go by. They have an enormous responsibility, even tougher than the first trial. Again, I'm predicting conviction.
FEYERICK: What's most fascinating about this is that his team wants to basically get Obama's interview that he gave to the FBI, but the judge has said no. You didn't get it the first time around, you're not going to get it again.
Why is he trying to hook President Obama into this? Richard?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it's kind of a side -- yes, Deb, it's kind of a show. But that interview is called a 302. And, basically, the judge will order those if there's some sort of information in there which tend to exonerate the defendant or if the person who gave the interview is going to testify so that the defendant can use that interview to impeach their credibility.
Since President Obama is not going to testify in this case 1 million percent and the judge has already determined there's nothing in that interview that's going to help Blago, it's not coming. It's a side show. He's in big trouble this time. I agree with Avery. He's in big trouble.
FEYERICK: So, apparently --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And, of course, you can catch our legal segment every Saturday with the most interesting take on legal issues in the news right here at noon Eastern.
And, incredible scenes of destruction. Look at that. North Carolina gets slammed with the worst tornado outbreak, hundreds of them touching down, in decades. We're going to show you the damage. That's coming up on the other side.
Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well top stories today, the FAA issues new rules aimed at keeping air traffic controllers awake on the job. New rules give controllers an extra hour of rest between their shifts and it requires FAA many managers to work more early morning and late night hours. The changes will go into effect immediately.
And rescue crews are trying to reach a trapped miner in northeast Idaho. He was part of a two-man team working in the Lucky Friday Mine outside Mullan, Idaho. There was a cave-in deep in the mine on Friday. The other miner was able to escape. There's no word yet on the condition of the trapped miner.
And in North Carolina, tornado devastation that hasn't been seen in a quarter century. At least 23 deaths are reported across that state from the powerful storm system that started Thursday in the Southern Plains. More than 40 people were killed across six, six states.
And the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina sustained a lot of damage. Dozens of people have been left homeless. Several residents were hurt, including a 23-month-old baby. Earlier today I talked to the public affairs director at the base.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAT FANY, PUBLIC AFFAIRS: We have confirmed nine base residents who were admitted to area hospitals with minor injuries, most of them cuts and bruises. However we have one 23-month-old boy who was air lifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville due to multiple trauma injuries. That's about the extent of the injuries thus far.
FEYERICK: How does this affect the operations there at the base?
FANY: Well this occurred Saturday night. So, again, we have officials on the scene right now evaluating some of the structural damage. It was all pretty much confined to the base residential area called Tarawa Terrace. So it's not -- probably not going to affect military operations as much as it's going to disrupt a lot of families right now.
FEYERICK: It's interesting because when we think of military families, we also think of them being especially prepared. Do you prepare your folks for the possibility, the actuality that something like this is going to happen?
FANY: Well, I think if you come from North Carolina or have lived here for quite some time, you're used to the hurricanes that occasionally impact this area. This is a known hurricane zone. Our base routinely prepares for emergency operations as you are probably aware. We did have a wildfire about 2.5 weeks ago. So we're just coming off of that, we're about 9,500 acres of -- of mostly ranges were burned on our base. So we're coming off of that operation. And now it's somewhat unfortunate we got hit with this as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: That storm forced another North Carolina military base to shut down. Buildings at Ft. Bragg were damaged. The power was knocked out. There are no reports of injuries there. I-reporter Alex Rudkovsky was conducting military training at the army base during that storm. He shot these photos of destroyed houses in that area.
And talking about these storms and what is going on, boy, Karen Maginnis over there in our Severe Weather Center. It is extraordinary. This isn't 10 or 20. We're talking hundreds of tornadoes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
FEYERICK: Well turning to budget matters in Washington, the debt crisis is putting Medicare and Medicaid under scrutiny. Republicans want to overhaul both programs to save money. Even the president wants to see some changes. CNN's Sandra Endo takes a look at some of the proposals and what they could mean for seniors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK ANDERSON, ACTIVIST FOR SENIOR CITIZENS: There we go.
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mark Anderson is feeding his future.
ANDERSON: How are you doing? Go to see mommy.
