Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Life Threatening Virus In Philippines; Air India Pilots; Tackling The World's Pressing Problems; Stocks Rally; Soldier Opens Fire At Fort Bragg; 346 Homes Destroyed On 34 Streets; Fight For Health Care Reform; Fight Over Health Care Reform; Soldier Opens Fire At Fort Bragg; Empowering Women Through Sports; Obama Visits Colorado Springs
Aired June 29, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Several stories caught our attention today and also some photos. I want you to take a look at this. Elementary students in the Philippines wear protective head gear made from rugs during a nationwide earthquake drill. Now, earthquakes are common in the Pacific region. Almost 3,000 miles away, these students in Sri Lanka look at mosquito larvae. They are learning how to protect themselves from catching the dengue virus transmitted through mosquito bites. At least 15,000 Sri Lankans have been infected with this life threatening virus just this year.
And to India, these photos are in their fifth day -- rather these are pilots in the fifth day of their hunger strike. They want Air India to rehire some pilots that were let go during a merger with Indian Airlines. Air India was bailed out by the government last month.
Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Today, we are live from Aspen, Colorado beautiful setting, talking about the world's most pressing problems. This is the eighth annual Aspen ideas festival. Leaders and thinkers from the United States and around the world meet to discuss ideas from policy, politics, business, science, art, culture, values, everything. Chance to learn, listen and debate.
First, the big story for the hour starting with a huge stock market rally. A deal to help struggling banks in Europe was welcomed news on Wall Street. European countries agreed to provide direct aid to banks without aiding to their country's debt -- adding to their country's debt, rather. The NASDAQ as well all higher today, the Dow up more than 200 points.
Deadly shooting during a safety briefing in Fort Bragg in North Carolina. One soldier was killed, two others wounded. Authorities say one of the soldiers shot another , then turned the gun on himself. They are part of the 525th battlefield surveillance brigade. And police say that the man is now in custody. They have not released the identities. We will have a live report from the Pentagon.
Right now, President Obama, he is on his way to the disaster zone, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The city has been ravaged by the most destructive wildfire in the state's history raging Waldo Canyon. The fire has burned down 300-rather 346 homes. There are 20,000 that are more under threat. At least one person has now died, another is missing. President Obama signed a disaster declaration for the state today freeing up federal funds for the recovery. Now this afternoon, he is going to tour the scorched neighborhoods along as meeting the firefighters. We got the FBI, ATF, they are helping local police investigate report s now that an arsonist might have started this fire. A group of bicyclists have captured some key clues when they snapped photos early on. Marshall Zelinger, with our affiliate, has got the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARSHALL ZELINGER, CORRESPONDENT, 7NEWS, COLORADO: This photo is the earliest proof 7News has seen of the start of the Waldo Canyon fire Saturday afternoon.
JANE RYNBRANDT: It was unreal.
ZELINGER: Images and video taken by Jane Rynbrandt. She was training two cyclists on Rampart Rage Road, west of the garden of the gods.
RYNBRANDT: When we were there at 11:00, it was blue skies, you know, and didn't see anything suspicious.
ZELINGER: Less than two hours later, she captured the start of what would grow to destroy at least 346 homes.
RYNBRANDT: The fire was spreading pretty quick. There was a point where we watched it roll over the ridge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
There it is (inaudible.)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well actually, we were driving down the road, the helicopter flew overhead with one of the water drops, and at that point, kind of realized how serious it was.
ZELINGER: Just as our interview with Jane ended, an1 investigator stopped by to talk with her and see the video. After the afternoon's news conference, we asked investigators how the video can help pinpoint who or what was responsible.
LT. JEFF KRAMER, EL PASSO COUNTRY, COLORADO: When the event really started to unfold quickly and we had a lot of smoke, that's not extremely valuable, but that very first initial line of smoke -- single line of smoke is.
RYNBRANDT: We're going to give the videos and all the photos that we have to them and they can go through it with a fine tooth comb and see if they have anything.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: Rob Marciano, he is live in Colorado springs. Rob, give us a sense of the progress that is being made so far and what they are dealing with on the ground.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well Suzanne, regardless of how this fire started, one thing is for sure, the last day and a half, they have made some progress, yesterday it was a little bit cooler. And they got 15 percent containment which doesn't sound like a lot, but relative to what it was like three days ago, it is. Firefighting efforts have ramped up. Today is sunny, it will be warm, but the winds hopefully won't be as erratic. We are on the Air Force Academy airfield. They are using this as an area to launch helicopters that are fighting the battle. You see some of them lifting off where they're picking up some retardant.
