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Mississippi River Cresting Near Record High; Patrolling the Borders; Shipwreck Tragedy; Inside The Google Workshop; A Bachelor's Degree In 3 Years; New Mexico Wildfire; Mississippi Cresting In Memphis; The Help Desk; Talk Back Question
Aired May 10, 2011 - 11:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: We are approaching the top of the hour. I'm Drew Griffin. Let's get you up to speed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never ever seen the water this high. Probably never will again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: The Mississippi River just inches shy of its flood record at Memphis today, and it's expected to stay that way now for days.
Water has covered the city's riverfront area, but serious flooding in outlying areas is what we're most concerned about. That's all happening because the Wolf and Loosahatchie Rivers, they can't flow into the Mississippi like they normally would.
In a live web cast, Microsoft announced today it's buying Internet phone company Skype for $8.5 billion. Microsoft plans to use Skype with its Xbox gaming systems and Windows phone. More tech news with Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon later.
Pakistan has done an about-face. It's going to allow U.S. investigators to question Osama bin Laden's three wives. The women have been in Pakistani custody since the U.S. commando raid that killed their husband.
President Obama on the road. El Paso, Texas right now to reenergize the debate on immigration reform. He's going to pressure Republicans who generally oppose his immigration proposals. President's speech live in the CNN NEWSROOM at 3:30 Eastern.
The Mexican navy gets into a wild shootout with suspected members of the Zetas drug gang. It went down on an island on Falcon Lake, the lake that straddles the border between Texas and Mexico. Twelve drug suspects and 1 member of Mexico's military killed.
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MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Over the past four years, we have developed the largest opt-in notification system in the country called Notify NYC. It sends subscribers, free, neighborhood-specific alerts via e-mail, text messaging and automatic telephone calls.
And with alerts going straight to computers, cell phones and BlackBerrys, you can be practically anywhere and still receive timely, accurate information about your city and your neighborhood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Very interesting news out of New York. The mayor there, Michael Bloomberg, announcing a significant upgrade to that city's emergency alert system.
The city can ping alerts off cell towers. Everybody with a cell phone in range will get an alert. This is how it's going to work. If, for example, Times Square needs to be evacuated, pinpointed alerts can be sent to people who are in Times Square at the time.
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SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: I believe that consumers have a fundamental right to know what data is being collected about them.
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GRIFFIN: Senator Al Franken looking into smartphone privacy at a congressional hearing going on right now. Reps from Google and Apple are on hand to answer questions about how and why Droids and iPhones may collect and store personal information. That's a live picture.
CNN "In Depth" on these troubled waters all lies on the swollen Mississippi, cresting right now at levels not seen in 70 years in Memphis, Tennessee. Thousands of people evacuated, including Tammy Everett. She joins us by phone from a shelter in Tunica, Mississippi.
Tammy, tell us what happened to you.
TAMMY EVERETT, RESIDENT (via telephone): I got evacuated out of my home. And Tunica is cut off. And the water has come up so high, we couldn't get our stuff out.
There's, like, 300 people that lost their whole house. And they couldn't get their clothes and their belongings. And some people up here don't even have clothes. And we haven't heard from our governor, Haley Barbour, or the city officials to tell us nothing.
GRIFFIN: Tammy, let me ask you -- this has been described as a slow-moving disaster. Did you get any warning at all that you should have taken your stuff and gotten out of there?
EVERETT: A couple days. They should have told us, like, a couple weeks before. They knew. They just didn't tell us. But we just got what we could get and got out.
GRIFFIN: OK. So you had a couple days warning.
And have you seen -- have you laid eyes on your home? Do you know what has happened there?
EVERETT: They won't let us in there, but they did, Saturday, show us some pictures, and mine is completely submerged under water.
GRIFFIN: And is it a trailer home?
EVERETT: Yes, sir.
GRIFFIN: And it's below water right now?
EVERETT: Yes, sir.
GRIFFIN: So what have you lost? And do you have any insurance that can help you recover that?
EVERETT: No, I don't have any insurance. They wouldn't let us get no insurance. And I lost all my furniture and my food, everything except my clothes and my pictures and my important papers. And my dog.
GRIFFIN: You're in a shelter now?
EVERETT: Yes, sir.
GRIFFIN: What's next? Where are you going?
EVERETT: I don't know. I don't know.
I heard FEMA is supposed to house us, but we haven't heard from FEMA. We don't know if they're going to help us. We just don't know.
GRIFFIN: OK.
EVERETT: It's devastating. It's scary.
