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Grand Jury Indicts John Edwards on Six Counts; The Underemployment Problem; 'Education Makeover'; 8th Grader Winds Spelling Bee; The Help Desk; Weiner Jokes; Talk Back Question
Aired June 03, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Want to get you up to speed.
Former presidential candidate John Edwards is due in federal court in two and a half hours. A grand jury, today, indicted Edwards on six criminal counts. Prosecutors contend Edwards used campaign donations to cover up an affair and pay his mistress.
Edwards' attorney says the money was not a campaign donation but a gift from two Edwards' supporters. Edwards will plead not guilty today because, he says, he did not break the law and plans to mount a vigorous defense.
Tribal fighters slam the presidential compound in Yemen with rocket-propelled grenades. A source tells CNN that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has a slight head injury but is going to address his country soon.
What began as a protest against the government last February appears to be turning into a civil war. There is heavy fighting on the streets of two major cities, Sanaa, the capital, and Taiz. Tribesmen have descended on Taiz to protect anti-government protesters from security forces. Tribesmen turned on Yemeni troops in late May when President Saleh backed out of a deal to step down.
The unemployment report for May is out today. It is ugly.
The Labor Department says the economy added just 54,000 jobs last month. Now, experts predicted that the May increase would be three times that number. The poor showing was enough to bump the overall unemployment rate up a notch to 9.1 percent.
The jobs report sent the Dow skidding for a third straight day. Investors, clearly worried about the economic recovery, that it may be sputtering. Right now the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by 60 points.
Another round of NATO bombs fell on Libya's capital early today. NATO says it hit military targets in Tripoli.
In Washington, House Republicans are voting on Libya today. One resolution demands the president end U.S. involvement in that operation. The other requests a written explanation of the costs and the goals of the mission. A U.N. representative is trying to check on the woman who says Libyan soldiers gang-raped her. Eman al-Obeidy fled Libya, you may recall, and was waiting for resettlement in Qatar, but Qatar deported her yesterday, back to Libya. Now, activists say that al-Obeidy arrived in Libya with a black eye and bruises on her legs. The U.N. refugee agency calls her forced return a violation of international law.
Former Bosnian Serb war commander Ratko Mladic made his first appearance before a war crimes tribal at The Hague today. He refused to enter a plea on charges that he ordered the massacre of thousands of Muslims during the Bosnian War. His demeanor was described as defiant and combative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RATKO MLADIC, GENOCIDE SUSPECT (through translator): I would like to receive what you've read out just now, these obnoxious charges leveled against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian died today in Detroit. Kevorkian helped more than 100 terminally ill people end their lives during the 1990s, earning him the nickname "Dr. Death." He went to prison in 1999 for eight years.
Kevorkian gave his last TV interview to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and it happened a year ago this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Any regrets about anything?
DR. JACK KEVORKIAN, ASSISTED SUICIDE ADVOCATE: No.
GUPTA: None?
KEVORKIAN: No. No.
The only regrets I have is I could have treated my parents better and my sisters better. You know, it's personal relationships. But anything else I've done, anything I've done publicly, especially since graduation, is all my doing. I take full blame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: More now on the indictment of former presidential candidate John Edwards.
Our CNN's Joe Johns has been reading through the indictment, and he joins us by phone. He is on his way to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Joe, give us a sense of the specific counts against Edwards. What is he being charged with?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's being charged with conspiracy to accept illegal campaign contributions, filing misleading campaign reports, and furtherance of that. He's also being accused of false statements.
In other words, not fully disclosing the fact that he had received something like almost a million dollars from a couple contributors to try to cover up his affair with this woman Rielle Hunter, who eventually had his child. And he's also being charged with false statements.
So, it's sort of a complete package filed by the United States government against John Edwards in a case that sort of sprang out of the 2008 presidential campaign when he's getting ready to run. And now he has to defend himself.
He has a very good attorney. It's been pretty clear for a while that Edwards was thinking about fighting it out in court, as opposed to making some type of a plea agreement that would have seen him essentially pleading guilty to a felony.
He didn't want to do that for a variety of reasons, we're told, especially because he's a lawyer and it would have affected his law license. So now he is getting ready to show up in court, and it sounds like we're on our way to a battle in North Carolina over whether or not this was legal.
There are a lot of legal observers who question whether John Edwards did, in fact, commit a crime here, or whether he simply received a gift from people who didn't want his wife, who was dying of cancer, to know that he had an affair and fathered a child outside of wedlock.
