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Jobless Rate Fell; American Tourists Kidnapped in Egypt; Israel May Hit Iran Soon; Romney Slams Florida Delegate Challenge; Obama to Unveil Veterans' Jobs Plan; Stocks Jump After Jobs Report; Risk Management's Surge on Campus; Former Intern Sues for Minimum Wage; Super Bowl Sunday
Aired February 03, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. We'll see you then.
Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips. We have a number of stories developing on this busy morning but we begin with your pocketbook.
Just minutes ago we learned that the jobless rate has fallen to 8.3 percent. That's a pretty big surprise considering some economists had actually expected it to tick up slightly.
Let's get some perspective from Christine Romans in New York.
So, Christine, you've been going through the numbers. What have you learned about the -- how this -- how this number has gone down slightly?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, the economy grew in January, and it grew jobs. And it grew jobs, more jobs than anyone really thought. 243,000 jobs were created in January. And the jobs growth, Fredricka, was pretty widespread. In professional and business services, about 70,000 jobs created. Leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, health care again.
But even manufacturing and health care jobs, those have been two bright spots the past couple of months. Health care for maybe the past year or something.
One thing that's interesting about these numbers is 243,000 jobs. We've had a hard time having jobs growth like this and sustaining it. There was also more jobs created at the end of last year than we thought as well. So it shows you that employers are becoming more confident. They're starting to hire workers and they're now hiring enough people to absorb all the new entrants into the labor market.
So before for a long time we were creating jobs but it wasn't enough to even bring in -- you know, absorb people who are coming out of college and people who are coming to this country. Now finally we're digging into that big, that big, big hole that we created during the big great recession for jobs loss. So this is -- this is a good report. I'll tell you, this is -- this is a good report. WHITFIELD: OK. And also some encouraging news as it pertains to breaking down the demographics of those who have been unemployed. African-Americans have unfortunately had the highest rate of unemployment, but apparently with these numbers comes a drop as it pertains to African-Americans out of work as well?
ROMANS: Look, it's been a recession for the African-American community when you just look at these jobs numbers in general for way longer than we had a recession, quite frankly. Those numbers have been double-digit and that's been -- that's been a very difficult situation, but last month in December you had 15.8 percent unemployment rate for blacks. This time it's 13.6. So a drop here on paper for the African-American unemployment rate.
Latinos was closer to steady, about 10.5 percent is the jobless rate. That compares to about 7.4 percent for whites. So you can see there are some big differences within these numbers. What we want to see is when jobs are created and the unemployment rate ticks down, that jobs are created for everyone and the unemployment rate is ticking down for everyone and then we can start talking about those structural imbalances like why some sectors have such higher unemployment than others and start to really tackle that.
But at least for now we're watching that. And I'll tell you something, I'm going to be talking to some economists and really zeroing in on why that number came down for African-Americans. There are some new Census population figures that they're using to calculate these. We'll see if that has something to do with why the numbers changed -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. In New York.
And later on this morning President Obama talks jobs, more specifically jobs for out-of-work veterans. We'll get a preview of his plan to get them back on the payroll. That's coming up in about 10 minutes from now.
Also this morning new information on two American tourists who have been kidnapped. The government released news of the women's abduction just a couple of hours ago.
CNN's Ivan Watson joining us right now from Cairo.
Tell us about how this happened.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, let me just interrupt. Egypt, a very turbulent country right now. And right outside our balcony right now you're seeing a column of thousands of people marching across the Nile River towards Tahrir Square. And they're carrying the flags of the main soccer teams here in Cairo after 79 people were killed at a soccer game Wednesday night in another Egyptian city of Port Sayed.
Many of them denouncing the ruling military council that governs Egypt right now and blaming the police and the military for what is being described as a massacre leading to the deaths of some 79 people. This protest just a few blocks away. There are fierce clashes taking place between demonstrators and police that have led to the deaths of three people in Cairo in the last 24 hours and more than 1400 people wounded.
Now to the case of these two American tourists. Egyptian authorities are telling us that two female Americans who were in the area of Saint Kathryn's Monastery. It's an ancient Greek Orthodox monastery in the Sinai Peninsula were taken hostage at gun point by a Bedouin tribe. This has been confirmed by the U.S. embassy, which is trying to confirm the citizenship and is working with Egyptian authorities of these two, what are believed to be Americans, taken hostage.
