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McDonald's To Hire 50,000 Today; Wildfires Racing Though Texas; Obama Speaks About Shared Prosperity And Responsibility at Northern Virginia Community College
Aired April 19, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out West. There's a lot happening this hour.
The White House taking on debt and prescription drugs. On the left, that's our national debt clock, it's spinning higher and higher, President Obama set to speak about debt and taxes, that's coming up in about 15 minutes.
And right now the White House is releasing a new strategy to combat prescription drug abuse. They say the problem is deadlier than the scourge of crack-cocaine back in the '80s. We're breaking that down later in the hour.
It is a sobering sign of our times. And your grandchildren's future. The spinning numbers in the upper left. You'll see that. That's how much debt we owe. More than $14 trillion, and every minute another $2.5 million is shoveled on to that mountain of debt.
This morning, President Obama will try to sell his plans to make Washington live within its budget. He's kicking off a three-day debt and tax tour at a communities college in Virginia. CNN's Kate Bolduan live at the White House. Kate, he's basically heading now on to the campaign trail to see if he can sell his ideas to the American people, right?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it's much like what the president did in trying to sell his health care proposal, you'll remember. Taking his message directly to the American people, the taxpayer and the voters. The president - the town hall format which the president will be taking part in today as well as the next few days has long before known as one of the places where the president is most comfortable in this kind of more casual setting, answering questions from participants that are there.
The tagline that we're hearing from the White House in terms of kind of the messaging - and you'll hear this I'm sure a lot more - is shared responsibility and shared prosperity. Here's a little bit more from the president's spokesman, Jay Carney, on what the president's message is this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is - can be extremely arcane and esoteric stuff when people - when Americans out there are worrying principally about the economy and job creation and gas prices. And he wants to explain why for the sake of our economy we need to move forward on fiscal reform, share responsibility, and share the burden as we go forward to create an America that is stronger and creating more jobs in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And the White House view is basically this, Carol - that both the White House, Democrats and Republicans agree that we need to get serious about taking on the federal deficit and tackling the country's debt. And you can even argue that there's relative agreement on the numbers. Cutting - reducing the deficit by $4 trillion in 10 to 12 years, but not surprisingly the devil's in the details on how to get there, is a big sticking point between the White House plan and the Republican plan passed in the House.
And you could expect the president will be talking more about that. Why his plan of a mix of spending cuts and tax increases is the best option to get serious and really cut the deficits, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Kate. We expect the president to begin speaking in about 15 minutes. When he does, we'll dip in.
Kate Bolduan, live at the White House. Thank you.
As I said, stay with us, the president's town hall meeting scheduled to get underway in about 15 minutes from now. We'll check in, as I said, once it gets underway.
While the president tries to sell voters on deficit reduction and tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans, McDonald's is hiring. Today is the day when the fast food giant hires 50,000 people to serve up Big Macs and chicken McNuggets. The average pay, in case you're wondering, $8.30 an hour. That's roughly $16,600 a year.
McDonald's will also hire managers, and it tells us they can make up to $50,000 a year. In contrast, the McDonald's chief executive reportedly made just under $10 million in salary and bonuses last year.
Another day, another PR nightmare for the FAA. An air traffic controller and a manager suspended this time in Cleveland, Ohio. The controller wasn't sleeping, he was watching a DVD on the job. The FAA released this statement, "the controller's microphone was inadvertently activated, transmitting the soundtrack of the movie over the radio frequency for that airspace." If you're wondering what movie - and I know you are - it was "The Cleaner."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all have secrets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired of keeping secrets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something half the city would kill you for? Walk away!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That's what he was watching. The former FAA chief of staff was on "American Morning" today. He says it is no secret air traffic controllers are stressed out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL GOLDFARB, FMR. FAA CHIEF OF STAFF: The controllers are exhibiting all the symptoms of stress. They're fatigued. They're sleeping on the job. They can't focus. They're watching videos. It's a much larger problem. And then I think the doctor would say, "Well, here's the cure for that. You need more rest. You need more time off."
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
GOLDFARB: And the controllers would say, "But, you know, I can't do that. I have to be on shift at New York Kennedy Airport. I have to be at Orlando. We're short-staffed." So they're in a bind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The latest suspensions come as the FAA officials undertake a nationwide tour to discuss safety and professionalism.