MALVEAUX: Joe, you're on your way there. Tell us a little bit about that. What do we expect from the defense there, from his attorney, Greg Craig?
I know they released a statement. He's going to make a court appearance. Can you kind of lay out the land for us, what we're going to expect here?
JOHNS: Well, I mean, what's pretty clear from Greg Craig's statement that he put out not long ago, that John Edwards is going to say he's innocent of the charges, that he didn't break the law. As I think you read there at the top, that he's going to mount a vigorous defense. And really, the mounting of that vigorous defense has already started just minutes after word came that there was an indictment.
I started receiving e-mails from the defense team laying out their case as to why they believe John Edwards did not commit a crime and, you know, essentially that he's entitled to receive gifts from friends if they want to give the money, as long as the intention was not to influence a federal election. And that's their position, it wasn't intended to influence the election, it was intended to keep quiet, the affair, from the wife of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, who, as everybody knows, died of cancer.
MALVEAUX: All right. Joe Johns, thank you. We'll be following the case, and obviously following his court appearance that's going to happen later this afternoon.
Thank you, Joe.
Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question: Was the auto bailout worth it?
Carol Costello, with that question and more.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's an interesting question.
President Obama will visit a Chrysler plant in Ohio today to tout his auto industry bailout, how it created jobs, it helped save our economy. He's also clearly testing the waters for 2012, when he will be asked again and again, what have you done for our economy?
Republicans are saying, get real, Mr. President. With the economy reeling, this is no time for a victory lap. GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney was never a fan of the auto bailout. In 2008, Romney wrote in "The New York Times," "Let Detroit go bankrupt."
What does Chrysler's CEO think of the naysayers now like Mitt Romney?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGIO MARCHIONNE, FIAT-CHRYSLER CEO: Whoever told you that is smoking illegal material. And the government stepped in as the actor of last resort. It had to do it because the consequences would have been just too large to deal with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: According to the Treasury Department, American taxpayers will lose about $14 billion from the bailout.
Yes, the deal did save Chrysler. Two years ago, Chrysler and General Motors were on the brink of collapse, and Ford was teetering on bankruptcy. Now the big three are profitable. But remember, Ford did not take a bailout, and it bounced back even faster than GM and Chrysler.
To be fair, the bailout did change the way cars were made and unions negotiated. And according to the Center for Automotive Research, it saved 1.5 million jobs.
But what about the rest of the country? The job market has stalled. With unemployment over 9 percent, Americans are still hurting.
So, the "Talk Back" question today: Was the auto bailout worth it?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
MALVEAUX: Here's a look at what's ahead on this hour "On the Rundown."
The Casey Anthony trial. Jurors hear audiotapes of her interrogation.
And working part time, but not because they want to. It's like the -- what it's like to be underemployed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every day I do my bills it's just like, oh! When you really look at it all, it's just -- oh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The Dow Jones down again. A check of the markets real quick.
And helping a child who is struggling in school, it can be a struggle for a divorced parent.
Finally, we are covering this year's best speller, and she joins us in the NEWSROOM, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Getting the U.S. economy humming again will take a lot more job creation than what we are actually seeing right now. The May jobs report is out. It is not good.
Just 54,000 jobs were created last month. And the unemployment rate inched up to 9.1 percent now. There's also a big problem with underemployment.
Poppy Harlow is with us from New York.
And Poppy, tell us what it means to be underemployed.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Sure. And this is something that I think every month when we get the jobs report, Suzanne, doesn't get enough attention, because millions of Americans are facing it.
It's if you work 34 hours a week or less. A lot of people out there work much less than that. They would like to work full time or more than full time to make enough to support their family and have the lifestyle they used to have. That's not the case, and it's not the case for millions of Americans.
Just look at these numbers. I think it's pretty astounding. We just got these numbers.
If you dig deep into the jobs report from this morning -- I think we can pull them up for you, but if you look at underemployed Americans -- there you go -- 8.3 million Americans underemployed, don't have as much work as they want. Unemployed Americans, almost 14 million.
Add them together, you've got more than 22 million Americans -- 22 million in this position. That's about 14.5 percent of the labor force, Suzanne. And these are people that have college degrees.
They've worked, you know, high up in companies. And I'm going to play you some sound from a number of people we talked to here at CNN Money that have been in the workforce, one woman more than 30 years. She was president of a company, and now she is struggling to get enough work to get by.