Egyptian authorities telling us that the kidnappers are demanding the release of other tribesmen that have been taken, we were told, in connection with the armed robbery of a foreign exchange office in a Sinai resort that -- one French tourist was killed there as well.
All of this pointing to Egypt. Very much in a state of flux. Law and order being seriously challenged these days -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson, thanks so much for keeping us posted there from Cairo.
All right now turning to a new concern that Israel will attack Iran's nuclear program maybe by this spring reportedly. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta thinks it is a growing possibility according to a top official, and just this morning Iran's supreme leader said any attack on Iran would be detrimental to America.
Here's former CIA officer Robert Baer on what he thinks an Israeli strike would mean for the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OFFICER: I think it would be a significant blowback. The Iranians, you can count on them hitting us in Iraq, hitting our embassy there. Probably in Bahrain where we've got the fleet. And I think undoubtedly inside the borders of this country.
ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, ANDERSON COOPER 360: You think they would strike back at the United States?
BAER: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon.
So, Chris, help us -- better understand, you know, this triangle. Panetta is concerned that Israel will strike Iran and now Iran is warning America?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Fred. You know, basically a U.S. official told us that Israel does go through these cycles where they make very aggressive statements about their intentions to Iran in order to sort of push the West and the U.S. into taking stronger steps against Iran, and we know that Iran has been prone to some very tough talk at times.
The danger from one official I talked to is that there aren't any lines of communication and so the potential is there for a deadly miscalculation on one side or the other. We do know that the U.S. has its own red line. That it is opposed to Iran getting a nuclear weapon, but its calculations are not the same as Israel's.
The U.S. has said the, director of national intelligence actually just recently has said if Iran were to, say, start enriching uranium up to 90 percent, that would be a serious step. Right now Iran is at about 20 percent. And we just heard recently from intelligence officials that Iran is more willing now to attack the United States here on our own soil, and the officials said correlation between Iran's willingness and actually doing it is their perceived threat from the U.S. So all of this is a volatile mix right now -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And so, Chris, what is the intent here that Leon Panetta would talk out loud about this?
LAWRENCE: Well, there's a couple of theories. One is that he simply, you know, misspoke in a way. You know, it was just 24 hours after Secretary Panetta caught a lot of people by surprise by announcing that combat was going to step back in Afghanistan in 2013. So it's possible that he simply just didn't, you know, hit the nuance exactly right or his remarks were somewhat misinterpreted.
The other thing is, it's possible that it could be a signal perhaps to Israel. It's no secret that the Pentagon has been asking Congress for more money to shore up it's -- one of its biggest bombs, the kind of bomb that could be used to smash into hardened mountains where Iran gets -- hides some of its nuclear facilities.
The U.S. right now feels that its bomb is not strong enough and needs some improvement. So in one sense the U.S. could be buying time. Another sense, the U.S. also, again, has a very different red line. They don't believe publicly that Iran has made that final decision to cross over and actually build a bomb -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Lawrence, thanks so much from the Pentagon.
LAWRENCE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney is the odds on favorite to win in Nevada. One day before the state holds its Republican presidential caucuses, but if you think the book is closed on Florida, think again. Newt Gingrich is hoping to pull some of the state's 50 delegates away from Romney and then on to team Newt.
CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is live for us from Washington. So, Paul, this is very fascinating. How is it that Newt Gingrich feels that he deserves or can get some of these delegates when Romney won that state?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Fred, what is it about Florida? Remember the 2000 election?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
STEINHAUSER: We're not going that far this time. Yes. No, we're not going that far this time. But he -- here's the deal. We said all along winner takes all, winner takes all in Florida. Well, Gingrich now, though, now that it's over in Florida and he lost by 14 points to Romney, now he's making a move to try to get some of those delegates because, listen, originally, any contest, any primary or caucus that was held before April 1st had to be proportional, but Florida was already penalized by the Republican Party for moving its primary up. That's why there were only 50 delegates to take rather than 100.
Here's what Gingrich is trying to do. He's trying to make a move at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, in August to try to grab back some of those delegates. It may be moot by then. This thing may be long over by then. But that's what they are doing now. Mitt Romney talked about that move by Gingrich last night. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We knew what the rules were going into it, but now that he lost Florida he wants to find some way to do better. Look, I'm not terribly concerned about the rule process. It's going to be worked out by the Republican National Committee. I intend to do well and to get the delegates I need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: All right. This one is not over yet. Stay tuned on this. We'll see what happens in Florida. I don't think it's going to come to the convention, Fred. That's just my take.