Happening now in Texas, a race against fire. They're burning in all but two of the state's 254 counties. More than 1.7 million acres burning across the state. Hundreds of homes destroyed. Thousands more under threat. And today could be another tough day. There are too many fires and not enough firefighters.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is on the phone. It's just hard to believe there are not enough firefighters. Can't they get outside help in, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): They have been doing that. And I think one of the things that will kind of help people understand just how massive the wildfire problem here is - listen to these numbers that have just come out from the Texas Forest Service.
Essentially they have counted 20 uncontained fires, and listen to the top five of these. We're near a town called Strawn, Texas, which is west of Ft. Worth. The fire that's been getting a lot of attention over the last 48 hours near Kingdom Lake. So far it's burned almost 150,000 acres. The next one is in Coke County, another 150,000 acres.
The next one after that, 152,000 acres. Then another one down in the Big Bend area in far west Texas, 191,000 acres that have burned. And these are still completely - not all contained. So, you know, not only are you stretching resources in one of these massive fires, but you've got them spread out all over the state. They've got aerial support, air force, C-130 aircraft that are being used to dump fire suppressant on top of these wildfires and depending where you are, there's kind of different ways of battling these fires.
The one we've been seeing up close is this fire by Possum Kingdom Lake, west of Ft. Worth. Really what we're seeing is these fire teams and these crews that are on the scene doing the best they can to protect homes and businesses and that sort of thing. And if the fires are way out in the countryside, they're not really going to battle it out there.
So another day of high temperatures, high winds and low humidity could continue to cause problems. But the numbers and the scope of how much Texas terrain has burned in the last week or so is - is really impressive.
COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera reporting live for us from Texas.
A college student found dead shortly after a frantic friend watched her being attacked during a computer web chat. It played out over two continents. Police say - police in Toronto say (INAUDIBLE), an exchange student from China was chatting with her boyfriend back home when a man entered her room. The boyfriend, who was in Beijing, says he watched as the Lee Yu (ph) and the man struggled for a time before the assailant turned off her laptop.
CNN's Zain Verjee is in London with more on this - I just can't imagine how the boyfriend in Beijing felt, so totally helpless.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Oh my - completely helpless. What he did was try as fast as possible to let the authorities know, let the family know what had happened. But it took about three hours or so before anyone got to her apartment. It was a basement apartment in Toronto. She was only 23 years old. Chatting to her boyfriend. Suddenly a guy appears at the door.
Well, it's not clear if she knew him, but there is a struggle. And then he realizes, hey, you know, the laptop is on, and the camera is pointing directly at him. He goes and switches it off. Police say that they found her body. It was naked from the waist down. They said there was no sign of a sexual assault. She had been dead a while. Her parents are heading to Canada now from Beijing.
COSTELLO: And - have the police termed it murder yet?
VERJEE: Well, they believe so. What they're trying to do is they're going to follow all their leads. What they're not clear about is who this guy is or whether she knew him. They have information like he is a white guy, between 20 to 30 years old, six-feet tall, weighs about 175 to 200 pounds. But right now they are treating it as a murder, and anyone with information, they're asking, that fits that bill should come forward.
COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, many thanks. Reporting live from London.
The dating web sites match.com says it will begin checking its members against sex offender registries. I spoke with a woman whose lawsuit prompted that move. She says one of her dates assaulted her. More on her story, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Match.com is being sued a woman who says a man she met on the dating web site sexually assaulted her. Carole Markin said that man had a prior record and match.com should have checked sex offender registries before putting him up on their site. Now that she's filed a lawsuit, I asked what she wants match.com to do now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROLE MARKIN, FILED LAWSUIT AGAINST MATCH.COM: Well, we want them to cross reference members' names with federal and local data bases to keep sexual predators off the site.
COSTELLO: And if they do that, I know you're suing match.com. If they do that and you're assured that match.com will do that, will you drop your suit?
MARKIN: Well, first we have to see if they do what they said they're going to do. I mean - you know, they have to go through it and make sure it's actually happening. They said that in 60 to 90 days, we'll see if they really do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Match.com says it's starting background checks, but encourage members to check out the people they date themselves. They gave us this statement - "We want to stress that while these checks may help in certain instances, they remain highly flawed. And it is critical that this effort does not provide a false sense of security to our members."