GRIFFIN: Tammy Everett, one of many flood victims now, wondering what's next along the Mississippi River.
Let's bring in meteorologist Chad Myers on what's happening right now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
GRIFFIN: Well, here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of big stories of the day. Today's question: Should the GOP reconsider their stand on raising taxes?
Carol Costello joins us with more colorful responses -- I'm sure, Carol -- to this "Talk Back" question.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not responses yet. I've got to do my rant first, Drew. And here it goes.
GRIFFIN: Oh, OK.
COSTELLO: Here it goes. President Obama did the unthinkable. He toppled Osama bin Laden. But can he slay the budget dragon?
Not without striking a deal with this guy, House Speaker John Boehner.
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REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: The mere threat of tax hikes creates more uncertainty for job creators and more uncertainty that results in less risk-taking and fewer jobs. So we're serious about balancing the budget and getting our economy back to creating jobs. Tax hikes should be off the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Many economists say tax hikes don't necessarily hurt jobs. History shows job creation depends on a variety of economic factors.
So why isn't there some wiggle room on raising taxes then? Could it be because of this --
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GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Read my lips: no new taxes.
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COSTELLO: Oh, that probably cost George H. W. Bush a second term, but that was then and this is now, as they say. A recent poll shows some 70 percent favor tax hikes on wealthy Americans to help cut the deficit, including a majority of Republicans.
Still, Speaker Boehner is talking tough. Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute calls it a risky strategy, appealing to GOP hard-liners, but making it harder to reach a deal with Democrats.
So, the "Talk Back" question today: Is it time for the GOP to blink when it comes to tax hikes?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll read your comments later this hour -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Carol, good rant. I can't wait now for those comical "Talk Backs."
COSTELLO: I knew it.
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Carol.
Well, here's a rundown of some of the stories we're covering over this next hour.
First, the president, in El Paso, Texas, talking about immigration reform.
Plus, an aid ship finally docks in Misrata, Libya, while a boat carrying 600 fleeing asylum seekers capsizes there.
Then, mapping the mighty Mississippi as it crests in Memphis.
We're also going to reexamine a court mandate in Connecticut that desegregates magnet schools.
And Google already has a reputation for rewarding its employees, but guys, you have never seen anything quite like this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you've got the arms.
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GRIFFIN: President Obama will be on the ground in El Paso in a couple of hours. There, he's going to turn his attention to immigration reform as he tries to reenergize the national debate.
The president wants to allow some sort of path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants who are already here. Republicans generally oppose that, and prospects for an election year bill passing Congress look pretty slim. The president's address from El Paso will be carried live here on CNN at 3:30 Eastern Time.
More now on this immigration debate. CNN Senior Latin American Affairs Editor Rafael Romo went to the border in Arizona for a look at what agents are facing every day in this battle.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: One of the things that you notice when you come near the fence here at the border is that you find rocks everywhere. Agents say that they are victims of attacks every day, and some rocks like this one can cause some real harm.
(voice-over): SUVs showed the signs of damage, and agents riding bicycles are especially at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see those medium-sized rocks to brick-sized rocks. They're pretty big. They're not your average- sized rocks.
ROMO: Many times rock throwing is a diversion. Agents recently confiscated 1,100 rounds of ammunition going south into Mexico, presumably to be used by a drug cartel. This manhole had to be welded shut because it was being used to smuggle marijuana.
AGENT MICHAEL DAMRON, U.S. BORDER PATROL: For a long time they couldn't see them with the cameras because we're in a low ravine here. So it took them a long time to figure out what they were doing.
ROMO: As night falls again in Nogales, there is a new arrest. She is an 18-year-old girl from the Mexican state of Veracruz. For her, it's the end of a 1,200-mile trip in search of a dream. For the agents, one of more than 300 arrests that they will make before the night is over.
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GRIFFIN: Rafael Romo is joining us live.
I had to laugh a little bit. I've been to that border many times. I've never seen the guys on bikes before. That's very interesting.
ROMO: Yes, it gives them mobility. A lot of times they face a situation where somebody is just running away, across, and on the other side of the fence, and it gives them a lot of mobility to get fast.
GRIFFIN: A lot of pressure has been put on this border. Arrests up, down?
ROMO: I was taking a look at the most recent numbers, and they're actually down. And if you go back to 2006, they were arresting more than a million people every year, just on the U.S./Mexico border alone. The most recent number for fiscal year 2010 was a little less than 450,000, so very sharply -- it's a 58 percent decrease from five years ago.
GRIFFIN: And why is that? Are people just not coming here? Is it the economy? It's not so attractive anymore?