Take a listen to what four different people have to say about their underemployed situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The day I do my bills, it's just like, oh! When you really look at it all, it's just -- oh. You know, not where you want it to be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This week, I picked up two days -- two days of work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My next line (ph) is not getting back to me. And it could be, like, three weeks, it could be a month. And then what do you do with yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just always try to find other work, even if it's work that's not at the rate that I would normally work at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thing that comforts me when I'm worried or upset about where my next meal is coming, there's a lot of us in the same boat. A lot of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And that's Henry. He's exactly right. There are so many people in this boat. Those are just four of the more than eight million Americans going through this.
And the question, Suzanne, is why are they going through this? Well, companies have learned how to operate so much more leanly. They have temp workers many times more than full-time workers. It costs them less. And that's just unfortunately the new reality.
And you sort of have this tale of two Americas. You have corporate America doing very well, turning very strong profits, and you have people like this with degrees, with solid work backgrounds, that cannot find enough work -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: And it's so unfortunate. And you look at those unemployment numbers today, what is the outlook for those who are underemployed when they see how many people are now out of work?
HARLOW: It's not good. The situation for those underemployed didn't get any better from month to month.
I talked to an economist who said if we are, indeed, going into this slowdown, this economic slowdown, possibly, if we're going into a double dip, the outlook for these underemployed people is even worse, because they're not working full time at a fast clip, they're not at that skill level that many other people are. Also, you have to think about the long-term unemployed, which is another couple million Americans.
It is harder for you to find a job in this country the longer you're out of work. And that is sort of the horrible catch 22 of the employment situation.
If you have been out of work for six months, a year, two years for some people, it's going to be that much harder for you to find a job. So the outlook is not good.
This jobs report was so much worse than expected, only 54,000 jobs added. The past few months were revised even lower in terms of the jobs we thought we added. So a very bad outlook, something I think we're all waiting to hear from President Obama on today, when he speaks in Ohio -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll be listening. Thank you very much, Poppy. Appreciate it.
Well, a ninth grader is coming close to failing, and his divorced parents, they don't know what to do. Hear Principal Perry's solution to this family's crisis. It is an "Education Makeover." That is up next.
And on the other end of the spectrum, an eighth grader wins the National Spelling Bee. We're going to talk with the Pennsylvania teen in about 20 minutes or so.
But first, a quiz. Out of 275 contestants, how many have at least one relative who competed in prior National Spelling Bee finals?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Two hundred seventy-five contestants competed in this year's National Spelling Bee. They crowned a winner last night.
Well, how many of those spellers had a relative who competed in past spelling finals? The answer? Twenty-four. Apparently, spelling skills run in the family.
Well, it is hard to be a parent, but it's even harder if you're divorced and sharing the responsibility between two households. And that is where CNN educator contributor Principal Steve Perry steps in for an "Education Makeover."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LATONYA WINTERSTREET, PARENT: Guys, come on. It is almost 10:00 at night and we are eating dinner.
My name is LaTonya Winterstreet (ph). I have three sons. I share custody of my son with my ex-husband, Malek. He's remarried and he has four additional children, two dogs, and a whole lot of stuff going on. And I'm remarried, and I have my husband, and I also have two additional children that come along with our union that we made.
I'll be honest, I'm struggling with how to put in a better structure to benefit them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If one of my parents ask me do I have homework or something, I'll say no so they don't keep asking me about it. And I'll tell myself I'll do it later, and then I keep putting it off.
MALEK BUFORD, PARENT: Today he skipped class. And because I know him, I don't know if it's the force driving me or whatever, but I walked into the school, and my Jedi powers located him. There he was, with that look on his face like, I'm caught.
How do you know she didn't give you a test today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't.
BUFORD: How do you know she didn't give you a test today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't.
WINTERSTREET: So, had you been able to be there in the beginning more often --
BUFORD: But you keep saying that. It's like you're punishing me today about it.
WINTERSTREET: No, I'm not --
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I just sat down and talked to Jacob, and Jacob did not tell me he had these grades. I'm looking at three Fs, a C minus.
BUFORD: Is he in danger of failing ninth grade? It's up in the air.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Steve Perry joins us now.
Steve, this special is called "Education Makeover," but you can almost call it an intervention. I mean, it seems to me like the biggest challenge for a lot of divorced parents when it comes to raising kids is the communication. I mean, how do you do that? How do you actually get two families and parents who are divorced to talk to each other and figure out what's -- you know, how they can help their kid here?
PERRY: Suzanne, when I walked in the house, I thought the same thing. One of the biggest challenges of being a principal is not having access to some of the root of the problem, which is what happens at the home.