And off on the front range there, you see some small spot fires, some smoke coming out. Those have ramped up a little bit but not nearly what they were yesterday. And just below those spot fires, that is a subdivision that they have been desperately trying to protect, and so far have had some success. I can't say that for other subdivisions in northwestern Colorado Springs. Within the city limits, as you mentioned, 346 homes destroyed. Those victims spread throughout the city either in hotels, friends and family, some shelters, very frustrated. And Suzanne, last night, a number of them got news as to whether or not their homes were spared. And many of them won't -- still won't be able to get back to their homes for several days, because it's just -- the fire is still just too close.
MALVEAUX: Rob, tell us a little bit why is it that Colorado is burning more than other states in the area?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, I bet you that the local skiers in Aspen have told you this. It was not a -- not a good snow year at all. On May 1st, we were 80 percent below average in the snow pack and then May and into June, it's been unbelievably hot, the second warmest spring for parts of Colorado on record. So, you had an early -- barely ay snow pack and early hot spring and then last weekend, temperatures well up and over 100 degrees and that record-breaking is now moving over to the east coast, and folks east of the Mississippi are enduring it. But that combination is what -- when this fire sparked, let it spread so quickly. And this isn't the only one, there are several large ones burning throughout the state -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Rob, thank you so much. The weather, of course, might help the firefighters contain these flames. I want to go in to bring in Chad Meyers to the CNN weather center to talk a little bit about it. Chad, are we seeing any hopeful signs for these guys?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, there's always good news, bad news. There is a chance of rain, and that sounds like a fantastic thing. And for the old high park fire up near Fort Collins, it was a fantastic thing. In fact, on Wednesday, there was a flash flood warning right over the fire area. And right now, the high park fire is 85 percent contained. That was the huge one. That was 100,000 acres. That was 140 or so square miles. Now, that is 85 percent under control, fantastic. But the same day, there was some rain that was in Jennessey County, about 25 miles north of where Rob is right now. That rain caused an outflow boundary, a big gust of wind, and all of a sudden, houses were engulfed in flames.
And so, it's a good news, bad news thing. You really want the rain, but you want it right on top of the fire, not five miles, not 10 miles away, it has to be right on top of the fire. And then you get a chance of putting some containment with the natural causes here. Chance of rain about 20 percent today, all the way through the weekend. And temperatures are not over 100 like they were for a lot of the firefight. And as Rob mentioned, that heat has moved over to the east. It is now 87 degrees in New York City. And that's one of the cool spots, because Philadelphia, you are already up to 90.
MALVEAUX: Yes.
MYERS: You get down into charlotte, temperatures are 100 degrees already, Raleigh 100, Richmond, Virginia 100, and it will go hotter than that. Suzanne, it will be 107 degrees in Nashville today.
MALVEAUX: So Chad, talk about that. I mean, why -- we've got extreme heat across the country and, what, more than 100 million folks, one in every third person is going to be impacted by this?
MYERS: You know, I understand it's the fourth of July and people are kind of saying, come on, it's summer, it happens. Yes, it does. I understand it does happen. But it's -- many times we say it's not the heat, it's the humidity. This time it is the heat. The humidity isn't so bad. 107 is hot no matter what. And people will tell you, oh, when you move to Phoenix, that's a dry heat, that's no big deal. This isn't exactly a dry heat. And it's not muggy and just oppressive, but it's not perfect. So, you can cool off with water, make sure there's water on your body, maybe a big wet towel around your neck.
Temperatures here, there you are. From Memphis, 103 degrees tonight. You need to get the house cooled down at night, too. There's Nashville, there's 107 degrees for the high temp, ,and it is just hot everywhere. In Columbia, in Atlanta, it'll be 102 to 106, just ridiculous temperatures. I always joked with people who go, hey, what's it like to living in hotlanta? And I go, it's not in hotlanta. It only gets to 90 then it rains. And it's great. Well, that's not happening. There's no rain in the forecast. There are no clouds in the forecast, so that's how it's getting so hot.
MALVEAUX: I'm really glad I'm in Colorado right now, Chad. How long is this heat wave going to last do you think?
MYERS: It's going to last at least five days ,so there's no end in sight. The good news is at least tomorrow and Sunday, people are off on the weekend, maybe the power usage won't be so bad. But I'm telling you what, by Monday and Tuesday, everybody's back to work. We could see brown outs, blackouts, those local authorities maybe giving you warnings, please turn your air conditioner off or way up, 85, 100 degrees, or 90 degrees, whatever it is in your house when you go to work. Turn it back down when you come home. This is what you want to be doing.
And I don't understand how kids know what to do, they're the best. But there you go. I remember running through a sprinkle back in Buffalo, and that's the best way to stay cool. Get yourself wet and stay wet, and you will be all right. Find yourself a nice local lake and if you can't, a $1 movie theater. They still exist around, don't they?