ENDO: With hopes and dreams of a safe secure life for his wife and 15-month-old son. But Anderson says the future is not so certain as he follows the budget debate playing out on Capitol Hill. He says the Republican plan to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid in 10 years is a big concern. The plan would keep anyone 55 or older in the traditional Medicare plan, but those just under 55 are on the bubble looking at a whole new health care future.
ANDERSON: It's a little scary because I am an older dad. I'm soon to be 52-years-old. In terms of health insurance companies, I am what you would call a risk. At this point, it's not just me. It's also my wife and my child. And how can we afford that extra health care? We need Medicare to be there to cover catastrophic illness, to cover hospitalization.
ENDO: Under the GOP proposal, seniors would get money to buy government approved private insurance. President Obama vows to fight any voucher system and instead proposes new ways to hold down Medicare costs and reduce spending on prescription drugs. The chief architect of the Republican plan insists Medicare needs a total rebuild.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We think by adding competition and choice in the delivery of medical care, by giving the consumer more power, is a better solution.
ENDO: The issue hits Anderson at his core since he's an advocate for seniors visiting elderly clients throughout the day.
ANDERSON: I can bring it in for you.
We need to be thinking about people. Not politics.
ENDO: And for Mark Anderson, he says making seniors a pawn in the political game is wrong.
ANDERSON: Let's be honest. Don't pretend that you're doing something courageous or serious to fight the budget deficit when almost everything that you're taking from the moment vulnerable parts of our society, you're giving away to the most affluent. It's an insult.
ENDO (on camera): One thing Democrats and Republicans do agree on is that something has to be done to reign in the growing national debt. Entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid are no longer untouchable. But both parties have ideologically different approaches on how to handle the problem with any solution likely to cause some pain to some portion of the public. Sandra Endo, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And while you're trying to eat healthier, but you can't find organic food at a store near you. Well this truck tries to solve that problem by going on the road and taking locally grown organic food to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: We're gearing up for Earth Day and part of our focus this year is the food we eat and how it gets to our table. In this next story, CNN photojournalist John Carpenter follows a truck that takes organic food on the road.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a really wonderful concept. It's a wonderful concept.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A truck wasn't being used.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an old engine. So we've got our little tricks getting it started. Oh, wow, on the first try.
SUZANNE WELANDER, RIVERVIEW FARMS: They had the bright idea that it could be repurposed as a mobile farmers market. We started on the road in January and then lost our engine. Oops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm about to head on over to the location that we have for today.
WELANDER: The back is our usual entrance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got to climb these down. We've got maybe three feet of aisle space.
WELANDER: The farmers markets we usually sell at close during the winter season. We can still reach our customers with farm mobile. And we can also reach markets that we wouldn't normally be at because we are mobile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Green onions. Beautiful. Smell good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow. It's like a little mini supermarket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's organic, it's fresh. And the people here are so very nice.
WELANDER: You're at $34 so far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's all this.
WELANDER: These are the meats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know you had meats?
WELANDER: Oh, absolutely. So the grass-fed beef and the Berkshire corn (ph) is all from Riverview Farms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been great to have you here all winter, I will say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, ma'am. Have a great week.
WELANDER: You, too. We're improving access to local grown food in a lot of communities where they don't have access to that. So we're excited about doing that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: CNN's Tom Foreman will host an hour-long special next Saturday, April 23rd. "Green Solutions in Focus: Eatocracy Edition" airs right here on CNN at 3:00 p.m.
And President Obama is hitting the road this week to talk to the American people about his vision for bringing down the deficit. Here's CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Deb. President Barack Obama holds town halls in three states across the country this week. Two of those states, Virginia and Nevada, are battleground states, places where Mr. Obama most likely needs to win to win re- election next year. The other place where the president holds a town hall is California, generally a safe place for Democrats but also a good place to raise money. And the president is doing just that while he's there this week, holding fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mr. Obama kicked off his bid for campaign cash Thursday back in his hometown of Chicago.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When the time comes, I will -- I will be campaigning. I'll be ready to go. But I've got to tell you, right now, I still have this day job.
STEINHAUSER: And that's pretty much what Mr. Obama's strategy is for right now, president by day, fundraiser at times by night with official trips often taking him to battleground states. If you're shocked, don't be. You know what, this is nothing new. Most recently Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton used the same strategy when they were running for re-election. Deb?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Thanks, Paul.