And in this particular case, we have two adults who spent most of their adult life together making a wonderful life for themselves, traveling the world, living in Africa, as well as the Middle East, and then they came back and got divorced. It's not the divorce itself that's the problem, it's the discord that came after, that the inability to communicate. And divorce has a different impact on different children.
And they have two children, two biological children, who are doing just fine. Don't like the discord, don't like the inability to communicate, but then there's one child who, when I met them, I only had one month to work with the family to get them to communicate in such a way so this child could make it out of the ninth grade. A big hurdle for most families, getting children out of the ninth grade.
MALVEAUX: And do you think that they're going to be able to actually go ahead and get their kid back from the right track? Who do you think is mostly responsible for this? Is it the kid? Is it the parents? Or everybody?
PERRY: It's both. From the parents' perspective, they've got to cut it out. They really have to put the children first, and they have to decide how they're going to work together, because these two parents have since remarried, as you heard, and now they have between them an additional six children to add to the three children that they created together.
It's a complicated situation. And that's what we do.
What you'll see on Saturday, at 2:30, is you'll see how we took the family from where we met them to a very surprising place. When I went back for the second visit, Suzanne, I was shocked. I honestly -- when I left the first one, I was exhausted. When I left the second time, I was blown away.
MALVEAUX: Wow. Well, we can hardly wait to see this.
We are going to watch. CNN educator contributor, Principal Steve Perry, attempts to help one teen who is failing ninth grade. He mentioned the special. We're going to mention it again. "Education Makeover" airs tomorrow at 2:30 Eastern.
Computers are hard to come by in many poor communities, and that's creating a so-called digital divide. It's leaving many people without the skills to survive in the 21st century job market. But there is a new program that may help close that gap.
Randi Kaye has the story in today's "What Matters." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Bradley (ph) is an eighth grader with a vision.
CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY (ph), STUDENT: I want to become an architect.
KAYE: But not every student at this Atlanta school has the resources they need to succeed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of our students do not have access to computers. If they do have computers, they may not have access to the Internet at home.
KAYE: This year, however, students got some much-needed help -- their own personal computer -- thanks to a new program called Learning Without Walls.
JULIS HOLLIS, ALLIANCE FOR DIGITAL EQUALITY: The Learning Without Walls program was really developed as a pilot project to ensure equal and affordable access to underserved communities.
KAYE: One thousand laptops with wireless cards have been distributed in the past two years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we've got 3 and 9 (ph). It goes in 18 how many times?
KAYE: Directors say students in the program have increased their standardized test scores by an average of 30 percent. The technology is helping students inside the classroom, but also preparing them for life outside of it.
Christopher's family sees the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does everything on his own. He rarely needs assistance. He can tell me things about the computer I don't know. So it's been very beneficial.
KAYE: And the entire community may also see the benefits.
HOLLIS: As families become more digitally literate, they will improve their economic status.
KAYE: Learning Without Walls may soon expand nationally so that other students like Christopher can get the tools to survive in a digital world.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Casey Anthony's own words used against her at her murder trial. Prosecutors played jailhouse tapes to paint the young mother as a liar, schemer and baby killer. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here's a quick rundown of some of the stories we're working on.
Next, the Casey Anthony murder trial. The jury hears jailhouse recordings.
Also, this year's National Spelling Bee winner, Sukanya Roy, she is going to be joining us.
And first it was LinkedIn. Now Groupon is going public. Are we looking at another possible tech boom?
A ninth day of testimony is under way in the trial of Casey Anthony, the mother charged with the murder of her 2-year-old daughter. The jury is hearing recordings from jail visits between Casey Anthony and her parents.
Now, yesterday, jurors heard tapes of detectives accusing Anthony of lying about daughter Caylee's disappearance.
Our CNN's Christine Romans has a quick recap.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shocking evidence on day eight of the Casey Anthony murder trial. Jurors heard from Casey Anthony in her own words, not from the stand, but from audiotapes of detectives aggressively interrogating Casey after her daughter was reported missing.
CASEY ANTHONY, DEFENDANT: I have not seen my daughter. The last time that I saw her was on the 9th of June.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what happened to Caylee?
ANTHONY: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure you do. You need to listen.
ANTHONY: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something happened to Caylee. And the longer this goes, the worse it's going to be for everyone. Everyone. The worse it's going to be for everyone. Right now, everything you've told us, we've locked you into a lie.
ROMANS: And Casey's web of lies were fully shown to the jury in jailhouse visits that the defense fought to suppress.