MALVEAUX: A swimming pool. A neighbor's swimming pool or something. All right, Chad, thanks. Good to see you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: Here's what we're working on for this hour. What does the future of health care look like now that the affordable health care act has cleared the Supreme Court?
And we are also live from the Pentagon and the investigation into the deadly shooting at Fort Bragg.
And Michelle Kwan, she is one of the most famous figure skaters in Olympic history. Well now, she is using that fame to help secretary Clinton spread diplomacy. We're going to talk to her about it
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: The fight over health care reform shifts back over to the legal arena, but -- from the legal arena now to the political arena. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the law backed by President Obama, Mitt Romney ad the Republicans say that they are going to take the case to the voters. I'm moderated a panel on health care here in Aspen, and we listened to a lot of interesting things the panel has said about the Supreme Court decision and the road ahead. Very provocative conversation ,let's listen in.
(BEGI NVIDEOTAPE)
JOE KLEIN, COLUMNIST AND SENIOR WRITER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, I was very pleased that Romney care was sustained today. I have been in favor of this plan ever since it came out of the heritage foundation in the late 80s. I favored it in 1993 and 1994, much to the first lady's dismay, and when Mitt Romney decided he wanted to do it, I raced up to Massachusetts to -- you know, to check around and he was doing it for all the right reasons, all the things that he's not saying now.
TOM DASCHLE ,FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I think Republicans and Democrats generally agree that we want a high performance, high value health care market place with better access, better quality and lower cost, but they differ on what the role of government should be. That debate will continue regardless.
DAVID BROOKS, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK TIMES": The popularity of this bill is in the future and it always will be. The American people do not trust government, 19 percent of Americans trust government to do the right -- to do the right thing most of the time. This bill centralizes power in government. They are just not going to like it.
VIN WEBER, POLICY ADVISER, MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: We now know this is a tax increase. And I think that President Obama promised not to impose a tax increase. We'll see if the Republicans can figure out how to argue against the tax increase for the next four months.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Joining me to talk about what's next for the health care reform debate, CNN Political Analyst Ron Brownstein of the "National Journal." And you know, you rarely get a chance to actually meet people in the --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
MALVEAUX: -- same place and talk about something like this where you got Vin Webber on one side who is a Mitt Romney supporter, advisor to the campaign. And then, you got Tom Daschle --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, yes.
MALVEAUX: -- on the other who clearly was someone who was pioneered, this health care reform. Let's talk a little bit about the money that is involved here. So far, these are the figures we're talking about. Romney campaign says it has raised $4.2 million since the decision.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
MALVEAUX: And then you've got the Obama camp saying it has even earned and raised more.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
MALVEAUX: Is that where we're headed, this newly reinvigorated campaign?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think by pushing health care back into the spotlight, the effect is really to energize the base of both sides. Republicans, you know, overwhelmingly and intensely oppose this law. They view it as the symbol of what they see as an Obama overreach and overall (ph) the federal government.
For Democrats, this has been a goal of Democrats literally since Franklin Roosevelt. Harry Truman tried. Richard Nixon tried. Bill Clinton tried. Obama was the first one to get a bill approaching universal coverage through Congress. And it is the most significant Democratic legislative achievement since Medicare in 1965. So this -- the fact that this was upheld by the court I think will be energizing to Obama's base as well.
MALVEAUX: So, what do you think? I mean it's a huge accomplishment here. But we heard Ven Webber (ph) and he makes the case that this is now a tax increase. What does the administration, what does the president need to do to counter that message? BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think people -- you know people thought, the administration has never done a really good job of explaining what the individual mandate entails. For most people who are uninsured, they will, in all likelihood, never pay this tax. They will choose to buy insurance because they are getting a pretty good deal.
For families of 55,000 or below, they'll put in 25 cents on a dollar. The government will covers the other 75 cents. The tax aspect that we're talking about is simply for those who choose not to be covered. And we'll see how many people that are.
But let's keep in mind, that even that tax or fine, whatever you want to call it, it isn't that large. It's $700 in 2014 when this begins. So I think this will be a new point of debate. But the biggest failure the administration I think has had politically on this is explaining what the individual mandate really means. It's been an ideological fight. Very little discussion of the practical impact.
MALVEAUX: How much do they actually have to explain this moving forward in the next four months, or are they actually going to have to explain the economy and the jobs numbers that we're going to see next week and next month?