WHITFIELD: No? OK. All right. Back to Nevada. Tomorrow is the big day for that state. Now yesterday Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney and now apparently Sharron Angle, the Tea Party favorite from the 2010 race, who almost took Senator Harry Reid's job, has made an endorsement. Tell me a little bit more about who she is endorsing.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, and her endorsement, I guess, you could say got trumped by Donald Trump because he got so much attention yesterday with his endorsement. But yes, Angle is now endorsing Rick Santorum, the -- the former Pennsylvania senator. And this is an interesting move because, listen, the Tea Party vote in Nevada is very, very influential. It's got a lot of power but it seems that this move may even divide it further because, you know, Newt Gingrich trying to go for some of that Tea Party support. This now may hurt Gingrich a little bit because some of those Tea Party supporters may, may now go for Santorum because of Angle's endorsement. She was pretty popular out there. She was the underdog. She won the primary out there in Nevada. And you're right, she gave -- she gave Harry Reid a tough time in that midterm election back in 2010.
Also some Tea Party supporters also backing Ron Paul out there.
WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Steinhauser, you're going to be very busy this weekend, as are we. All of us will be. Thanks so much.
Because tomorrow it is Nevada's turn to join the heated contest to decide the Republican presidential nominee. Coverage begins 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. That's followed by CNN's complete live coverage of the caucus results at 7:00 with Wolf, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, and John King, and more. And of course we'll be covering all day long as people head to those caucus sites.
All right. President Obama wants to put thousands of veterans back to work, but his plan doesn't come cheap. He'll give details later on this morning, but we've go a preview, and that's coming up next.
And the central U.S. braces for a huge snowstorm already underway. We'll show you which states are getting the hardest hit. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama lifts the curtain this morning on his plan to put thousands of veterans back to work, but it's not cheap. I think somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 billion. So you better believe Capitol Hill is bracing for a fight.
Brianna Keilar is at the White House.
So, Brianna, right now, the unemployment rate is around 13 percent for veterans of the current war. That's higher than the national average which just recently took a dip this morning. So, what is the plan to help get them back to work?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, it is significantly higher than the national average, particularly when you're looking at post-9/11 veterans. The plan the president will unveil today includes grants for communities and departments that hire first responders. So, you know, firefighters, medics, also police.
So putting some grant money toward programs that already exist and essentially allowing veterans, post-9/11 veterans, people who signed up to fight after 9/11 to kind of get in the front of the line and be a priority for getting some of those jobs.
It would also -- one of the things the president wants to do is to create a Veterans Jobs Corps. The plan he will say is to create 20,000 jobs over five years for veterans, putting them to work, for instance, on federal lands, like national parks, local lands, tribal lands, improving levees, roads, all kinds of other different sorts of things.
It does have a $5 billion price tag, Fred. But as I mentioned, some of these programs are already in existence. We'd have to look at sort of what the difference would be for some of the funding from last year.
He's going to make this announcement today at a fire house in Arlington, a fire house that sent first responders to the Pentagon on 9/11, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And so, what's the feeling of the likelihood that this plan actually becomes reality?
KEILAR: You know, we're trying to get an early read of the Hill. The one thing is that when it comes to veterans, there's a lot of bipartisan support. One of the few things from the president's jobs act that actually made it through Congress last year was for veterans' jobs.
So, I think Republicans are open to it. But the early read right now is they're sort of raising questions about really how big of a deal is this? Does this really put a dent in jobs?
WHITFIELD: All right. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much at the White House.
And you want to stay right here because 11:30 Eastern Time, President Obama announces that veterans jobs plan at that fire house in Arlington, Virginia. And we'll be bringing that to you live as it happens.
And now take a look at this. Why is this becoming an unusual sight? Because this has been a warm winter. Snow finally.
Live pictures now from downtown Boulder, Colorado. More than a foot of snow could be falling there by tomorrow. Schools are closed and hundreds of flights have been canceled.
Meteorologist Rob Marciano joining us live right now.
Isn't this funny? We're in February and we're excited about snow finally in places that are usually deluged by snow as early as December.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You would think so, yes.
But I'll tell you what? Even for Boulder and Denver, to get this much snow in February is unusual. You saw the pictures from Boulder, as you mentioned, over a foot possible.
You know what? They've gotten almost that already. Actually, they got in Boulder, 12 inches of snow. Pine Cliff and Jamestown are just in the foothills, just to the west of Boulder, two feet of snow has already fallen. And in Fort Collins, they've got about five inches and counting.