Remember, the defense is claiming that Caylee was never missing, but that Casey knew her daughter accidentally drowned.
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S MOTHER: Dad's blowing up at the media. CASEY ANTHONY: Yes, I heard.
ROMANS: -- accidentally drowned.
CASEY ANTHONY, DEFENDANT: Dad has blown up at the media.
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANOTHONY'S MOTHER: Yes, I heard.
CASEY ANTHONY: Someone just said that Caylee was dead this morning, that she drowned in the pool. That's the newest story out there.
CINDY ANTHONY: Surprise, surprise.
ROMANS: The defense says Casey Anthony and her father panicked and kept Caylee's accidental death a secret. George Anthony has denied that claim.
Throughout the week, the prosecution showed Casey's family trying to figure out just what happened to 2-year-old Caylee. And the emotional toll it has taken. Casey's mom Cindy took the stand on Tuesday and broke down when she heard her own 911 call to police.
CINDY ANTHONY, DEFENDANT'S MOTHER: There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today and it smells like there's been a dead body in the dam car.
ROMANS: Family against family as Casey's brother Lee testified on Wednesday about his frustration with Casey's behavior.
LEE ANTHONY, DEFENDANT'S BROTHER: Nothing was making sense to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's not making sense to you?
L. ANTHONY: Why couldn't we or anybody just go get Caylee and bring her home? There's no reason to fight with, you know, mom at this point.
ROMANS: The trial continues today. Casey Anthony charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler Caylee. She has pled not guilty, but if convicted, she could be sentenced to death.
Christine Romans, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Lot of developments in the trial this week. And joining us to help sort it out, put it into perspective, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Holly Hughes. Holly, it was another very impactful day in the courtroom. It really -- quite incredible when you take a look at all these recordings we are seeing here and the reaction from Casey.
But first of all, tell us about today. We saw some tapes of the parents, she was talking to the parents, from jail. What did it reveal about their relationship? She talked about being emotional, upset, reading the Bible and let's all get together and figure this out.
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Wow. Suzanne, these are what we call power-packed tapes. Now remember, what the jury is looking at, they're not just hearing the words spoken between George and Cindy, the parents, and Casey, the defendant daughter. What they are watching is the interaction. They're listening, watching the attitude. How do these people interact? What's the dynamic? Like, I can come on and say to you I love your dress or I can say, I love your dress. It means two completely different things, exact same words. So, what the jury is getting is an insight. They're getting a bird's eye view into the mind of Casey Anthony.
And what we are finding out, what we are hearing is she is an incredible liar. She knows that these jailhouse tapes are going to be released to the media. They actually discuss that, Suzanne, right on the tape. Oh, if we say bad things about the sheriff's office, maybe they won't release the tape, ha, ha, ha. And it's a big joke.
But what we see is that really, really hurts the defense today, when Cindy says yes, the media is reporting that Caylee drown in a swimming pool. What does Casey do? She kind of scoffs. Surprise, surprise.
Now, today, three years later, they're claiming that that's what happened. If that's truly what happened, and you are the mother of a drowned two-year-old, wouldn't you have a different reaction? Wouldn't you say, like, oh my gosh, why would they say that? That's not true. You would panic, you think there was a witness. Was a neighbor looking over the fence when the baby's body was taken out of the pool?
So, you're finding out number one, Casey is very adept at lying. You know, when she says things like, oh, I'm reading the Bible. Well, it's not helping because the Bible says thou shall not lie. And when she asks over and over, what else can I do, what else can I do? Tell the truth.
MALVEAUX: Let me ask you this. There was another tape as well, which we saw, the investigators. And they were really pounding her. You know, you're lying, you're lying, now tell the truth. Tell the truth.
Is that going to play well for the jurors? They might look at that and say you're really badgering this woman here, and she's trying to explain her story.
HUGHES: Right. I got to tell you as a former prosecutor, this is not badgering. I thought that Detective Melitch, who is the lead detective, we saw him testify yesterday -- I thought he was actually very gentle with her. And of course once you are -- they're trying to save a two-year-old's life.
So bear in mind, I don't think the jury will hold it against her because the overriding concern and what Detective Melitch said over and over is I'm trying to save your daughter. So, when you lie to me and say you a job you don't have, how does that help me find your daughter? And he asked her that question over and over. When you tell me that a nanny took her and nobody knows the nanny, how does that help me find your daughter? Your daughter is my number one concern. And clearly, Casey's not getting it because she continues to lie.