ROMO: It's a combination of that. The economy had a big role to play back in 2008, and word got back to Mexico that it was very difficult to get a job. But also, the fact that they have increased the number of agents at the U.S./Mexico border.
In 2004, they had 11,000, and now they have 22,000. So it's doubled the number.
Also, they have increased capabilities in terms of equipment. They now have more infrared cameras that detect people in the dark.
And also, you have to take a look at bills in states like Arizona and Georgia, immigration bills that are definitely having a chilling effect in the United States. And also, people who would consider coming to the United States illegally are thinking twice about it.
GRIFFIN: Are they also thinking twice about the dangers, specifically on the Mexican side? You and -- we both have been covering a lot of that violence on the southern side of that border. Maybe immigrants think it's too dangerous to cross.
ROMO: Exactly, on both sides of the border, actually. On the Mexican side of the border, we see the increased presence of Mexican drug cartels. And if you go to states like Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, last year, in August, 72 migrants were found dead in a ranch there only 100 miles from the border.
If you go to the American side, every year hundreds of migrants die in the Arizona desert trying to get to destinations like Tucson or Phoenix. So there is danger everywhere.
GRIFFIN: All right. Rafael Romo, it's going to be interesting, this next political year, as we approach this immigration issue which has yet to be resolved.
ROMO: Absolutely.
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Rafael.
And you can watch President Obama's speech. We want to remind you, that's going to happen at 3:30 Eastern Time. He's in El Paso. We're going to carry it live, right here on CNN.
Hundreds of people trying to escape the civil war in Libya are missing, feared dead at sea. We're going to go live to Tripoli, next.
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GRIFFIN: Getting word NATO has unloaded new airstrikes on Libya's capital city today. Off the coast of Tripoli, though, a shipwreck tragedy that's involving hundreds of people who were trying to escape all that violence.
CNN's Nima Elbagir now live in Tripoli, where it's past 6:00 in the afternoon.
Nima, what do we know about this ship, the Abdi (ph), and 600, maybe 700 people on board?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we managed to speak with some survivors who have made their way back to safety at the Somali Embassy here in Tripoli, and they told me the boat's initial capacity was only 400 people. But the people were so desperate to board, that they forced their way on, pushing the capacity over by 350.
Seven hundred and fifty people were on that boat, Drew, and it was actually the captain, when the boat began to rock, who intentionally capsized it because he was worried that if they had gone into deeper waters, that the survival chances would have been even slimmer. At the moment, the toll of dead or missing that we're hearing is 54 Somalis. But we will update you if we get any more details.
One of the survivors I spoke to said that this was the second time that he's been on a boat that's capsized. But they say that they feel they're being failed by the international community.
Many of them have trekked through from refugee camps, some of them coming even through that front line where the Libyan government forces are engaging the rebels, because they say there is nothing for them in those camps, no help being provided. And he told me that he will make that journey again and again until he either dies or reaches a safe harbor -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Well, what a tragic and desperate situation. You're saying that the captain of the ship actually knowingly capsized this boat just so it would happen in shallower waters. That's almost unbelievable.
ELBAGIR: Well, it's actually the second such incident. There was one on the 26th of April in exactly the same kind of waters, Drew.
It seems that they just -- they can't stop all these people pouring on board, because so many people are just desperate to leave the situation. And most of the captains know that, you know, the deeper they go into those Mediterranean waters, the slimmer the chances of survival. So many of them, when things start getting out of control, just try and just throw their fates to the waters and hope that some people will make it to safety.
GRIFFIN: Let me ask you about this latest bombing. NATO says that they bombed some control and command spots somewhere in Libya, Tripoli, Gadhafi's -- not headquarters, but his command and control. Libya is saying -- or the Gadhafi regime is saying it was a hospital.
Have you been able to lay eyes on anything and determine what actually was hit?
ELBAGIR: Well, Libyan authorities told us that it was a hospital that was next to these administrative offices that were hit, and that shrapnel from the strike managed to pierce through into the hospital and injure four children. We didn't make it to the hospital, but we did go to the administrative offices that they were talking about.
Obviously, it's very difficult to verify what kind of a target it actually was, but it did -- it seemed to be like many of the buildings that are in downtown Tripoli. I mean, this was directly in the center of Tripoli, not too far from our hotel. We could actually hear a lot of that strike, a lot of the noise, yesterday evening.
What is interesting is that, actually, it's been pretty quiet here in Tripoli since the alleged killing of Saif al-Arab during that NATO strike. We've had a pretty quiet weekend. And even the weekend, which normally has been when strikes intensify, has been quiet.
