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Pentagon Bomb Plot Suspect Plea Deal; Washington Monument Staying Closed; Deja Vu Of The Repeal Obama Care; Hottest First Six Months On Record; Battle Over Guns On Campus; Battle Over Guns On Campus; Mobile Ads Can Steal Your Contacts; America's At The Boiling Point; Mistreating Afghan Soldiers; Millennials Enter Workforce; Blackberry Maker, RIM, Facing Tough Times; Obama, Romney on "Sales" Trips; Elderly People Abusing Drugs
Aired July 10, 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: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, we are focusing on the health care law that the Supreme Court already upheld but Congress men and women are still debating it.
Plus, we are watching presidential candidate Mitt Romney address supporters right now, that is in Grand Junction, Colorado.
And later in the hour, President Obama is going to address his supporters in Iowa. We're bringing you both those events, I want to get right to it.
The 26-year-old jihadist accused of plotting to use model airplanes loaded with explosives to attack the Pentagon and Capitol has now agreed to a plea deal. According to the Justice Department, Rezwan Ferdaus, he is going to plead guilty to two of six charges and faces 17 years in prison. He was arrested this September as a result of an undercover FBI investigation.
The best view in Washington, D.C. is going to be off limits for just a little bit longer. That is because the Washington monument will be closed for repairs for at least another year, maybe until 2014. It has been shut down since an earthquake hit D.C. last August.
And the members of Congress hard at work right now, maybe. House members are gearing up for a five-hour debate on a bill that would repeal Obama care. We are talking about the health care reform law that the Supreme Court just ruled constitutional. So get this, when the HHHhouse votes tomorrow, it's going to be their 33rd attempt to repeal this law. It passed only one time but was dead on arrival in the Senate. Still, has not stopped the Republican-controlled House from bringing it up for a vote 29 others times already.
I want to bring in our Congressional Correspondent Kate Bolduan to explain what is going on here, why the five hours of debate when we know this is going to be dead on arrival in the Senate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. I mean, the result of this vote, Suzanne, is a fore gone conclusion, but Republicans will argue that this is one of the reasons that voters voted them into power, voted them into the majority in 2010, to repeal the president's health care law. Just listen here first to House speaker John Boehner kind of explain -- saying just that, just earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: The American people do not want to go down the path of Obama-care. That's why we voted over 30 times to repeal it, to fund it, replace it. And we are -- we are resolved to have this law go away. And we're going to do everything we can do stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This question actually is for Congressman Hayworth. Since you've --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: But they also very well know -- they also very well know, Suzanne, that this bill is going nowhere, just as the 30 some odd other attempts to repeal or defund the law have gone nowhere in the past. So why are they going through this? Why are they spending five hours on debate in the House when they know that if -- when it does pass in the HHhouse it's going nowhere in the Democratic- controlled Senate? Well, one of the reasons is political messaging, and political -- trying to score political points. This is an election year, and we look through the lens of politics and the election for much of what's going on on Capitol Hill up until -- for the next four months. I mean, they know the polls.
Well, the American public is split on this overall. They know Republican voters of an overwhelming majority are opposed to the individual mandate as well as in a recent CNN ORC poll, Suzanne, they also saw that 55 percent, a small majority of independents are also opposed to that -- to the individual mandate. And that is a key constituency that both sides are clamoring for. So, this is the beauty of being in the majority. You can hold votes on the House floor, and you can hold three (INAUDIBLE) in three separate hearings today on an issue that you find important.
MALVEAUX: Kate, they call it messaging. They call it symbolism. It's been done on both sides for both parties.
BOLDUAN: Right.
MALVEAUX: Is there any concern folks see this as show boating, that they are going to have to face criticism here, that they're not addressing what people really are concerned about, jobs and the economy?
BOLDUAN: And that's something that Democrats are really trying to hammer home. You heard that today, and you've heard that leading up to this vote is Democrats argue, look, why aren't we talking about jobs and the economy as well as Bush era tax cuts? Why are you holding this vote when you know it's going nowhere? Republicans, I've heard them tell me time and time again, number one, they say, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. It's not like we're only focused on one thing. But also, Republicans argue the health care law is an economic issue.