Well trying to move up in your career? The five important questions you must ask your mentor. That's when we get back.
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FEYERICK: So do you want a shortcut to meeting your career and life goals? Well, a mentor might help. I spoke with Valorie Burton, author of "Why Not You?" She explains the five questions you should be asking your mentor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALORIE BURTON, LIFE COACH: Some people are just around people that they need to learn from and so you always want to be able to ask those insightful questions. One of them is what's the best decision you have ever made? And a lot of times when we look at someone who has had some success, we feel like oh, we can look and see what their best decisions are. But a lot of times those decisions go under the radar. It's a risk that they took or an opportunity that they took advantage of.
FEYERICK: And it may even be a job that they didn't think was going to be worth anything that allowed them to make contacts that led them to the next stage.
BURTON: Exactly.
FEYERICK: OK so another question, what is the worst decision you ever made?
BURTON: This is a really good one because we've all made bad decisions and this is one that you want to learn from because you can avoid the same mistakes. You always want to know, what was it that happened and what would you do differently if you could go back?
FEYERICK: OK so for example maybe one of the worst decisions was not taking the risk you thought you should have taken. OK so regret, that's never a good thing. The third question, what is the one thing you wish you had known then? BURTON: Right. So when you started, what do you wish you would have known? This will shorten your learning curve more than anything else. You can ask them, if you were in my shoes especially if you're starting out or you're early in your career, what would you have done if you had known better? And so you want to be able to shorten your learning curve. It's a great question to ask.
FEYERICK: OK, fourth question, how do you handle setbacks or disappointments? And this is a big one because a lot of people, either they get discouraged or they think, boy, I'm never going to make it or this person is out to get me or this person doesn't like my work. So how do you handle setbacks?
BURTON: So the most successful people are the ones who handle failure the best. There is a Japanese proverb I love that says, "Fall seven times but stand up eight." So the people who are most successful are the ones who always are able to get back up. They tend to be very optimistic in the face of failure and setback. So you want to able to learn, what is it that they're telling themselves when they go through difficult challenges at work.
FEYERICK: For example, if you make a mistake, it's only a mistake if you make it again. Now what is the wisest step I can take? That's question number five, the last one.
BURTON: This is a question where you're asking them to look at your career, look at where you are and give you some advice. And you need to be able to take that constructive feedback. That's one of the best things you can learn to do to advance your career. So when you get feedback that you might not like, say, is there a grain of truth in this? How is it that I can move forward despite the fact that I might not have liked hearing that feedback, because it's usually that feedback that can help you move forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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FEYERICK: Well, I'm about to get all "Jetsons" on you here. Flying cars zooming into space for fun. Forget science fiction. The "Jetsons" era may be closer than you think.
MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: We are going to see that soon. In fact, a Massachusetts-based company called Terrafujia are already taking pre-orders for 10 grand a pop. These are flying cars. This one is called the Transition. And this is a street legal aircraft that lets you park it in your garage at night in your home, then you can drive down to the airport, press a button to extend its wings and then you can take to the friendly skies. You do need a pilots' license, of course, which the company says you can get for as low as 20 hours of actual air time, and by the way, just in case of emergency, in mid-flight, there is a full vehicle parachute that can be deployed just in case. So pretty neat stuff from Terrafujia. I think they're going to go for about a couple hundred grand, but they haven't yet committed to a special price. FEYERICK: Interesting. Not clear how high those get, but at least if the wings don't work, you can still drive to your destination. I guess there's some consolation in that.
SALTZMAN: That's right.
FEYERICK: But finally this past Tuesday we marked the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight. Now we're talking about space tourism. Are we going to get to go there?
SALTZMAN: Absolutely. Maybe not our generation but our kids' generation. They are taking pre-orders with companies like Virgin Galactic by Sir Richard Branson for $20,000 -- as low as $20,000 for a deposit. Now this will -- lets you go up about 100 -- I believe it's 100 kilometers into space or 328,000 feet above the Earth. You can take a look at our planet, you can enjoy true weightlessness and this is coming. It's coming soon, space tourism.
FEYERICK: That will do it for me, Deb Feyerick. CNN NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. Have a great week, everyone.