BROWNSTEIN: The latter. I mean I don't -- I think that the economy and the trajectory of the economy is the overwhelming dynamic in this election. Certainly, as we've said, the health care fight animates the base of each side. It's a big, powerful rallying cry for those most conservative elements of the Republican Party who see Obama as expanding the federal government beyond its appropriate role. But I think for the -- for the voters who are not fully committed, who will ultimately decide this, the economy is the biggest factor.
MALVEAUX: Where in the country, these swing states, where is the message going to resonate the most? Where is it important to focus on the economy?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I mean, you know, it's really interesting. You know, in the past, and when I grew up covering politics, presidential elections were always decided -- the tipping point were always the rust belt behemoth. It's kind of the metal bending states of the Midwest. Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. And those are still important. But now there's a second route to the presidency. A sunbelt route in the southeast. North Carolina, Virginia, Florida. In the southwest, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico.
So we have two sets of swing states that have very different economies at this point and very different problems. The rust belt states are older. They're predominantly white. They're facing a long term manufacturing decline. The sunbelt states are younger, much more racially diverse, but still facing big hangovers from the housing collapse. So you have a very different equation in these two different groups of states that ultimately, between them, will settle this race.
MALVEAUX: Now the Obama campaign, they're trying to emphasize the president's foreign policy record. They point to the fact of Osama bin Laden being killed. They point to the fact that you've got these dictators who have been toppled. That there's been a real radical change in the Middle East. Does it make sense for them now to bring up those issues or are people really paying attention to that or it really is all about, hey, you know what, am I doing any better than I was four years ago?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think it's -- what they're doing there is taking an issue off the table that has often benefited Republicans. I mean the sense that Republicans would be stronger on national security has been a pretty common feature of presidential elections that I've covered at least since 1980. And what Obama has been able to do is neutralize that. But, ultimately, the key in this race will be whether he can convince 50 plus one of the American people that he has a vision that will make their lives better over the next four years, particularly economically.
You know the Romney goal is to make this as much as possible a retrospective referendum on the next -- on the last four years, recognizing that most people would not say they're better off than they were four years. Obama's goal, as much as possible, is to make it a forward-looking, respective choice between two visions of how to get the economy performing better. And on that front, the polling suggests he's in a much stronger position than he is if it's solely -- if the election solely turns on Ronald Reagan's famous question, are you better off than you were four years ago.
MALVEAUX: Ron, you and I have spent the last three days here together at Aspen Ideas Festival. You heard anything interesting? Any bit ideas or anything that impressed you?
BROWNSTEIN: You know what, I was in a panel yesterday with five former members of Congress that I moderated. And all of them talking about how our political system really isn't built for the level of party line discipline. Almost parliamentary discipline that we now see in Congress. Our system was not built for the level of systemic partisan conflict. And so we're -- you know, that we're now seeing. So we're either going to have to adjust the rules or the parties are going to have to bend. Because, Suzanne, one thing that I think is most likely, this election is going to leave the country very closely divided. And if the parties are this deeply divided while the country is this closely divided, that's a recipe either for gridlock and polarization unless somebody -- really somebodies on both sides -- are willing to bend more than they have in the last few years.
MALVEAUX: All right, Ron, always --your analysis point on, spot-on, as always.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: And it's not just the low oxygen levels here in Colorado.
BROWNSTEIN: Right. Thanks. Good to see you.
MALVEAUX: Excellent job. Good to see you as well.
A soldier opens fire in Fort Bragg with deadly consequences. We've got a live report from the Pentagon. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: More now on the deadly shooting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It happened during a safety briefing at the sprawling Army base. Now, one soldier was killed, two others hurt. Authorities say a soldier shot another and then turned the gun on himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. KEVIN ARATA, SPOKESMAN, FORT BRAGG ARMY BASE: This is obviously a tragedy for our community, and we don't yet know the reasons for the shooting, but we are working with the unit and the affected families to help them through this extremely difficult period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Chris Lawrence, he is live at the Pentagon for more.
Chris, just tell us what happened.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne.
Basically they were in this safety briefing and one soldier pulled out a gun during the briefing, shot and allegedly killed one -- his commanding officer there and wounded another soldier before shooting himself. We're told that we -- the shooter himself, although he's in custody, he is not expected to survive.
We're also talking to defense officials who are shedding some new light and giving new information about why this may have happened. We're told that the specialist who had been in the Army about eight years was facing court-martial on criminal charges. He had been accused by the Army of stealing a tool box that was worth a couple thousand dollars and he may have been dishonorably discharged if found guilty after a court-martial.
We're also told that he had a special connection to his battalion commander. The specialist actually served on the lieutenant colonel's security detail while both were deployed during a tour in Afghanistan.
Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: So, Chris, this actually happened during a safety briefing. Are the participants, are they usually armed during these kinds of exercises?