And then, yesterday, we had these three hits of what NATO is calling command and control centers. And we spoke to a Libyan government spokesman immediately after that strike, and he seemed to be taking a little bit more of a conciliatory tone.
He told us that, "It's sad when our people, either side of the conflict, lose their lives." And he was saying that he's hoping that at least they can try and make their way through to reconciliation, peace, and some sort of dialogue after this -- Drew. GRIFFIN: All right. Nima Elbagir, thank you so much, joining us live from Tripoli, Libya. The great Mississippi here in the U.S. has flooded thousands of homes and businesses, and it's not over. We're going to tell you what it's doing to one town's economy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Ahead on our rundown, an in-depth look at how the flooding stretched from Illinois to Louisiana.
Plus, inside a Google workshop where the tech minds meet in one of the world's most creative companies.
And a Hollywood mega-power couple splitting after 25 years.
CNN "In Depth" now, the troubled waters. Casinos in Mississippi bring the state's economy millions of dollars a month. Now, because of flooding, they're bringing in nothing. Eight casinos, shut down in the town of Tunica.
CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's the main entrance into the lobby area for the casino hotel.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Harrah's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, is surrounded by almost eight feet of water. What used to be the valet drop-off now looks like a street in Venice. Harrah's and the other eight casinos in Tunica are expected to be closed for a month.
VALERIE MORRIS, HARRAH'S REGIONAL V.P.: Tunica County has $84 million of gross gaming revenue that's lost for the month of May, and what that equates to is about $10 million in taxes to the Tunica County and to the local taxes organizations here. So, it's a big hit.
ROWLANDS: State law required that when the casinos here were built, they had to be off shore. That means that the casinos themselves are actually floating on large barges, so they're dry, but they're dark and empty, which is bad for everyone living in Tunica.
GEORGE GOLDHOFF, GOLD STRIKE CASINO RESORT: We're not buying food. We're not buying beer. We're not sending our linen out to be laundered. And so, the effect is far more than just what we're experiencing here at the casino.
ROWLANDS: Ousmane Samba says business at his Exxon gas station and convenient store just down the street from Harrah's is way down. Normally, he says, the station makes more than $4,000 a day. Now, it's a few hundred. He says after more than 10 years, it's no longer open 24 hours a day.
OUSMANE SAMBA, GAS STATION MANAGER: We open now 6:00 to close at 10:00. And we're still dead. ROWLANDS (on camera): The Mississippi is expected to crest Tuesday or Wednesday. After that, the water levels will slowly go down. Some casino owners are hoping to open by the Memorial Day Weekend. For others, like Harrah's here, that have a parking lot full of water, it may take longer.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Tunica, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Want to show you what looks like right now live pictures above Memphis, Tennessee. You can see the homes there that are facing some sort of flooding as this cresting situation is just putting so much pressure on the levee system there.
But we are told that the levees are holding. We got that information just a short time ago from the commander for the Army Corps' Memphis district.
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COL. VERNIE REICHLING, COMMANDER, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, MEMPHIS: I think this is an historic flood. We haven't seen anything like this since 1937. But we, right now, have four million people living behind these levees, and they are performing as designed. And, you know, our number one priority is the safety of the public, and we'll continue to work with our local and state communities to make sure that happens.
GRIFFIN: And just real quickly, Commander, are you getting everything you need?
REICHLING: We're getting everything we need. And we are working very closely with everyone up and down the river to make sure this flood fight is successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: While the Mississippi is cresting now in Memphis, folks upriver are dealing with the aftermath.
In Illinois, floodwaters are now receding. People in Olive Branch are returning to destroyed homes, really. Take a look.
This woman found her home of 17 years. It's soaked. Her furniture is destroyed. She has got a 70-year-old husband, and she would not allow him to see this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHYLLIS FRY, FLOOD VICTIM: You're thinking, how in the world can you rebuild after something like this happens?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: The family does not have flood insurance. In Smithland, Kentucky, folks made their own levees to keep the Mississippi out of their living rooms. The river crested three days ago, but people, still keeping watch. This man has rebuilt a homemade levee three times now with sandbags and pumps.
And in Branson, Missouri, the federal and state emergency workers got their first tour of the town's flood damage there yesterday. Branson officials say it looks like about $700,000 worth of damage. That's not too bad. They are hoping to become eligible for a presidential disaster declaration.
Flooding has already affected thousands of people in eight states. Our Carl Azuz, taking an in-depth look at the floodwaters and how it stretches from Illinois to Louisiana.