New in Libya this morning, NATO says it has attacked several command and control facilities of Gadhafi forces.
Wow. This comes as the government continues to shell Misrata like it has for weeks now. Witnesses say 24 people have died in the past two days alone. People there say there are no more hospitals, medical care is slow to come in. And they are being let down by NATO. England says it will now help get out 5,000 people trapped in Misrata, and this morning the U.N. says emergency food was delivered to western Libya for the first time since the conflict erupted. Plus, the European Union said it is ready to launch a military operation for humanitarian assistance if requested by the United Nations.
An overnight street battle in the Syrian city of Hamms. At least three anti-government protesters were killed by security forces. Dozens more wounded. Syria's official news agency says two members of its security forces were killed. And just this morning state TV is reporting that Syria's cabinet approved a plan to abolish the country's 48-year-old state of emergency.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has taken steps to satisfy protesters. He's appointed a new cabinet. And over the weekend has now come through on that promise like I just said, to lift that state of emergency, still the demonstrations continue, I want to go back to Zain Verjee in London.
And Zain, explain why Americans should be watching this situation in Syria very closely.
VERJEE: Well, Syria really does matter to the United States, Carol. It is a very important player in the Middle East. I mean, if Syria were to go down, it would have important and serious ramifications across the entire region. Syria is Iran's closest buddy. The U.S. has been trying to split those two together for a long time and they failed. So if Bashar al-Assad and Syria went south, it would really affect the relationship with Iran.
Also, Carol, Syria is a very important player in any Arab-Israeli peace deal. Syria sponsors groups that the U.S. has labeled terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. So it's very, very significant to watch and see what happens in Syria and the United States is looking too at its own security and its energy interest. And Syria is a big part of that.
COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, thanks for explaining. Live from London.
Taking a look at stories making news across the country now, here in the United States. In Idaho, rescue workers trying to reach a miner trapped about a mile underground are bringing in more equipment. There's been ongoing communication with the trapped miner, caught underground in the inappropriately named Lucky Friday Mine.
Flooding is causing problems in some parts of northern New Jersey. Take a look at that mess. Powerful storms dumped more than four inches of rain in some areas, causing rivers to swell. Roads looking more like lakes this morning. Hundreds of homes are damaged. Many residents forced to evacuate. Others need to be rescued by boat. Officials say more flooding may be on the way in some parts of New Jersey, but they do expect the rivers to recede sometime today.
In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the so-called birther bill that would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove they were born in the United States before they could snag a spot on the state ballot. Brewer says, "as a former secretary of state, I do not support designating one person as a gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate which would lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions."
OK. As promised, President Obama is getting ready to speak at the Northern Virginia Community College. He's on kind of a three-day tour to discuss ways to decrease the deficit and I'm sure he's going to talk about tax hikes to the wealthiest Americans. He's speaking largely to a group of young people, a group of voters that supported him greatly in 2008.
And of course he'd like to get them back. When the president begins speaking, we'll dip in again. Right now we're going to take a break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Charlie Sheen, yes, we're going to talk about Charlie Sheen. he's taken a break from his club tour and heading into a Santa Monica courtroom. "Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer is live from New York with all the juicy details. Hi, A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Hey there, Carol. Yes, Charlie Sheen hoping to put his catch phrase "winning" to work today in two separate courts actually. Now first Sheen will reportedly make an appearance before a judge in a family court in California. He's hoping to win full custody of his twins, two-year-old Bob and Max. That's from his ex, Brooke Mueller.
Now, TMZ is reporting that Charlie and his attorney are expected to argue that Mueller is not capable of properly taking care of the boys on the grounds that she's allegedly relapsed into drug addiction and she checked back into rehab. Now that would be a closed hearing.
But we're also standing by on another court date for Charlie Sheen today. Because that's not the only one he has scheduled. His custody issues are being sorted out in downtown Los Angeles. And at that time, the civil lawyers on his other case will be in a Santa Monica courtroom. They're trying to convince a judge to make open the - to the public his $100 million lawsuit against his former "Two And a Half Men" bosses, that's Warner Brothers, producer, Chuck Loree.
Now, somehow, Carol, he is trying to manage all of that. And he's still planning to end up on stage on the East Coast tonight. Charlie's rep tells us he is scheduled to perform in Washington, D.C., as part of his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour. So he's going to be in court in California today, on stage in D.C. tonight and Charlie's got the tiger blood, maybe, you know, that will help him out.