Denver proper seeing the snow heavy at times right now. And from about the airport down the line to I-70 is shut down because of near blizzard conditions there. So, this is certainly a doozy of a storm. But think with it, it's a slow mover. So, it's going to have impacts going well past today.
We also have a tornado watch for parts of Oklahoma. And we've had a couple of tornado warnings out for parts of Louisiana.
Here's where the blizzard warning is up, just to the east of Denver, through tomorrow at least. That's how slow this thing is moving. So, total accumulations expect to be over a foot certainly in Denver.
Past that in through Nebraska and in through Kansas, we're looking at the potential of seeing up to 20 inches of snow before this is all said and done.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Oh, my goodness.
MARCIANO: Slow mover, Fred. So, it will have impacts going into tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: That is big. Thank so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
WHITFIELD: All right. January's jobless numbers are just out. The unemployment rate dropped ever so slightly. We're going to go to Wall Street for some reaction, next.
Prince William has arrived for duty in the Falkland Islands and Argentina is not at all happy about it. We'll go to London for the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Prince William is now in the Falkland Islands. He's part of a Royal Air Force search and rescue crew. Britain's defense ministry says it's a routine deployment.
But Argentina doesn't see it that way.
CNN's Max Foster is following the story from London.
So, Max, this is stirring up some bad blood between Argentina and the U.K.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We probably need to show you some pictures of demonstrations outside the U.K. embassy in Buenos Aires. These are recent demonstrations. And they flared up yet again as a result of the prince arriving, some extremists calling him the "pirate prince".
You also saw a British bank, HSBC being attacked in Buenos Aires. And an extremist group is saying that they're going to keep attacking British businesses in Argentina to make their point.
Prince William's landed there. He's going to take part in a routine helicopter flight. He's a search and rescue pilot, getting to know the place at the moment. We're going to get some pictures hopefully at some point today showing that.
But there will be no public appearances, Fredricka. They are -- I've got a press release here. It's very short. They mention routine twice.
They're banging on about the fact this is a routine deployment. But it's the timing of it, Fredricka. In April will be the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war. The British prime minister approved the timing of this. It's seen in Argentina as a provocation.
WHITFIELD: Aha! So that's at the root of the why are they so outraged about that.
All right. So, meantime, while he is on this rescue, you know, mission, his wife is solo. I know she knows what that's like, but this is the first time since they've been wed that they have to do their own solo missions. What's going on with her?
FOSTER: Well, six weeks he's going to be away. She said she's going to keep herself busy. She's announced the chances that she's sporting, so she's getting to know them better.
So, she spent some time privately at an addiction clinic, but later on this month, she's going to go to a public visit to an addiction clinic up in Liverpool. Also go to a children's hospital really getting to know her charities.
Addiction is going to be a really big one for her in the years ahead, Fredricka, I think, because she's trying to do to addiction what Diana did with AIDS, take away the stigma.
But she's going to be introduced to solo appearances quietly. We're one of the two cameras who will film her of the first event, a very quiet event, National Portrait Gallery -- more of an interest for her than a campaign thing, a Lucian Freud exhibition. We'll bring you pictures of that next week.
WHITFIELD: Yes, OK, because we were looking at pictures of she and the prince at the premiere of "War Horse" a couple of weeks ago.
FOSTER: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Still striking images.
FOSTER: And I need to tell you, we have had confirmation of a very important fact. We do in fact have a dog. This has been rumbling on for like weeks and weeks and weeks. Finally we've been told they have a black cocker spaniel. So, that will be keeping her company.
WHITFIELD: And the name? Do we know?
FOSTER: Aah. No. Controversially, we haven't been given the name. Every top league reporter in the country is going to find out the name. So, we're going to fire that question at her.
WHITFIELD: OK, because, Max, that will end up being the lead story, you know. Everybody loves the pooches.
All right. Thanks so much, Max. Appreciate that.
All right. The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.
Patricia Wu is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on this.
So, Patricia, what's the reaction on Wall Street thus far?
PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka.
We're seeing an immediate and very enthusiastic reaction. Before the report futures virtually flat. Now, Dow futures have been surging up over 100 points.
Why all this enthusiasm? Well, you take this better than expected jobs number, add that to the Dow and S&P having their best January in 15 years and there's optimism that the economy has kicked into a new gear.