And just all of it just kind of moving.
CARL AZUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Drew. I'm going to walk you from north to south, down the Mississippi River, to really show you how this is happening.
We're going to begin in southern Illinois, the city of Cairo. This is a good starting point to illustrate everything you've seen. Flooding, you see the city zooming in here. Flooding was threatening to wipe out the entire town of Cairo. So the Army Corps of Engineers came up with a plan to try to help Cairo and other communities nearby.
That now brings us to Missouri. What the Corps did was intentionally blow up a levee, a barrier designed to prevent flooding in Missouri. Doing this helped relieve some of the towns in Illinois, but it purposely flooded some parts of Missouri, some farms. Many people were angry with that. One farmer telling us she felt she was having to suffer for somebody else.
The flooding has followed the Mississippi's path down through Arkansas and into Louisiana. On Monday, engineers opened a spillway north of the city of New Orleans. The goal there was to help ease pressure on the river, hopefully lower the flood levels, keep the water away from New Orleans. We should know very soon if that works.
Just to give you an idea how much water we're talking about here, a commander with the Corps of Engineers said the water that's rushing through the Mississippi right now would fill a football field 44 feet deep in a second. And as a result of all of this, we're also seeing flooding in states that the Mississippi branches off to, like Tennessee.
GRIFFIN: Is this the worst we have seen?
AZUZ: In a way, I wish I could report this was as bad as it's ever gotten. But back in 1927, Drew, there was a situation of flooding on the Mississippi. There were 600,000 people displaced. There were more than 200 killed. It cost the equivalent of $624 million in damages. Still, knowing all that is small consolation for the thousands of people affected by these floods. GRIFFIN: yes, those folks there, live are looking at their homes in Memphis, Tennessee. Certainly going to be a lot of cleaning up to do. They can't even start, Carl, because water is still there. We'll just wait for it to flow out.
AZUZ: It's devastating.
GRIFFIN: Thanks. Appreciate it.
AZUZ: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: Still fighting over school desegregation. Soledad O'Brien spells it out for us. She's going to continue her series, "DON'T FAIL ME: EDUCATION IN AMERICA."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: We do have some breaking news. It involves train service between Boston and New York. The Amtrak line there disrupted. Police in New London, Connecticut, we are told, are investigating a suspicious package at the train station. Amtrak's spokesman, Cliff Cole, says that four trains are now stopped near that station. New London and Connecticut State Police investigating.
You know, this comes after the raid on bin Laden's home, and the information that Jeanne Meserve was able to report that a handwritten note talked about attacks or possible attacks in the works on train travel. So, we don't know if this is just a heightened attention or something real. We'll keep you up to date. But right now they're investigating a suspicious package in New London, Connecticut. The Amtrak service being disrupted, is what we're being told. We'll keep you posted on that.
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, as a matter of fact, a court mandate ended forcing desegregation. But some say it takes opportunities away from those who need them most. Soledad O'Brien has our "DON'T FAIL ME: EDUCATION IN AMERICA" report.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This side is tighter than this side, right?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pusha Persad (ph) is in 10th grade at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut. Her 12-year-old sister, Nicole, can't get in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's back on the waiting list.
O'BRIEN: At a school with 75 seats for 1,500 kids who apply. A state-run lottery picks who gets in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to pull it together.
The school run by CNN education contributor, Steve Perry, is recognized as one of the best schools in the nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't just have education. We have a pretty good school.
O'BRIEN: It's more than just competition. State law dictates that urban magnet schools like Capital Prep are at least 25 percent white, the result of a 1996 state Supreme Court ruling to desegregate schools.
TOM MURPHY, CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: The purpose of the magnate schools is to provide an integrated setting that brings suburban students into Hartford classrooms. The state is, in fact, building the building for free and providing state dollars to subsidize the operation of these schools in order to meet the state supreme court mandate of free and public education in a diverse setting.
O'BRIEN: Ninety-six percent of school kids in Hartford are a minority, in a community where people are desperate for good education.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: The majority of the students of color who don't have access to quality schools, they lose.
O'BRIEN: The Connecticut board of education warned Capital Prep it could lose its funding.
PERRY: The letter said, we're going to shut you down if you don't get enough white people.
O'BRIEN: Principal Perry hired a recruiter to target suburban white communities in places like Avon, where the local public schools outperform others across the state.
(on camera): Isn't it great to have diversity? Isn't it great to have 25 percent of the school, white kids, since you have 75 percent of the school black kids?