LAWRENCE: No. And there's different kinds of safety briefings. I mean, you know, you've got a very serious safety briefing if the unit is about to go out on patrol in Afghanistan and you want to map out exactly what's going to happen and a lot of the procedures that are going to take place.
But this wasn't like that. I'm told that this was basically a hay, guys, stay safe over the long Fourth of July weekend, don't drink and drive. Just a real, hey, friendly reminder, you guys are doing a great job kind of briefing. All of a sudden this soldier pulls out a gun and starts shooting.
MALVEAUX: Chris, what is going on at Fort Bragg? There seems to be a lot of stories coming out of that base and a lot of problems, some issues, there that they're dealing with.
LAWRENCE: Yes, like a lot of Army bases right now. I mean you've got -- you've got a problem with suicide. You know, Fort Bragg is no stranger to that. You never want to take one incident, though, and say, this is a massive problem across the base. Fort Bragg is a sprawling mini city, so to speak, and you don't want to know until we know exactly why this happened, it's tough to put this context and tie it to other events going on at the base.
MALVEAUX: All right, Chris Lawrence. Thank you, Chris. We appreciate it.
Well, she graced the ice and she won the hearts of the Olympics just years ago. Well, now, Michelle Kwan trying to empower young women through sports. And she's getting help from Secretary Clinton.
And, don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work. Head to cnn.com/tv.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: She's a mother of three and a grandmother of two. Forty- nine-year-old Australian Penny Palfrey, she is trying to swim 103 miles from Havana to the Florida Keys. She dove into Havana's Hemingway Mariana earlier today and, get this, she is doing it without a shark cage in heavy shark-infested waters. Yes. Palfrey is hoping to break her own world swimming record. We're going to keep a close eye on what she's up to.
And speaking of women in sports. Many young women have found positions of power and influence, even long after they've left the sport that they've mastered. Well, I spoke to two such women earlier right here at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Former Olympians Michelle Kwan and journalist Michelle Brennan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Michelle, you moved from L.A. to D.C. You've been appointed by Secretary Clinton as part of the State Department envoy. Explain what you do.
MICHELLE KWAN, FORMER OLYMPIC ATHLETE: Well, being on the council empowering women and girls through sports, it's a very key initiative to empower women and girls. I have seen, through my travels as a public diplomacy envoy, on the president's council of fitness, sports and nutrition, the benefits of sports. I've learned -- personally learned a lot of lessons, like dedication, discipline, falling, getting back up and keep on going.
MALVEAUX: We all fall, yes. Good to get back up.
KWAN: And that's what -- it gives girls opportunities. MALVEAUX: Why is that important to girls and young women? Why athletics and sports? What role does that play?
KWAN: Well, sports teaches you many lessons. Also it promotes self- esteem, confidence, and this is like we have talked about earlier, in 1972, I talked to girls in generations that don't know that only 40 years ago some girls didn't have an opportunity to play in sports. We have come a long way in the states, but in other countries, and this is what the council does. It will be going global sportsmen or thing where Americans are engaging in other parts of the world like South Africa, and like Egypt and like Afghanistan where they are developing and using sports as a tool to mold self-esteem, confidence and empowering women and girls.
MALVEAUX: Christine, talk about the 40th anniversary of Title IX and what that means for women today.
BRENNAN: Well, it is huge and you can make a strong case that this is the most important law in our country over the last 40 years, and I know that others could argue, but it is not about sports, as Michelle said, but empowering girls and women and to think for generations, Suzanne, we were telling half of the population, women, girls, that you could not learn about winning and losing at a young age and you could not learn about teamwork and sportsmanship, and the fact that the law came along I think it will have women running for president throughout the 20s, 30s and the 40s in the country, and the common denominator for all of those women are going to be that they played sports because of Title IX.
MALVEAUX: I met this woman here at the Aspen Institute and she is Kenyan and an Olympian and the fastest woman in the world and she is using sports now to turn warriors and soldiers into competitors and athletes, and she is using sports as a tool for peace. Explain the significance of that.
KWAN: I think that one of the messages is to drop the guns and run. But I think that it is a very strong message to send to people. That, the way of friendly competition, and you look at the Olympics, itself, and 200 nations coming together for a friendly competition, and we were talking about ping-pong diplomacy and in terms of the sports, it is a way to engage with other countries in a friendly manner.
MALVEAUX: Why does that happen, Christine, do you think, that it is that powerful that you could have enemies put down the weapons and play a game?
BRENNAN: One of the pleasures of covering the Olympics and Michelle of course at the games and so many other athletes and you saw that thing. Jackie Joyner-Kersee going against the East Germans and we can't stand them politically and hugging each other and shaking hand hands and you had that with the competitors who come from nations that we don't necessarily agree with, because it transcends goodwill and fair play and it transcends everything else. That is the message that certainly Michelle is talk about with the State Department initiative.