COSTELLO: I'm sure it will be a fantastic show.
What was a fantastic show was "Dancing with the Stars" and Kirstie Allie. That was pretty cool.
HAMMER: Pretty cool because we got a little surprise with John Travolta showing up there, carol, to help out his friend, Kirstie Allie. Of course, they're long-time friends. John, of course, what a dancing history this guy has. You know, I spoke to him last week about the idea. Would he ever consider doing it? And he told me he would, although he didn't let me know that he was actually going to show up to help out Kirstie, who can forget going back, 1978, "Saturday Night Fever," when John Travolta was first anointed a huge dancing star. For all of his "Dancing with the Stars" stuff.
COSTELLO: True. He was a great dancer. I remember those days well. OK. We have to talk about Zsa Zsa Gabor and her husband wanting another child. Because I understand somebody made an appearance on "HLN."
HAMMER: Yes. Yes. This is still my favorite story. Now, as you and I talked about, Carol, 94-year-old Zsa Zsa Gabor is making plans to have a brand new baby. Gabor's husband, 67-year-old, prince Frederic von Anhalt told "Showbiz Tonight" that the couple is beginning the process this week, using an egg donor and a surrogate mother.
Well, last night, Von Anhalt appeared on HLN's "Joy Behar Show" to explain having a "little polo player" had always been Zsa Zsa's dream. And he defended their decision to make it happen late in life. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I went to Beverly Hills. I went to the clinic. I asked the doctor, and said "Look, this is what I want to do, am I too old? Can I do it?" He says, "You're not too old, you can still do it." So did what I had to do. I gave blood, I gave sperm, everything was OK. We're going to go ahead, period. I don't give a damn what people think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: All right. There you have it. Now Zsa Zsa's only child, Francesca Hilton, told us that she was shocked by her mom's plan. She told us this last week, and, "That's just weird" was what she said, Carol.
Look, I place no judgments. Do what you're going to do. Do what you want to do. But it is weird. Or is that judgment? I'm not sure.
COSTELLO: You know, sometimes I get sick of covering politics, but I don't envy you covering this crazy stuff.
HAMMER: Hey. Nobody has more fun than me, Carol.
COSTELLO: It's true. A.J., we appreciate it. You want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it tonight on "Showbiz Tonight" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and 11:00 p.m. on HLN.
It is the fastest stuff growing for drug abuse in the United States. It's not crack-cocaine you're seeing right there - it's prescriptions bought from your trusted pharmacy or stolen I should say. This hour the White House is launching a new war on drugs. We'll have details for you.
And we're still waiting for the president to take the podium at Northern Virginia University. When he does, we'll dip in.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking top stories. Now, the woman who accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape is accused of murder. Police say she stabbed her boyfriend earlier this month. Authorities have upgraded the charges after the man died last week.
A robot is taking pictures inside the number-two reactor building at Japan's damaged nuclear plant. The robot found lower level of radiation than in other damaged unit. Utility officials say the levels are low enough that workers may be able to get back into the building for short periods of time.
And Standard and Poor's has lowered its outlook for America's long-term credit rating from stable to negative. So unless Washington can agree on a plan to bring down the nation's deficits, the S&P 500 could downgrade the nation's credit rating, and that would make it more difficult for the government to borrow money.
COSTELLO: Stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. So let's check on the numbers. As you can see, we're up 47 points, which is a big improvement over yesterday.
The president of the fast food chain Taco Bell says the company has been vindicated. A lawsuit alleging the restaurant's beef was not actually all beef has been dropped.
Stephanie Elam joins us from New York. So that stuff they put in the tacos, it's real meat. So is the argument really over?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: At this point it should be. The funny thing about this, though, is that both sides say that they've won this one. So it depends on how you break it down. Because, you know, part of the issue that came out this was that when Taco Bell gets its boxes of products that they use to put in their food, the boxes say "taco filling." And people are saying what exactly is taco filling? And they're like, look, it's really beef. But just like anything else you would prepare at home, we add seasonings and all that to it. So therefore, it's this - the straight taco filling. We don't actually put that in there at the time. So let's just take a look and show you actually what the beef is about here and show you what's inside of these tacos.