PERRY: Yes, I think that there's a lot to it. I don't think it's an issue of being right or wrong. It's more nuance than that, which wouldn't mean anything if they had other options.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): The Connecticut Board of Education concedes there's irony in threatening to pull funding for a top performing school.
MURPHY: Yes. There is a lot wrong with it which is why we're working with the school to help them meet the numbers and they really need to do that in order to keep their funding.
O'BRIEN: Pusha Persad is on a path to higher education. One hundred percent of Capital Prep graduate go on to a four-year college. Her mother is concerned her sister Nicole may not have the same chance.
Reporting for In America, Soledad O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN: Our CNN documentary, "DON'T FAIL ME: EDUCATION IN AMERICA," examines this crisis in public education and why America's financial future is at risk if our students can't excel in math and science. Don't miss the full report. Soledad O'Brien, premiering Sunday at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Huge news in the technology world. Microsoft is buying Skype. And Google kicked off its annual developer's conference in San Francisco. You know, Google has made significant changes lately as it tries to spur more innovation. One way they're trying to do it is through something called Google workshops. Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon got an exclusive television access.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a car and high- tech cameras affixed to the roof, Google pioneered the 360-degree street view. From the Golden Gate bridge to New York's Times Square to other landmarks here and overseas.
(on camera): Google Street View became such a popular feature on the site, but there was one small problem. You can't take a car everywhere. So, you're looking at the solution.
(voice-over): It's a jumbo tricycle designed to take you to those hard-to-get places. Daniel Ratner came up with the idea a couple years ago during a trip to Spain.
DANIEL RATNER, GOOGLE ENGINEER: Walking along cobblestone alleyways where it was so narrow cars couldn't even fit inside there, yet that was one of the coolest areas of the city.
SIMON: This innovative idea was created here, the Google Workshops. This is the first time a TV news organization has been given access.
GREG BUTTERFIELD, GOOGLE R&D LABS MANAGER: This isn't the stuff you're going to find in Home Depot.
SIMON: Top of the line machinery for wood, metal and electronics. Manager Greg Butterfield describes it as sort of a sandbox to test ideas. The company already known for its lavish perks, including round-the-clock gourmet food, is offering this one to anyone with the skills.
(on camera): Where does this rank up in terms of perks at Google?
BUTTERFIELD: I guess it depends on who you ask, right? But I think for a large population, I think this would be considered a core perk. This is something that typically a company doesn't offer.
SIMON (voice-over): But it's not for everyone. Workers need to be certified before they operate the machinery. Only 300 of 10,000 on campus have a pass. But once you're in, the materials are free. And come any time, even on weekends.
CHRIS ELLIOT, SOFTWARE ENGINEER: It's pretty much like being back in college working late into the night.
SIMON: Chris Elliot, a software engineer who works on smart phones, is experimenting with robotic toys.
ELLIOT: You have the arms, waist, for example, the disco points.
SIMON: He hopes one day they'll show up in a store. But it doesn't have to be about business. Employees are free to pursue personal projects, as well.
(on camera): Tell me the project you're working on here. What is it you're trying to make?
IHAB AWAB, SOFTWARE ENGINEER: So I'm making a recumbent bicycle. I enjoy recumbent bicycles.
SIMON: Ihab Awab is in here once a week taking a break from writing security software. A benefit where sparks can fly on the ground and by firing up creativity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Dan, I was cracking up. You on that bike looked like the guy who used to sell ice cream in my old neighborhood. That's pretty funny.
What are we supposed to get -- the consumers get what looks like a bunch of play time for Google employees?
SIMON: Well, you know what? It's a way for Google to spur innovation and try to get the most out of its employees. They can come up with ideas and just kind of go tinker in the sandbox, so to speak.
But Drew, I want to talk to you a little bit about this big deal with Microsoft and Skype. It's no coincidence that Google, having this big conference behind me, its big annual developers' conference that Microsoft would make this announcement they would take the attention off Google and put it on Microsoft.
In terms of what it could ultimately mean for consumers, it means that video chatting is going to become a much bigger deal. You know it was just a few years ago where it was sort of a novelty. Few people used it. And as the technology has gotten better, its usage base has grown. And Microsoft thinks it can improve upon that. It can embed it in a number of products, like Microsoft Office or its phones or its video gaming platform. So look for video chatting to become a much bigger deal in all of our lives, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Dan, real quickly, will it still be free? Anybody talking about charging for that?
SIMON: From what I understand, it's still going to be free. And what Microsoft, in terms of their long-term strategy, what they can do is they can take the software and embed it in a lot of its products, like Microsoft Office.