Now, this jobs report beat every forecast that was out there. The estimates have been all over the place from 130,000 new jobs to 180,000 jobs added. Now, that shows uncertainty about the economy, uncertainty about how many temporary jobs were axed in January. What we know now is that we had a gain of 243,000 new jobs.
That's more than double what we saw this time last year. And the unemployment rate had been expected to tick up but actually came down to 8.3 and that's the fifth straight month we have seen the unemployment rate fall.
Certainly, we still have a long way to go. The economy needs 6 million jobs to get back to where we were in 2008 -- Fredricka.
PHILLIPS: All right. Patricia, thanks so much.
All right. Coming up: mistakes made in the boardroom, lessons learned in the classroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: What's the demand like for this class?
PROF. MARTIN HAUGH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Oh, it's huge. First two weeks of the semester, loads of students are sitting in the aisles here, standing up. We can't take all the students.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow. How the financial crisis could help mold the future leaders on Wall Street. Poppy Harlow joins us with that story, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.
In Egypt authorities say two U.S. tourists have been abducted. At this time we don't know their names or their condition. All this taking place as Egyptian police and protesters continue to battle in Cairo today. The protesters are enraged over reports of lack security at a soccer match this week. Seventy-nine people died in a riot during that soccer match.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he fears Israel could attack Iran sometime this spring. Panetta believes the mission would target Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
And President Obama is unveiling a jobs program for veterans today. Grant money would be given to towns that train and hire vets. The program has a $5 billion price tag.
The financial crisis has taught some painful lessons in the boar room, and now, some profitable lessons in the classroom. At Columbia University, one of the hottest classes is risk management, where tomorrow's Wall Street execs study complex models that push the economy to the brink.
Poppy Harlow of CNN Money explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW (voice-over): A jam-packed house for a grad course at Columbia, and of all things, financial engineering.
HAUGH: If you know you're not going to take this class, can you please make up your mind shortly? There's a lot of --
HARLOW: Some of these kids hope to be the future titans of Wall Street.
HAUGH: You could easily imagine some sort of unethical trader who knows his bonus is going to be huge if he can make a lot of money. And --
HARLOW: What could be their golden ticket, study be quantitative risk management in the school's financial engineering program.
(on camera): What's the demand like for this class?
HAUGH: Oh, it's huge. The first two weeks of the semester, loads of students are sitting in the aisles here, standing up. We can't take all the students.
HARLOW (voice-over): Their textbooks might as well be news clippings and balance sheets from the financial crisis.
AARON MILLER, RISK MANAGEMENT STUDENT: Somebody gave us the books and Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, then I think knowing what we know now, we could have realized something was wrong.
SUNG-MING HONG, RISK MANAGEMENT STUDENT: AIG, I mean, they had a lot of credit default swaps. They are leveraging a lot, too.
HARLOW: To get that first job, more than perhaps ever before, they need this class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It'll definitely make me more marketable.
HONG: It's definitely a growth area. So, I think it's something that's good to know.
BOB LONG, PRINCIPAL, DENISON ASSOCIATES: Even through the crisis when headcount has been decreasing. Risk management headcount is increasing. Their numbers are larger than they've ever been before. The numbers shocked me. And I've been in this business for a couple of decades.
HARLOW: They aren't all out to prevent the next financial crisis.
(on camera): Don't these kids just want to make money? Isn't that why they're here?
HAUGH: Isn't that why everyone's in New York? No.
I think most of these kids are 22, 23. They're thinking about getting a job, paying back student loans.
HARLOW (voice-over): With starting salaries around 150 grand for some, that shouldn't be a problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If those assets decrease by just 25 percent and remain on our books, that loss would be greater than the current market capitalization of this entire company.
HARLOW: The movie, "Margin Call" highlights the importance of quants. The popularity of risk management represents an ironic shift for financial engineers or quants. Five years ago, this was a group of students that frequently went on to make the complex financial instruments that arguably contributed to the crisis.
(on camera): Do you think you would be on the other side if 2008 hadn't happened making, creating these financial instruments?
HONG: Without 2008, I probably would have focused all my energy -- time and energy into those areas.
HARLOW: If you could have anyone in this room taking this class, who would it be?
HAUGH: I would say the CEOs of the top banks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Poppy joins us live.
Now, Poppy, you know, are there any classes that have gotten -- you know, I guess, less interest in the aftermath of the financial crisis?
HARLOW: That's a good question. Absolutely. And this isn't really going to come as a shock -- mortgage-backed securities. Shocker here.