COSTELLO: I'm ready.
ELAM: - inside the meat filling. You ready for this? So it is 88 percent beef. And then as Taco Bell puts it, their not-so-secret recipe, 12 percent, and that is water, there's a bunch of spices in there, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, sugar, garlic powder and cocoa powder, and then also oats, sugar, yeast, and citric acid. So there you have it. They're saying that's what's in it. They're saying this is always available on their web site.
But the people that are bringing the suit say, "you know, what they finally disclosed what's in there and proving that it's not 100 percent beef. That it has other things in it. So both sides say they won. Anyway, I just have to point this out - if you go to Taco Bell and you're paying 99 cents for your burrito or whatever it is, what do you - do you really think it's going to be like Kobe beef? What are you expecting? I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: Yes, you're going to have citric acid in your beef. Just expect it, people.
ELAM: Yeah, kind of part of it.
COSTELLO: Yes, I know. I know it's realism. And we like that on our show. Thank you, Stephanie. Let's talk McDonald's now. On to another fast food restaurant. But this is better news because it's hiring what 50,000 workers today?
ELAM: Yes, this is really good news. McDonald's is going on a hiring binge today. And today's a big day. Folks are lining up to go and see if they can get jobs. Let's look at the things that are going to happen here with these new McJobs. There's management jobs, crew jobs, there's part-time jobs, there's full-time jobs. This is, of course, across the country that we're talking about. This is while the average crew pay, $8.30 for this.
And they actually have 14,000 restaurants in the United States. So if you take a look at all that they have going on, this is a lot of people who could potentially get hired today on all levels of their restaurant. So, that's good news. It's -- it's helping a McDonald's stimulus package if you were.
COSTELLO: Yes. I just wish those workers made more money. Thank you, Stephanie.
ELAM: I know. A lot of people think that way, yes, sure.
COSTELLO: Thanks so much.
The Miami Heat turning it on when they need to while the Chicago Bulls pull ahead in crunch time. NBA playoff highlights coming up.
And we are still waiting for President Obama to take to the podium. The crowd here at the Northern Virginia Community College, occasionally they're doing the wave as they wait for the president.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: We'll be right back .
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: OK. President Obama finally at the podium at Northern Virginia Community College to tell everybody how he wants to reduce the debt and maybe increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to make a couple of acknowledgements. First of all, Congressman Jerry Connolly is here.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Dr. George Gabriel, provost of Northern Virginia Community College is here.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And the president, Bob Templin, is here. (APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: It is great to be back. I keep on coming back because Jill Biden tells me to keep on coming back.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I tend to listen to her. I always say vice president Joe Biden's best quality is Jill Biden.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Though Jill couldn't be here today because she's teaching all day and does not skip class for anybody, including the president of the United States.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: What I want to do is just make a few quick remarks at the top, and then I'm just going to open it up for questions. This gives me a chance to get out of the immediate environs of Washington and hear directly from voters and have a discussion with them. And so, I'm grateful that all of you took the time.
Last week, I laid out a plan to get America's finances in order. It was a plan for shared prosperity through shared sacrifice and shared responsibility. So, before I take your questions, I want to talk a little bit about this plan briefly because it goes to the heart of what's happening at this campus and schools like it all across America.
And my plan does two big things. First, it cuts spending and it brings down the deficit. We all know how important that is. Just like any student on a tight budget, and I am assuming there are a few students on a tight budget here -- let's see a show of hands. Any students on a tight budget? Yes.
I've been there, just like you. America has to start living within its means. For a long time, Washington acted like deficits didn't matter. A lot of folks promised us a free lunch. So, I think everybody needs to recall, we had a surplus back in 2000. Eleven short years ago. But then we cut taxes for everybody, including millionaires and billionaires. We fought two wars, and we created a new and expensive drug program. And we didn't pay for any of them. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
So, we were left with a big deficit as I was coming into office. And then we had the worst recession since the Great Depression. And that made it worse because in a recession, two things happen. Number one, the federal government helps out states and localities to prevent teacher layoffs and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. And all that costs money. It requires more money to provide additional help to people who have lost their jobs or in danger of losing their homes. So, the federal government's putting more money out, but because of the recession, it's taking less money in in tax revenues. And so that grows the depression - the deficit further. Now, if we don't close this deficit now that the economy has begun to grow again, if we keep on spending more than we take in, it's going to cause serious damage to our economy. Companies might be less likely to set up shop here in the United States of America. It could end up costing you more to take out a loan for a home or for a car because if people keep on having to finance America's debt, at a certain point, they're going to start charging higher interest rates. We won't be able to afford investments in education or clean energy, or all the things that we care about because we know it will help drive our economy and create jobs.