GRIFFIN: I see.
SIMON: It can become a feature in some of its software platforms.
GRIFFIN: All right, Dan, thanks a lot. Good reporting. Fun reporting. Riding that bike, selling that ice cream.
SIMON: You bet.
GRIFFIN: We'll see you in a little while.
Imagine if it took only three years to get a bachelor's degree. It's a new trend in America that's come out because of soaring tuition costs. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro the latest to join this movement. And Tom Foreman has our "Building Up America" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A bachelor's degree at the University of North Carolina Greensboro is a bargain. Just over $11,000 a year for in-state students. But a handful here are now even an even bigger break, working toward a degree in three years, not the usual four. And Elyssa Tucker, who wants to be a psychiatrist, is one of them.
FOREMAN (on camera): Were you more interested in the economic benefit or the shorter time in school?
ELYSSA TUCKER, STUDENT: For me, personally, it was more of the shorter time in school. Because I do want to go to med school, so really time is of the essence. I would rather get it done faster than kind of take my time and drag it out forever. For my parents, economically, they were like, yes, this is a gold mine. Do it. You're in this.
FOREMAN (voice-over): A small but growing number of schools are tackling soaring tuitions by offering a three-year option. And while some educators worry that it short circuits the college experience, proponents like Steve Roberson say hundreds of students here come from well below the poverty line.
STEVE ROBERSON, DEAN OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, UNCG: The notion of a college degree that -- its affordability is just extraordinarily frightening for most families.
FOREMAN: To join the plan, students must arrive with 12 hours of college level courses completed in high school or elsewhere. They must know their major and they must take on a heavy course load. But the savings?
ROBERSON: We estimate this will save students around $8,000.
FOREMAN (on camera): $8,000.
ROBERSON: Almost $8,000 who pursue -- which is about a fourth of a typical collegiate experience here.
FOREMAN (voice-over): It's tough work.
TUCKER: If you're not driven, this is not going to work for you.
FOREMAN: But for those who are, it can mean a fast track to even higher degrees, good jobs, and less debt along the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Guys I want to take -- take a look at this. On one side, fire threat. On the other side, we've got floods.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's really unbelievable.
GRIFFIN: Chad, this is really crazy.
MYERS: If you could just -- you could just spread this out a little bit. This is near Mayhill, New Mexico. This is the very, very first picture we've had. This is live. It may jump around a little bit. It may even drop out on us, we don't even know. But KRQE, our affiliate here from Albuquerque.
That was a structure.
GRIFFIN: That's a home, yes.
MYERS: That was a home. Mayhill was evacuated last night to save those lives. And they thought they had a lot of it under control, but the winds picked up. The winds in New Mexico were near 60 miles per hour yesterday. And when you get a wildfire here that really begins to blow.
Now this was right along U.S. 82 near Mayhill, New Mexico, and there's structure after structure.
GRIFFIN: Look at this. Wow.
MYERS: They are literally gone. And I can't tell whether that was an out building for a farm or whatever. That's a very long structure.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
MYERS: Even if there was a fire break there, it didn't help at all. And there you can just see zooming from one spot to another. I hope it doesn't make you dizzy. But this is just literally raw video coming in at the very, very last minute here. We're finally getting this video in.
We knew that there were fires out near Roswell, New Mexico. You may recognize Roswell from --
GRIFFIN: Yes. MYERS: You know, the alien reports.
GRIFFIN: Right. Right.
MYERS: But this is out -- and this is from my Albuquerque affiliate. And so if they can show us video from that helicopter, it's close enough for that helicopter to send a signal.
GRIFFIN: Beam back.
MYERS: So we're like, you know, we're within 50 miles of Albuquerque proper. And there was even some stuff up in the Roswell area yesterday that was completely out of control. This is 10 percent contained. They don't know how much better you get than that. When you get winds today, you're going to be, again, going to be 40, 50 miles per hour. When he smoke and fire here a little bit ago, but I don't see it.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
MYERS: Let's just shift this over here.
GRIFFIN: Yes, this is a good picture I was watching earlier.
MYERS: An absolute -- another live shot we're getting from our affiliate WMC. This is straight out of Memphis, Tennessee.
GRIFFIN: Riverside Drive.
MYERS: Riverside Drive. I would call that riverfront drive or maybe just river drive at this point in time. And then you'll see some of the bridges kind of -- that are going up toward Beale. There was supposed to be a fantastic party down here on Mud Island in the next couple --
GRIFFIN: Barbecue, right?