MALVEAUX: Talk about the Olympics, because there is someone who is going to stand out and always an event to look for, and who are you watching and Christine, who are you watching?
MICHELLE: Allyson Felix, and she is on the president's council for fitness and nutrition, and she is a young woman who is so inspiring to young girls who want to be in track, and she does it in a way that not only is she smart, strong, beautiful and she can run fast.
[laughter]
BRENNAN: And in the pool, there is Missy Franklin who is 17 years old, and she could be in six or seven events in swimming at the London games, and if she is, we will look at her as the female Michael Phelps, and she is 17, so she has several more Olympics coming after this.
MALVEAUX: And final question here, we have an obesity crisis in the country, and there are so many young people struggling, and even getting type I i diabetes because they are inactive, and how do we get the young people involved to take care of themselves and be physically active? What needs to happen?
KWAN: I have a sense of responsibility, because I was an athlete and Olympian promoting physical activity, and the benefits of sports, and also being an athlete, you have to eat well and sleep and you have to -- and as I transition out of skating into another career path, I have to remind myself, what was it like to eat healthy and sleep and take care of yourself and kids, 1 of 3 children are obese. That is a big problem. So being on the president's council and working with the firs first lady let's move initiative is encouraging people to adapt healthier lifestyles.
BRENNAN: And also, what we are seeing is that schools are cutting phys ed, and afterschool programs and frankly, we are going to wrong direction at a time as Michelle said so right, we have to be going the other direction. I think that it has to become a national initiative. You know, we have to care about this again almost the way that back with John Kennedy and that physical fitness craze in the '60s, but do we have the money to pay for it.
MALVEAUX: Christine and Michelle, thank you so much. Thank you for your time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: That was Christine Brennan, journalist, and Michelle Kwan, Olympian. A lot of the folks have been trying to find out the student loan interest rates if they are going up or going to double on Sunday, and Congress just voted on it moments ago. You are looking at a live picture on Capitol Hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Congress is voting today on a bill to keep some student loan rates from doubling and it passed the house. Now it goes to the Senate. The bill keeps the rate on new loans at 3.4 percent for another year, more than 7 million students are actually affected. The student loan bill is included in a larger piece of legislation and includes $109 billion. And to continue programs that pave roads and improve bridges, the Senate is also expected the approve that measure.
The man who shot and killed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin returned to court today. George Zimmerman and he is asking to be let out of jail on bond for a second time. A judge revoked Zimmerman's bond earlier this month, and he and his wife did not tell the court they had received $150,000 in donations. His attorney says that Zimmerman was scared and confused at the time and deserves to be let out on bond, and he argued that the government's case is weak. No word yet on how the judge is going to rule.
High school dropout rate in Philadelphia hovering around 40 percent, but one man's afterschool program is now changing urban education.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHAN GONZALES: I wake up at 6:15. I'm out of the door precisely at 6:30. My name is Stephan Gonzales and I'm a member of the disability workshop. I catch the bus, if if I miss it, I walk down to Willow avenue and catch the bus. It is worth the commute.
People my age can do a lot of things, but right now with the school district of Philadelphia, there really isn't any energy efficiency or urban sustainability courses worked into the school day. I think that besides the project-based learning that we do here, that is the biggest difference. Every day is different here at the sustainability workshop.
One of the ways that I know that I'm successful is that when you look at the students, and the ways they have grown this year compared to the kind of growth I have seen in the more traditional approach to education is outstanding.
This has worked better than we imagined.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Okay. Keep an eye on the stock market this hour and a major breakthrough deal to help the banks in the Eurozone could I impact your 401(k) and I will take you to the New York stock exchange to explain. .
We are watching a huge rally on Wall Street. This news is huge news for investors and Alison Kosik there to explain to us what this deal entailed and why does it have folks excite d on wall street?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Okay. Suzanne, what this deal does is several things. In theory what it is going to do is to create a central banking union with the central bank overseeing the banks in the eurozone, because before this, it was like every bank for itself, and every man for himself. What this banking union does is important because there are 17 countries in the eurozone, so finally doing something novel and showing cohesion and putting one group over all of the banks so it makes coordinating the solutions when things go wrong easier and easier to put the money into the banks that are struggling to survive. Until now, the individual countries, suzanne, they had to borrow money to help the banks and that drove up the country's debt load which ultimately hurt the banks and made it more expensive for them to borrow money and meant they needed more money. What this does is to break the vicious cycle that is happening, and that is why you are seeing the investors so happy about the deal. And you are seeing the Dow rally 228 points higher right now. Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Wow. That's pretty amazing. Is this really considered a major breakthrough?