MALVEAUX: OK. Holly Hughes, thank you for putting it into perspective. Obviously, it's a case that everybody -- so many people are watching right now. Lots of twists and turns.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Holly.
HUGHES: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Watch special all-day coverage of the Casey Anthony trial on our sister network, HLN.
Wall Street reacts to a troubling new jobs report. We're going to go live to the New York Stock Exchange for the latest numbers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: A big disappointment on the economic front. The U.S. economy added just 54,000 jobs last month. That is far fewer than people expected, and the jobless rate inched up to 9.1 percent now.
Alison Kosik is with us from the New York Stock Exchange . And Alison, tell us how are the market reacting to this bad news?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, immediately, right out of the gate at the opening bell, Suzanne, we saw markets really tank. They've cut their losses. The Dow right now down only about 50 points. But overall, you know what the markets seem to be headed for the fifth straight weekly loss and these lousy numbers and jobs report are adding to those worries that the economic recovery has now hit the pause button.
We found out today that the economy added just 54,000 jobs last month, well below the gains of 232,000 we got the month before. The unemployment rate, by the way, ticked up to 9.1 percent.
But you really have to look at the real issue. It's the number of jobs that are out there. With 14 million people out there looking for work and not finding jobs, that's really the crux of the problem here. Still, though, even with these dismal numbers that we got, that they showed that the economy is really hitting this slump, many are saying we're not headed for a double-dip recession. A report that represents 80 percent of the economy on business activity from everything from hotels to restaurants and retailers, we found out today that it moved higher. So, the service sector and overall economy is still growing, Suzanne. It's just at a real anemic rate.
MALVEAUX: And Alison we're hearing buzz about Groupon going public. We know it was LinkedIn last month. Do we think this is perhaps the start of another tech boom?
KOSIK: You know, I don't think it's really close to the '90s boom we saw, but these hot Internet- based businesses, they're definitely a growing industry. And for those of you who don't know what Groupon is, what Groupon does is it partners with businesses to offer discounts to its members on local products and services. And what Groupon does is it gets a significant cut of those proceeds.
Now, what happened is Groupon filed to go public. It's the Web site, of course, that offers these deals you can purchase. It expects to raise $750 million out of this initial public offering, and if it does, it would be bigger than LinkedIn's IPO. What's interesting, we get our first look into Groupon's financials because they went ahead and filed this paper work. And really, the company tells of a real tale of extremes. It's had huge sales, huge losses. Groupon is selling a lot, but I'll tell you what, it's spending big-time on marketing, but it's not bringing in enough money. It's actually losing money.
So, this will be an interesting one to watch. Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Alison Kosik, thank you very much. Have a good weekend.
Ever win a spelling bee back in the day? Well, this smart young lady, she knows what it feels like. I'm going to talk to the new champion live next hour. I'm going to hear the way she actually prepared to win.
But first, what's the favorite school subject for most of the spellers? The answer, that could surprise you.
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MALVEAUX: So what was the favorite subject in school for most of the spellers who competed in this year's National Spelling Bee? The answer -- it's kind of counterintuitive when you look at it, it's math. Actually not English but math.
Well, an eighth grader from Pennsylvania won the National Spelling Bee last night. Watch as she spelled the winning word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUKANYA ROY, NATIONAL SPELLING BEE CHAMPION: C-y-m-o-t-r-i-c-h- o-u-s.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: That is so awesome! Spelling champion Sukanya Roy joining us from Washington. Sukanya, I was up last night watching this. I was so excited about this. You went from 20th to like, number 1! I mean, that was really incredible. How did you feel?
ROY: Just amazing. It was, like, hard to put it into words. I just couldn't believe it. I think for the first few minutes, I was in shock.
MALVEAUX: Tell us what that word -- what does that word mean? I've never even heard of that word. What is that?
ROY: Cymotrichous, and it means having wavy hair.
MALVEAUX: Wavy - oh, I didn't know there was a name for my hair and your hair. Now I know. There's an official word for it.
ROY: Yes.
MALVEAUX: How did you prep for this? What did you do?
ROY: Well, a lot of different things. I did go through the dictionary a couple of times.
MALVEAUX: Really, cover to cover?
ROY: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Wow.
ROY: I also kind of -- it's not just rote memorization. I also studied language patterns to help piece words together by their roots because understanding those really helps.
MALVEAUX: And when did you become interested in spelling? How did all of this start?
ROY: I think my first spelling bee was in elementary school and it was just a community bee.
MALVEAUX: And I noticed last night what was really cool about watching you guys is that you were all high fiving, giving each other fist bumps to each other. It seemed like you really were having fun. That you'd become kind of a close bunch. Is that true?