MYERS: Yes, exactly. You're not going to have anything there. Not going to have any barbecue there for many, many days, maybe even weeks, because it's going to take four days for this water to even go down a couple of inches.
This is a bubble. This is a plateau of water now that's going to be in the Mississippi River. It's going down toward Natchez, going down toward Vicksburg, going down toward Tunica. The pictures from came out of that package in Tunica were unbelievable.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
MYERS: They were driving through the city -- driving through the hotel area there and the water was -- it looked like Venice. It literally did. Did not look like a city. It looked like somewhere in Italy.
GRIFFIN: Great. Just a quick plug. The barbecue thing is going to go on somewhere else. MYERS: It is. It is. It's going to go on in a big stadium.
GRIFFIN: Right.
MYERS: But, you know, the guys that are on Beale Street, they don't like that because you can't just walk to their restaurant.
GRIFFIN: Chad, thanks.
MYERS: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answered to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, the very happy Gary Schatsky. He's the president of objectiveadvice.com. And the equally happy Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management.
Glad you guys are here and happy to help us answer some questions.
First up, Jackson in Denver, Colorado, writes, "I have some money sitting in a money market account. Most of it is emergency cash, but I have more than 12 months of savings. What is the best way to invest this excess cash on a relatively short term horizon of three to five years that will earn more than a money market, but not significantly risk the principle."
I don't know if anyone says they have extra cash, Gary.
GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: It's a beautiful place to be.
ELAM: :Nice.
SCHATSKY: Look, it's the classic dilemma we have in the current market where money markets are paying close to nothing. Look, one alternative, but you've got to do some searching, is look around for various banks that might be offering, get this, a higher multi-year CD that you can break. You can break into for a reasonable penalty. For instance, Ally Bank often has one where you only pay a 60 day penalty. So, in many cases I've bought five year CDs with every expectation I might tap into it. And if you tap into it early, you'll find the interest rate, rather than being a 10th of a percent, might, after the penalty, still be 2 or 2.5 percent. So you've got to be really creative in the current market. Obviously if he has credit card debt, man, would that be an awesome choice to turn 0.1 percent into saving 15 percent.
ELAM: Somehow I have a feeling that's a saver and he probably doesn't have that there in Denver, Colorado.
All right, next question. Frank in Wantagh, New York, writes, "I have many credit cards with no debt. Is my credit score affected by the amount I am able to spend? Should I cancel the big cards to reduce my spending or should I put them in a drawer?"
Answer, Ryan?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, again, your balance to your lending limit ratio is 30 percent of your FICO score. So canceling those big cards will actually decrease her FICO score.
Now, but this is the thing. She says she has many credit cards. So if she has a whole lot of credit cards, many individuals, even after they cut them up, might have so -- an affinity to spend. They'll memorize those credit cards and still be spending money online just because they have access to those cards.
ELAM: If you have the number memorized.
MACK: Exactly. So if you want to cancel your credit cards, cancel them one at a time, wait for six months, allow yourself to improve your FICO score, but cancel the newest one first. Fifteen percent of your FICO score is your length of credit history. So cancel the newest one first, wait six months, allow yourself to replenish and then do it until you can have at least six months of emergency funds saved up return (ph) of a line of credit for your credit cards. So have yourself a little bit of cushion in case of hard times.
ELAM: Yes, but if he can handle a card just being there in a drawer and not use them, more power to you.
MACK: Exactly.
ELAM: All right, well thank you so much, gentlemen.
And if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: It's a core issue for almost every election, but in today's economy, the war over taxes is getting a little more complicated. That brings us to today's "Talk Back" question and Carol Costello.
Hi, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Drew, I have the responses. The "Talk Back" question, is it time for the GOP to blink on tax hikes?
This from Richard. "Of course they should blink. It's ridiculous to think this is only a spending problem. It's a revenue problem as well. A majority of Americans understand a tax increase is necessary. Republicans need to start listening to them.
This from Alex. "Who is he kidding? What job creators? These 'job creators' are more aptly described as 'money hoarders.' The second they get a tax break, they stuff the extra cash in an overseas account and create jobs in a sweat shop in China."
This from Dayton.
GRIFFIN: Oh.
COSTELLO: I know. I particularly like the creativity of that one.
This from Dayton. "Well, Carol, we can tax until the cows come home, but if they keep spend, which is the real problem, it won't matter. They simply spend more than they take in. It ain't rocket science, it's financial irresponsibility."
And this from Elizabeth. "Every time there is an election, Republicans run ads that talk about Democrats being tax