KOSIK: Well, you know, you talk to different people, and they are kind of skeptical about this. You know this, we have seen many of the European meetings come back with the short term fixes with the European debt problems to continue the stick around. And you know what this is all about right now? and what we are hearing about this deal is follow-through, and the finance ministers have to sit at the table and hammer out how the agreement is going to work. There are a lot of questions around it, like how many money is in the eurozone bailout funds, and guess what, it is not a bottomless pit, and investors are excited because it is the first time that the eu leaders have shown a sign of urgency to fix the crisis which is essentially restoring the confidence here on wall street at least for one day. Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Okay. Good news then. Alison, thank you very much. It is not just governments trying to get the finances in order, but how do you balance your own personal budget? Well, Poppy Harlow and the help desk to explain.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN: Hey there, everyone. Here on the help desk today, we're talking about your budget and how to balance your budget. With me Ryan Mack and Carmen Wong Ulrich. Ryan, this question comes for you. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got my first job in New York today actually, and how do I balance a budget when you live in New York City?
Reporter: And how much money are we talking about here, may I ask? Ballpark?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't found out yet, but I am thinking around $45,000 for the salary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Well, what do you think? It is expensive to live in any big city.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, this takes me back to the year 2000 when this young scared kid from Detroit was just moving out and starting his job on Wall Street.
HARLOW: Was that you? MACK: It was me. But what I had to do was I had to figure out how to be smart. I didn't wander too far deep into the hood and save a lot of money. I couldn't afford Manhattan prices, I got a roommate, I put a budget together. I put a plan together to figure out when I would like to start a business and thank God I did because I was able to start it about seven years after I moved here. And then don't get caught up in the hype. A lot of the individuals are hanging out and having fun and people are spending money like water, and it goes out frequently in New York. Just figure out, you know what? They might not have a plan. You should, stick to it and be wise.
CARMEN WONG ULRIGHT, PRESIDENT, ALTA WEALTH MANAGEMENT: That is my point, the spending here. About the budget, and it is not so much how much you are taking in, and a big component of where you live and how much you spend on that. But you're spending when you are young and I go before 2000 my friend, when I was making that much and you really have to pay attention. So I want you to have apps on your phone to save money, like Retail Me Not and the coupon codes, promo codes, never pay retail for anything, and make sure that you hang out with people that share your values and your need to stick to a budget.
HARLOW: Absolutely, guys. Thank you, no bad influences. If you have a question you want our financial experts to tackle, upload a 30- second video with your question to ireport.com.
MALVEAUX: Do you know who you are? I mean, do you really know who you are? Scientists can find out who you are by mapping your DNA. We're going to show you actually how it is done.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Your DNA. It says a lot about who you are at the most intimate level. It also says a lot about how long you have to live and what diseases, conditions you might face during your life. So now that we've cracked the human genetic code, what does it mean for modern medicine? Joining us now to talk about it, John Quakenbush, he's author of "The Human Genome" and a professor at Harvard University. And Chris Kibarian, President of Intellectual Property and Science for Thompson Reuters. Sometimes people think about this and they think oh, kind of complex, kind of heavy stuff here but in its simplest form, John, tell us where is the technology now in terms of how you map out your DNA?
JOHN QUAKENBUSH, AUTHOR: Well, the human genome is basically a blueprint for the proteins that make up the cells in your body. And, with the reference genome -- the first genome map that was created in 2000, what we have is the potential to go in a rapidly look at your DNA and reconstruct that sequence, compare it to the reference and look for differences, the small differences that might contribute to the kinds of things you talked about earlier.
MALVEAUX: So, for instance, what would I know if I actually got my DNA mapping? What would I find out?
QUAKENBUSH: Well, there's a limited amount we can find out today but we might find out, for example, your risk for breast cancer, your risk for certain types of colon cancer. We might know something about your potential risk for diabetes. But we're learning more and more every day. The real value of this technology is it allows us to build the data from many people to begin to understand what those associations are between DNA and disease.
MALVEAUX: Chris, how would you use that in the medical field?
CHRIS KIBARIAN, PRESIDENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, THOMPSON REUTERS: Well, the reality is there are a lot of different types of treatments and therapeutics that can cure disease. And the reality is, we're actually pretty far away from much of that technology turning into life saving treatments and that's why the Mayor expects we're at the very early stages of this innovation.
MALVEAUX: Give us a sense, John, how much does it cost now? Could I go in and actually get this done at a reasonable price?