That class at Columbia no longer offered. Not a lot of people that want to look into that these days.
You know, it's interesting that professor who just said if he could have anyone in the class, it would be the CEOs of those big banks. He worked at a hedge fund in London just a few years ago. So, he saw the crisis firsthand, how it was handled. And, you know, it's sort of personal for him how much he thinks we need more risk management in the corner offices at these big banks.
That movie, "Margin Call" for the first time celebrated these quants, these financial engineers who are very, very bright and a lot of times come to Wall Street to make more money than they can elsewhere. They used to make these complex products that helped lead to the crisis. Now, they're trying to mitigate it. I think that's a good thing across the board, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, something else, Poppy, a lot of college students take advantage of internships, right? Did you do a few?
HARLOW: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Yes?
HARLOW: Yes, they absolutely do take advantage of these internships. And they should. And they get paid pretty nicely to do it, especially at these big Wall Street banks. And if they're helping mitigate risk, that's a good thing. They do, indeed.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
OK. Well, this next story is going to, you know, pique your interest because there's a former magazine intern out there who worked for free, she says. However, she should have gotten paid for all the work that she did. And now, she's actually suing that company.
We'll talk about that lawsuit and the chances it might or may not have in court.
Plus, Roseanne Barr makes an unexpected announcement. That's coming up next in showbiz headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Demi Moore is recovering at home after being hospitalized for alleged substance abuse. And she's getting visits from two key people in her life.
"Showbiz Tonight" correspondent Nischelle Turner is joining us live from Los Angeles with details on this.
And, Nischelle, a lot of people very worried about Demi. How's she's doing? How is she doing?
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, she's apparently out of the hospital now. That's the reports that we're hearing. Her two exes were actually caught by paparazzi going into her home.
Now, Bruce Willis was seen going up to the house. Their daughter Rumer was with Demi when she had to call 911. So, he's been involved as a parent this whole time.
And also, we're hearing that a blacked out Lexus that reportedly belongs to Ashton Kutcher arrived Wednesday afternoon after Bruce had left. Now, Ashton, of course, was in Brazil when Demi first went to the hospital.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.
OK. So, now, you know, let's talk about -- this is quite the turn. One well-known Hollywood star that's also making a little political news. Do we take her seriously? I'm talking about Roseanne Barr.
TURNER: Well, I mean, I guess on the face value, you have to.
WHITFIELD: Yes?
TURNER: She's actually been announcing her candidacy since 2010. But now, this is making news because she has filed official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
Now, Roseanne is apparently one of the four candidates for the Green Party nomination for president. But she says she doesn't even expect to win the nomination. She says via Twitter that she plans to run until the Green Party convention in July when she will support the party's real nominee.
Now, here's what she says she wants to do. She wants to bring press attention to the Green Party. She also wants America to return to, this is her quote, "the brilliant, middle of the road, away from all of these ideologues and racial -- I mean, excuse me -- radical extremists on both sides.
And if you're interested, you know, Roseanne's also got a Super Bowl prediction, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Of course.
TURNER: She's got the Giants beating the Patriots 24-21. So there you have it.
WHITFIELD: OK. Very good. Well, she's accomplishing at least one of those things thus far, right? She has received some of that press attention that she was trying to seek.
TURNER: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So, very good.
TURNER: Exactly. And she --
WHITFIELD: Yes?
TURNER: She will satisfy probably actually do exactly what she wanted to do. And that is bring attention to the Green Party, because we're talking about it now, right?
WHITFIELD: Right. That's right.
All right. Nischelle Turner, thanks so much -- ever so lovely in your red raising awareness for heart disease in women.
TURNER: You too.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Nischelle. Good to se you.
All right. Then there's this. A request by super model Gisele Bundchen, and it's generating laughs actually on late night television. Nischelle will be returning next hour with more on that story and more showbiz headlines.
And a former intern says she did so much work for the company that she should have been paid. And now, she's actually going to court to get her money. We'll talk about that with CNN's legal analyst.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A former intern who worked for "Harper's Bazaar" magazine is suing the publisher. She wasn't paid for her internship last year and that was part of the deal, she says. But she says, she did a lot of work the company should have paid for. Now she wants minimum wage, back pay, and overtime.
First Corporation has not made a comment on the lawsuit. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin is joining us live right now.
So Sunny, a lot of internships are unpaid. But what's different here? Anything?