ROY: Yes, we are. It's like, in spelling bees, like in some competitions, it's like people are against each other. But in spelling bees, how someone else does doesn't affect you. So it's like, we're all against the dictionary and the words. MALVEAUX: That's pretty cool.
ROY: So, yes, we're all pretty good friends.
MALVEAUX: That's nice. And how did you get ready? Were you nervous? Because when I saw you, you looked cool as a cumber.
ROY: Thank you. I was kind of nervous right before I went up to the microphone because I had no idea what my word was going to be and I just wanted to get one that I knew or could piece together. But as soon as I heard my word, a lot of the nervousness would go away.
MALVEAUX: That's great. And I know that you don't just spell, you like to rock climb, you ice skate, you play the piano.
ROY: Yes.
MALVEAUX: How are you going to celebrate with this $40,000 that you now walk away with?
ROY: Oh, my gosh, I haven't even started to think about it yet. I mean I guess some of it's going into my college fund, but some of it I'll just get myself.
MALVEAUX: All right. Well, again, congratulations. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're hard working. You deserve all of it. So, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to you.
ROY: Thanks for having me. Thank you.
MALVEAUX: OK.
Well, he caught some ribbing about his last name, and now with a lewd photo showing up on his Twitter account, Congressman Anthony Weiner is a prime target now for jokes. Our Jeanne Moos on that story.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Manisha Thakor is a personal finance author and Doug Flynn is a certified financial planner and founder of Flynn Zito.
Guys, let's get right to Kathy in South Haven, Mississippi. She asks, "can a mortgage company or bank holding your house loan get money out of your savings or checking account if they foreclose on you?
Manisha.
MANISHA THAKOR, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Oh, a painful question. And there's not a clear-cut simple answer in the sense that what we're talking about here is not wage garnishment but bank garnishment. Rules vary from state to state. It depends on the scenario. A lot of people think if their house is foreclosed on, then there's no other obligation. Depending on the nuances around it, you might be liable for the difference between what the home was able to sell for and your mortgage. So you definitely want to be talking to your lender if you're in this situation and find out, perhaps, could you arrange a short sale at this stage instead.
ULRICH: All right. Good luck with that, please.
And Wayne in Bella Vista, Arkansas, asks us, "does a charitable gift annuity make sense for someone with a modest income?"
Doug, shed some light on this one.
DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: I typically don't see it for people in a modest income because what you're saying is, I want to take a chunk of money that I will never have access to the principle again, put it away. I can get income off of it. And then when I die, the charity will get that money and I get a tax deduction.
If you're in a modest income, those aren't typically the people that would do that versus just making an outright gift to the charity where they could use the money right now. We do see it with higher income because of the tax benefit that you do get. It can be done if you need an income, but it's not a common thing, I would say, with a modest income.
ULRICH: All right, great advice, guys, thank you so much.
Now, do you have a question that you want us to answer? Well, send us an e-mail any time to the cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.
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MALVEAUX: Well, he's lived with Weiner for a list name, and now he's getting a lot of attention for a lewd photo posted on his Twitter account. There is no mercy at all for Congressman Anthony Weiner from the New York tabloids. And he's also the target central for comedians and TV hosts. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, ABC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over Memorial Day weekend, we went from toasting wieners to roasting Congressman Weiner.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, "THE VIEW": Weinergate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The answers to him are unweiner-like.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weiner is in a bit of hot water.
MOOS: Leaving those of us in the media searching for the right words to mention the unmentionable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bulging underwear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bulging underpants.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN: And sending a picture -- an aroused -- anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, yes, it might have been my area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His below the waist area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It may or may not be his package.
MOOS: And what's being delivered often comes in puns from front pages meant to tickle, to editorials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Weiner is cooked.
STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Is this or is this not Representative Weiner's chief of staff?
MOOS: As "New York Times" reporter John Schwartz tweeted, "all the bad Weiner puns show that America is, emotionally, a sixth grader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The long and short of it is over the weekend you discovered --
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: You didn't just introduce that by saying the long and the short of it, did you, Earl (ph)?
MOOS: Congressman Weiner is even punning himself.
WEINER: One of the reason why I was perhaps, if you'll forgive me, a little bit stiff yesterday --
MOOS: Everything's starting to look Weiner like. There are Weiner cartoons. Isn't that Anthony Weiner in the ballet tights? The news is coming across as comedy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you guys know what your drawers look like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know what --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know what I look like in my drawers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a fact. I can tell you, I could identify my pelvis in a lineup.