QUAKENBUSH: The cost has fallen dramatically. Since 2007, it's fallen at about 33 percent per quarter. Today it's down to about $2,000 or $3,000 to generate the primary sequence. Interpreting it is a different story. There's opportunity now to collect that kind of data for you and me. I have a little boy he's six years old. I guarantee by the time he's 15, his genome will be sequenced.
MALVEAUX: Wow. That's pretty cool. So you'll know what kind of diseases he'll face?
QUAKENBUSH: We'll know more. Genetics is sort of quantified family history. So, we can learn a lot just by looking at you, talking about your family, what diseases occurred. And this just gives us more information along those lines to really try to understand your potential risk.
MALVEAUX: Chris, does this actually lower the health care costs if we have this kind of information?
It certainly can. Right now we're at the very early stages of this innovation. There's a life cycle to innovation. There's the discovery phase. There's the development phase. There's a delivery to market of life saving treatments. We're somewhere between discovery and development. And they're really, really many different types of companies, pharmaceutical companies that are involved, information companies, software companies, that are converging on this phase. But ultimately it's a public-private partnership that has to happen in order to turn this insight into life saving treatment.
MALVEAUX: Finally, John, do you recommend that people actually get this kind of DNA mapping? Is it important?
QUAKENBUSH: I would recommend it today because the amount of information that we can deliver today for you, a healthy, normal person, is pretty limited. On the other hand, if you have a disease like cancer, there's a recent study published that shows about half of the cancer patients whose DNA they sequenced, they could find something with a potential impact on their therapy. So, it depends on the application. Today no. At some point, yes. MALVEAUX: It's really fascinating stuff. Just to think of the future and what the possibilities are with that kind of information. John and Chris thank you so much. Appreciate it.
It's a tiny town in Colorado that dates back to the 1300s. There's only one medical facility and some people have strong opinions about the supreme court's health care decision.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Supreme court ruling on health care reform affects just about every American. It's a big issue, and the presidential race especially in the battleground states like here in Colorado. What do folks think about the decision? Martin Savage, he visited a small Colorado town to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVAGE, REPORTER, CNN: News of the Supreme Court decision arrived in Mancus about the time that folks sat down for their juevos rancheros in the Absolute Bakery. This rural south western Colorado town, population 1300, dates back to the days of the old west. Jean Archabeault is the editor of the Mancus times, first published in 1893.
JEAN ARCHABEAULT, EDITOR, MANCUS TIMES: We have snow birds. We have people just come for the summer and leave for the winter. We have people who have retired here and we have people who have lived here their whole lives.
SAVAGE: A bit about the area, politically. It voted 59 percent for John McCain in 2008. Folks say the conservatives were born here and the liberals mostly moved here. Veronica Egan came from New Mexico.
VERONICA EGAN, RESIDENT: I think it's wonderful. I think there are problems with law as it was originally written, but it's about time that the United States of America started taking caring of its own citizens.
SAVAGE: Jeff Mcelwain is a close to a permanent doctor as the town gets. The physician's assistant runs Mancus's only medical facility. 60 to 70 percent of his patients, he says, rely on some type of publicly funded health care program something he finds ironic given the criticism he often hears of Obamacare.
JEFF MCELWAIN, MANCUS VALLEY HEALTH CENTER: It's an interesting conversation for people that are either on Medicare or receive some type of federal assistance to complain about having government health care.
SAVAGE: Patient Betty Romero has health care insurance but she knows many who don't. She, too, is an Obamacare fan.
BETTY ROMERO, PATIENT: There are people who are dying of cancer because they don't have health care. Even though they're dying of other things, because they can't walk into a doctor's office and get the help they need.
SAVAGE: It may surprise you but unlike the rest of the country, the big news here in town isn't the supreme court's ruling on health care, instead, it's that. Wildfires that continue to threaten from just down the road. Still, it's easy to get people talking about health care, which I did with Will Stone who makes wagons for a living. He's against Obamacare mainly because of the individual mandate.
WILL STONE, WAINWRIGHT: I'd say that's the biggest burr under my saddle is the mandate. I just don't care for it. I don't like to be told to do anything.
SAVAGE: Matt Lauer owns and runs Fahrenheit Coffee Roasters. Like Will, he, too, is against Obamacare, not because he's against national health care. He just thinks the president's plan is the wrong one.
MATT LAUER, OWNER, FAHRENHEIT COFFEE ROASTERS: It's a gift to the insurance companies. It's not going to do anything to ensure health care to all in this country. I think that's the bottom line.
SAVAGE: Mancus may seem like a long way from anywhere, but I found it to really be a microcosm of America. From the mountains to main street, almost equally divided on the issue of health care. Martin Savage, CNN, Mancus, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: CNN newsroom continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.