SUNNY HOSTI, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's -- that's right. They are unpaid, many of them, right? And we've seen sort of an explosion of unpaid internships because of the economy and because of the rise in unemployment, but there are six federal criteria that have to be met in order for an internship to be unpaid.
And among them are that the internship does not displace regular paid workers and it has to be similar to a training program at an academic or vocational institution, and an employer can't really derive an immediate advantage. So that's just sort of three of the six. And so typically these unpaid internships are ok if the person is getting school credit.
Well, in this case it's very different. She only worked for about four months, Fredricka, from August 2011 to December 2011, but she says she worked about 40 hours to 55 hours a week oftentimes and she had already graduated from college so certainly she wasn't getting academic credit.
And this is something that's just going on all over the place again and because of the fact that we have --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: But wait a minute. This was voluntary, right? This was voluntary --
HOSTIN: It is voluntary.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: She knew that she was not getting college credit in exchange because she was already a graduate, so what's her expectation or what is she alleging her expectation would be from this internship?
HOSTIN: Well, you know, I think a lot of people certainly do this to try to get their foot in the door, but there are laws that protect people from being taken advantage of in these kinds of situations. And so while the expectation may have been a short internship to get some sort of training and perhaps to get her foot in the door, it would still be illegal under many federal and state wage and hour laws.
And so this is a tricky, tricky area. And in fact, her lawyers are saying that they want to try to get a class action lawsuit here because there are hundreds of workers apparently at (INAUDIBLE) that are working under these sort of internship guidelines.
WHITFIELD: Ok, so what will "Harper's Bazaar" have to establish?
HOSTIN: Well, they'll certainly have to establish that they met the six federal law guidelines. And I've got to tell you, that's going to be a bit difficult to do if the facts that she alleges them to be are the facts. If she worked 40 to 55 hours, if she didn't receive any academic credit, if she didn't displace other workers. That's going to be a sort of hard test to meet and perhaps this is the sort of case that will settle out of court.
But I have to say, this is something that we have been watching, legal experts have been watching for quite some time because we've seen an explosion in these unpaid internships.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sunny, thanks so much. Good to see you.
HOSTIN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Tom Brady or Eli Manning? Madonna reveals which quarterback she would date. And we're all about the Super Bowl in sports seven minutes from now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. "Fast Forward" now to stories ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
At 11:30 Eastern Time, President Obama talks about today's jobs report and the economy at a fire house in Arlington, Virginia.
Also at 11:30, a Joint House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing will be looking at accountability and record-keeping problems at Arlington National Cemetery.
And at noon in New Orleans there will be a memorial for Mike Ainsworth, the Good Samaritan who was shot last week trying to help a woman who was being carjacked.
And we're following lots of developments right here in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Christine Romans.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. Well, I'm going to tell you about the jobs report, it was a strong report, the unemployment rate, the lowest since February 2009. Overall last year, 1.8 million jobs created. I'll tell you where the jobs are coming from and we'll talk about whether it's sustainable. I'll have that at the top of the hour.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon, where the big question is would Israel really strike Iran this spring? We're checking with our sources to find out if it could be done and what it would mean.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. While most of the country enjoys still spring- like temperatures, a full-on blizzard is happening right now across eastern Colorado and Nebraska. Denver getting pounded with snow. We'll run down the storm in the next hour -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, gentlemen and lady.
All right, also coming up next hour, all those pink breast cancer ribbons are suddenly controversial after the Komen Foundation cut funds to Planned Parenthood. Now, 26 U.S. Senators are signing a letter asking Komen to change its mind. We're live on Capitol Hill coming up the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
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WHITFIELD: All right. A lot of folks are very pumped. We're getting very close to Super Bowl Sunday. Jeff Fischel is right here. The distractions are over or are they? I don't know. Madonna, halftime show, there may be a few distractions?
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: There was a day back in the day Madonna would always be distracting.
WHITFIELD: Right.
FISCHEL: She's better behaved now, isn't she?
WHITFIELD: She said there will be no wardrobe malfunctions.
FISCHEL: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: But she will put on a good show.
FISCHEL: And as for the game itself there is an X factor, right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
FISCHEL: Gronk. Sounds like something you clean your sink with.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
FISCHEL: It's Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots tight end. He practiced for the first time yesterday since he suffered a badly sprained ankle two weeks ago. And really that is the only way anyone's figured out how to stop him is to hurt him.