MOOS: Some can identify with Anthony Weiner.
MOOS (on camera): So the guy behind the camera -- Jamie, what's your last name?
JAMIE WIENER, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Wiener.
MOOS: Give me the camera. Just give it to me. All right.
Talk to me about being a Wiener.
WIENER: Well, you know, being a Wiener is not that bad.
MOOS: Actually, we both know a little bit about being called Wiener.
MOOS (voice-over): Look what my high school nickname was, inscribed even in my yearbook "wiener."
MOOS (on camera): Because I was so tall and skinny. But no one has -- just watch where you point that thing.
OSCAR MEYER COMMERCIAL: Oh, I'd love to be an Oscar Meyer wiener.
MOOS (voice-over): Anyone named Weiner has a love/hate relationship with that song.
OSCAR MEYER COMMERCIAL: Oh, I'm glad I'm not an Oscar Meyer wiener.
MOOS: These days, Anthony Weiner probably wishes he wasn't one. Even old friends are making jokes.
JON STEWART, "THE DALY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": In real life my memory is this cat had a lot more Anthony and a lot less Weiner. This is not --
MOOS: For comedians, it's like shooting fish in the barrel of their pants.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Today's "Talk Back" question, was the auto bailout worth it? David says, "yes. If it didn't happen, unemployment would be 20 percent or more and wouldn't the GOP love that." More of your responses up ahead.
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MALVEAUX: President Obama is in Ohio today at a Chrysler plant. He'll be speaking in the next hour about the auto bailout, which brings us to our "Talk Back" question and Carol Costello with the responses.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he'll be bragging about the auto bailout in light of this terrible jobs report that came out. He says, you know, if not for the bailout, could have been worse. We'll see what he says. But the "Talk Back" question today, was the auto bailout worth it?
This from Bill. "President Obama couldn't watch what industry this country has left go down the tubes. Jobs were saved and probably saved other businesses associated with the auto industry." This from Rob. "It should have been allowed to go bankrupt. Market forces would have filled the void created and we could have gone a new way. All the bailout did was keep rich people rich."
It's loud in this studio today, isn't it?
MALVEAUX: It is.
COSTELLO: What are you guys doing over there?
MALVEAUX: It is, Carol. It's a little --
COSTELLO: It's Randi Kaye. Look at her. It wasn't me. It was not me. I saw you, Randi. She's going to be up in two minutes, so I have to hurry.
MALVEAUX: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, this from Rob. Oh, I already read Rob.
This from Michelle. "Absolutely. Saving jobs was the priority and at least the auto industry held up their side of the bargain. Not so with the banking industry. Huge bonuses and parties are their priorities."
And this from Stan. "It was certainly worth it. It saved jobs which would have cost the American taxpayer more. I mean we lost $14 billion, right, but that was worth it in light of all the manufacturing jobs that it actually saved."
Facebook.com/carolcnn. Please keep the conversation going. And thanks, as always, for your comments. We enjoyed them.
MALVEAUX: And, Carol, great to have you in Atlanta. It's been such a pleasure. I know you've got to go back to Washington, but --
COSTELLO: Yes, I'm going -- well, I'm going on vacation next week, but I'll be back in Washington after that. But I've loved being in Atlanta these past three or four months. It's been great.
MALVEAUX: Yes.
COSTELLO: Kyra Phillips will be back.
MALVEAUX: Yes. That will be great, too.
COSTELLO: At 9:00 a.m. through 11:00 a.m. Eastern. So -- but it's been great anchoring those hours and, you know, the viewers are just great. I've enjoyed talking to you while I was on the air.
MALVEAUX: Yes, been a lot of (INAUDIBLE).
We'll see you out of Washington. Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. MALVEAUX: We were about to air Thursday's "Choose The News" winner, but it got bumped by breaking news. That sometimes happens around here. So I want to give you a quick look of that winning story. A Marine Corps veteran in Texas is fighting his homeowners association for the right to fly the American flag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MEROLA, U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN: I served eight years for every American to be able to fly the American flag. I can fight for that flag, but I can't fly it?
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MALVEAUX: The HOA, homeowners association, allows six foot flag poles off the front of the house. But Michael Merola's flagpole is 20 feet tall and in the backyard. He's been fined thousands of dollars for it. Merola got Texas legislatures to pass a law allowing him to fly old glory. It is just waiting for the governor's signature.
CNN reached out to the Bridgelane (ph) subdivision homeowners association for comment.