So, we've got to tackle this challenge. And I believe the right way to do it is to live up to an old-fashioned principle of shared responsibility. That means everybody has to do their part.
So, what my plan does is it starts with combing the budget for savings wherever we can find it. And we had a good start a few weeks ago when both parties came together around a compromise that cut spending but also kept the government open and kept vital investments in things that we care about. We need to build on those savings. And I'm not going to quit until we've found every single dime of waste and misspent money. We don't have enough to money to waste it right now. I promise you that. We're going to check under the cushions -
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- you name it.
But finding savings in our domestic spending only gets you so far. We're also going to have to find savings in places like the defense budget, you know -
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: As your commander in chief, I will not cut a penny if it undermines our national security. But over the last two years, the secretary of defense, Bob Gates, has taken on wasteful spending that doesn't protect our troops, doesn't protect our nation. Old weapons systems, for example, that the Pentagon doesn't want, but Congress sometimes keeps stuffing into the budget. Well-connected special interests, get those programs stuck in the budget even though the Pentagon says we don't need these particular weapons systems.
So, we've begun to cut those out. And Secretary Gates has found a lot of waste like that and has been able to save us $400 billion so far. I believe we can do that again. $400 billion, even in Washington that's real money. That funds a lot of Pell grants.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: That funds a lot of assistance to communities like this one. We'll also reduce health care spending and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid through some common sense reforms that will get rid of, for example, wasteful subsidies to insurance companies.
(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Reforms that - reforms that can actually improve care, like making it easier for folks to buy generic drugs or helping providers manage care for the chronically ill more effectively.
And we can reform the tax code so that it's fair and it's simple.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So, that the amount of taxes you pay doesn't depend on whether you can hire a fancy accountant or not. And we've also got to end tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Now --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- let me say this is not because we want to punish success. I suspect there are a bunch of young people in this gym that are going to end up being wealthy, and that's good. We want you to. We want you to be able to go out there and start a business and create jobs and put other people to work. That's the American way.
But we are going to have to ask everybody to sacrifice, and if we're asking community colleges to sacrifice, if we're asking people who are going to see potentially fewer services in their neighborhoods to make a little sacrifice, then we can ask millionaires and billionaires to make a little sacrifice. The --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We can't just tell the wealthiest among us you don't have to do a thing, you just sit there and relax, and everybody else, we're going to solve this problem. Especially when we know that the only way to pay for these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans is by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for their health care. Or cutting children out of Head Start. Or doing away with health insurance for millions of Americans on Medicaid. Seniors in nursing homes or poor children or middle-class families who may have a disabled child, an autistic child.
That's not a tradeoff that I'm willing to make. It's not a tradeoff that I think most Americans think is fair, no matter what party you belong to. That's not who we are as a country. We're better than that.
So, that's the first part of the plan. Cutting spending in a way that is fair and asks for shared responsibility.
But here's the second part of the plan, and that's why I'm here at this campus today. Even as we're making sure the government lives within its means, we've still got to invest in the future. We've still got to invest in you. We've still got to strengthen the middle class, and we've still got to grow the economy. So yes, we're going to have to save wherever we can, and my proposal makes some tough cuts to some worthy programs and services that if we were in better times, I'd continue to fund.
But I'll tell you what I'm not going to do. We're not going to reduce the deficit by sacrificing investments in our infrastructure. We're not going to allow our roads and our bridges to grow more and more congested while places like China are building new roads and new airports and thousands of miles of high-speed rail.
If we want businesses to locate in the United States of America and create jobs here, we've got to make sure that America is built to compete. We've got to have the best roads. We've got to have the quickest trains. We have to have the fastest broadband networks. That's who we are.