Patriots coach, Bill Belichick says Gronk is not quite 100 percent, but it looks like he will play Sunday against the Giants. He set NFL record this season for most touchdowns by a tight end.
Now for some people the game isn't exciting enough. They like to make a little wager or two. I've heard this.
WHITFIELD: I've heard, yes.
FISCHEL: I only heard. Here are some of the fun prop bets, courtesy of Bleacher Report and the Bovada betting site. Will Kelly Clarkson drop a word from the national anthem? Christina Aguilera botched a line last year. How many times will Gisele Bundchen, Mrs. Tom Brady, be shown on TV? The line .5 on over/under. That's the over on that one I think.
And Madonna, speaking of Madonna, will she wear fish net stockings at any time during the halftime show? What do you think? Is that a good bet.
WHITFIELD: Probably.
FISCHEL: All right. So that is what we are talking about Madonna. She's doing the half time show.
WHITFIELD: We know she will be giving up skin, how about that? If not the guns, then the legs.
FISCHEL: Doing the salsa; that's in honor of Victor Cruz, Giants wide receiver who does that after every touchdown.
WHITFIELD: Go girl.
FISCHEL: Madonna told reporters she would rather date Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback rather than Tom Brady. She said this because Eli lives in New York and she doesn't want the Patriots QB to waste gas to come and see her.
WHITFIELD: That's funny.
FISCHEL: Madonna does place the singer's new single "Give Me All Your Loving" and a couple of her classics during halftime. She's got 12 minutes to put on a show.
Super Bowl Sunday has become America's second biggest eating day after Thanksgiving and dietdetective.com has some unusual exercise tips for working off the calories. You'd have to run 49 football fields to burn off two handfuls of potato chips. Drink six bottles of Bud, some people known to put back a few, you need to do the wave 4,280 times. Good luck counting that many after six beers. And if you eat three slices of pizza -- 1,229 minutes of Tebowing should do it.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. That's it? Oh, minutes. I was thinking like times. Oh, ok. Yes, well that's a lot.
FISCHEL: There you go.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That's incredible. That's an incredible workout after, which nobody will do, because they are going to --
(CROSSTALK)
FISCHEL: I can only make the suggestions, I can't force people to do it.
WHITFIELD: I like it. I appreciate it. Very positive. Thanks, Jeff. Happy Super Bowl weekend.
All right, speaking of Tim Tebow, you can catch him right here in the NEWSROOM, live today. The Denver Broncos quarterback will give his Super Bowl prediction and will talk about his unforgettable season. That's in the noon Eastern hour right here in the NEWSROOM.
All right. How do you make your dog an Internet sensation? Seems these days everybody is doing it, right? Will you put food on its head, for starters?
CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If the way to a dog's heart is through its stomach then why is this dog wearing her food on her head? Try doing that with most dogs.
Dot, down dot.
But Tiger is not most dogs. She is the subject of a blog called "Food on My Dog", from a sunny side up egg to a taco to a chocolate- glazed doughnut with sprinkles, Tiger stares ahead impassively, whether it be Spam in a can or pepperoni on her snout. Tiger doesn't get crabby, even when she is crowned with king crab legs.
Her owner demonstrates his technique with leaves of lettuce. Ok, lettuce is probably less tempting than, say, a hot dog. Still, Tiger's restraint is impressive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Release.
MOOS: The most commonly asked question seems to be does Tiger get to eat what's on her head after? The answer is yes when it's something dog-friendly. A replacement treat if it's not. Tiger wears ham like a veil. But we discovered ham, even on a dog named Sushi is relatively easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ham on your head.
MOOS: To slip on an unsuspecting head.
That's called distraction. Good boy. Good dog. Yes. What a good boy.
But Tiger even wears pizza, as if it's a beret. When we tried pizza on Sushi, she tried to lick it and tolerated wearing it only reluctantly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl.
MOOS: The "Food on My Dog" blog reminds us of another Internet phenomenon from last year, the dog that balanced treats on his head. We saw him balance as many as 36 treats, barely moving a muscle until he got the order to release. And no he wasn't allowed to eat them all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay. Head down.
MOOS: He even balanced while on his back. Sort of makes the latest craze called breading cats seem like child's play.
Multi-grain and wheat really seemed to bring out their eyes. Now that "Food on My Dog" has gone viral, fans want to know if Tiger takes requests.
Request bacon? She took it. Her favorite snack is Kraft singles. They have gone to her head. What makes this dog so irresistible? Her ability to resist.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