Some folks in Washington also want to close the deficit by gutting our investments in things like clean energy or medical research or basic science. That's not a viable choice. America's always been the world's engine of innovation and discovery. That's who we are. That's how we prosper. I don't want other countries to lead in the industries of tomorrow. I want new technologies invented here in the United States. I want new solar panels and wind turbines and fuel-efficient cars and advanced batteries all to be made right here in the United States of America. I want us to invent them right here.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I mean, let's just take energy as an example. Folks are out there dealing with gas at four bucks a gallon. It's just another hardship, another burden at a time when we're just coming out of a recession and things are already pretty tight for folks.
Now, whenever this happens, just like clockwork, you see politicians going in front of the cameras. They'll say they've got a three-point plan for two-buck-a-gallon gas.
The truth is the only real solution to helping families at the pump in the medium- and the long-term is clean energy. That's how we'll save families money. That's how we'll reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We've got to develop new technologies to lessen our reliance on a fuel that is finite and that we've got to import from other countries. Including some very unstable parts of the world.
And that's why I think that cutting clean energy investments by 70 percent -- 70 percent -- which has been proposed by some in Congress, would be such a mistake.
COSTELLO: All right. We're going to jump away. President Obama speaking at the Northern Virginia Community College. This is the first of three town hall meetings he'll host during the week to discuss his vision to reduce the deficit and basically talk about tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans.
We're going to take a short break. We'll be back with much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is one of the top television shows of time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (MUSIC PLAYING - Theme to "Happy Days")
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, "Happy Days." It aired from 1974 to 1984, and it's still seen around the world. But now a dark side to the all- American show is emerging. Most of the cast is suing the owners of the show saying they have not been paid enough for the merchandising of their characters from the show. And today, they're filing suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It represented to the public the best of what America has to offer. You know, the opportunities, the friendships, the warmth. Unfortunately, "Happy Days" now also represents the worst of America. Of what major companies are trying to get from it.
DON MOST, "HAPPY DAYS" CASTMEMBER: There's something kind of skewed in that the people who really had nothing to do with making the show, they are exploiting it, making money by using our face, our pictures and all of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In a statement, CBS said, "We agree that funds are owed to the actors and have been working with them for quite some time to resolve the issue." We'll tell you how it turns out.
CNN's Poppy Harlow has been working on this story for some time. You can see her in-depth report on CNN NEWSROOM at 12:30 Eastern.
It is the fastest growing - it is the fastest growing form of drug abuse in the United States. It is not the crack-cocaine you see on the right. It's the prescriptions bought from your trusted pharmacy. Or stolen.
This hour, the White House launches a new war on drugs. We'll have some details for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: There's a new epidemic of drug abuse, and it may be as close as your medicine cabinet. The White House says prescription drugs have now become the fastest growing drug problem in America.
This hour, the Obama administration is releasing a plan to bring down those grim numbers. According to the National Institute of Health, one in five Americans above the age of 12 has used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. And the number of overdoses from prescription drugs is now greater than two drug explosions in recent decades: the scourge of crack-cocaine in the '80s and the black tar heroin epidemic of the '70s.
Stay in the CNN NEWSROOM two hours from now. We'll talk to the nation's point man on drug control policy. He'll talk with Suzanne Malveaux at 12:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: The Miami Heat's big three not always playing to their superstar potential in the regular season. They got it working in the playoffs, though Lebron Bames take the alley-oop pass against the 76ers and slams it down. Lebron finished with 29. The Sixers' entire starting five had 29 points. Dwyane Wade got into the scoring act going coast to coast with the jam. Ooh, there it is! Chris Bosh had 21 points, 11 rebounds. The Heat take game two of the first round series, 94-73.
Another NBA Eastern Conference playoff battle. The Bulls hosting the Pacers. Indiana's T.J. Ford bangs in a 65-footer at the buzzer of the third quarter. That tied it, but Chicago took the fourth quarter and the game on the fast break. Bulls star Derek Rose feeds Ronny Brewer for the slam.
This is why I don't do sports. I can't keep up with the highlights! Rose also scored in crunch time and finished with 36 point for the game. Bulls win 96-90. They take the two-to-nothing lead in the series.
I'm exhausted after that, Suzanne!
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Carol, I think you can do sports! You had to do sports. You and I both did local news in D.C., and I think you missed your calling. I think you missed your calling, Carol!That was good.
COSTELLO: I actually did sports a couple of times, but thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.
I'll be over in 15 minutes to talk about marriage.
MALVEAUX: Marriage and politics and all that good stuff. All right. Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