Just look at the statement that I received from a spokesman for House speaker John Boehner earlier today. Michael Steel wrote to me, he says, the president's health care law is making it harder for businesses, especially small businesses, to grow and hire. The Supreme Court ruling that it is, in fact, a middle class tax hike and last week's lackluster jobs report reinforce the need to repeal it and replace it with common sense step-by-step reforms that actually lower costs. I should point out that graphic actually has a wrong Michael Steel. That's Michael Steel, the former chairman of the RNC --
(CROSSTALK)
-- not the Michael Steele that I speak to every day on Capitol Hill. But regardless, the Michael Steel that I speak to on Capitol Hill every day, he does make this argument. So -- and House Republicans also say, look, very quickly, they are already changing the focus back to economic issues, Suzanne. They've already announced that they're holding a vote by the end of this month to extend all of the Bush era tax cuts. As you know, President Obama came out yesterday to start making his push for only extending the tax cuts for middle class Americans not wealthier Americans, and that's the next fight. But as you can see, this is an important political vote today and they say has big implications in the forthcoming election.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Kate, appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: President Obama is taking middle class tax cut message on the road to the battleground state obviously of Iowa. He left this morning. He is meeting right now with a family in Cedar Rapids. His campaign tells us the president is talking to them about the benefits of, of course, his tax policies. And you know, the president came out yesterday, called for extending tax cuts for most Americans. I want to show you how it works. The 98 percent of Americans who get tax cuts, top two percent of the Americans, the richest, would not get that extension, those families making over $250,000. So, we just heard from Mitt Romney. He's at a town hall meeting in Colorado. Let's listen to him, and the reaction he has now to the president's tax plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This week, the president added insult to injury with another kick in the gut by announcing that he has a plan he said to lower taxes. Now, we were all excited when we heard that, but you got to be careful. When people in Washington say they're lowering taxes, hold on to your wallet, because, in fact, he didn't lower taxes for anybody. For some people, he announced your taxes are going to stay the same. In Washington, that's -- that means he lowered taxes. All right? So your taxes are going to be the same. And then for others, for job creators and small businesses, he announced a massive tax increase. So, at the very time the American people are seeing fewer jobs created than we need, the president announces he's going to make it harder for jobs to be created. I just don't think this president understands how our economy works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our White House Correspondent Dan Lothian in D.C. to talk a little bit about that. And Dan, we know that the audience that President Obama has, they really aren't hurting for jobs as much of the rest of the country. Their unemployment rate above five percent their compared to the 8.2 percent national rate. How does the president sell his economic message there where folks aren't hurting as much?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's such a good question, because it's not just Iowa but in other states, like where the president was last week in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where you had the unemployment rate much lower than the national average. And the way that the president has sort of pushed his message in those key battleground states is to say, look, you know, the situation you're in now is much better than the rest of the nation, but it's because of my policies. It's because -- as he points out, that he's been able to reel back the economy from a cliff Because of investments in infrastructure, he's taking some of the credit for the gains that you've seen in some of these key battleground states.
But the second message from the president, today in Iowa, will be one of the fair share for the wealthiest of Americans. The president is really trying to build his campaign around help for the middle class and say that the wealthy Americans don't need the help. The millionaires and the billionaires, at least when it comes to this tax issue, they don't need the help. The middle class families are the ones that are under a lot of pressure and stand to gain from the extension of this tax -- this Bush era tax cuts for at least another year, so that will be the message from the president. But as you heard from Mitt Romney and other Republicans as well have been saying that this -- in this economic environment, this is not the time to be raising taxes even on the wealthy, especially on those who are creating jobs -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Dan, you and I spent so much time last go round in Iowa there and the president obviously winning the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the nation. Does it tell you anything, the fact he's going back to Iowa again, the state of the campaign?
LOTHIAN: Well, it certainly does. I mean, as a campaign spokesperson said that this -- that that state, Iowa, means a lot to the president, because it was Iowa that essentially launched him into the White House. So, they realize that that's a critical state and that it's very tight right now. That the latest poll showing 44 percent tied up between the president and Mitt Romney in that state. And so, they still have a lot of work to do in convincing voters, especially those independent voters, to support the president. The economy, as I pointed out, alone, is not doing the job. So, this tax debate they're hoping will be able to prod some of these voters, especially in states like a Iowa.
MALVEAUX: All right. Can't take anything for granted. Thank you, Dan, appreciate it. Here's what we're working on for this hour.
(voice-over): Some college students say they've had enough of crime on their campuses. They want to pack a gun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE If you're being threatened walking to and from your apartment, when you should be concerned about your schoolwork, that's a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Had enough of the heat yet? A new report finds this is the hottest first six months on record in the United States.
And managing the millennials. We're talking about a generation, how these young adults are very different from boomers and gen-xers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Should packing for college include a gun? That is right. The long battle for concealed weapons on campuses is being reunited here, reunited in Georgia because of a recent spike in crime at Georgia tech. Joining us to talk about it is a young man leading the effort for guns on campus, Robert Eager. He is president and treasurer of tech's marksmanship club. Robert, good to see you. Good to have you on here.
ROBERT EAGER, PRESIDENT AND TREASURER, GEORGIA TECH STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION: Thanks for having me.
MALVEAUX: Give us a sense of why you feel so strongly about this issue.
EAGER: We've seen the violent crime against students escalate on Georgia Tech's campus over the course of the last three years. Initially entering the campus, we knew it would be unsafe in the surrounding neighborhoods that are considered high crime areas. But stepping foot on campus was considered safe. And especially last week with a robbery of a student inside of his apartment building, we feel students should have the right to protect themselves on campus just as they do anywhere else.
MALVEAUX: Does it worry you that there are many different studies that show if you weapon -- if you put a weapon in hands of folks who don't know how to use them and you -- they face a criminal, that person is going to take it away from you and it ends up more dangerous for you than it is for the person attacking you?
EAGER: Yes, if the person doesn't understand how to use their weapon. We encourage them to get training, to go through the licensing requirements here which require a background check in the state of Georgia and other licensing requirements to acquire that weapon legally, and then learn how to use it. And it's not always a best time to take out your weapon in a case when you're being mugged, it's only when you're at risk of your personal well being or something you consider important to your survival that you should use a gun as a last resort.
MALVEAUX: I want to snow our viewers how it looks across the country, because Georgia is one of the 22 states that ban carrying a concealed weapon on campus. The gun laws among the more lenient in the nation, but Georgia lawmakers, themselves, don't necessarily believe it's going to make students safer. They believe that this is actually more dangerous in terms of putting weapons in the hands of students.
EAGER: Well, clearly being more dangerous is something we're not expecting to happen. We've seen at all University of Utah state schools that have allowed carry since 2006, not a single incident has occurred with a licensed weapons holder doing something illegal with his gun on campus. People are capable of doing it safely in over six states that have allowed colleges the options to carry on 200 different campuses.
MALVEAUX: What do you think of this? We got a statement from Georgia Tech that says, it follows state law, the state law and border region policy, that most colleges suggest that students travel in groups, that they watch out for their surroundings, that these are the kinds of common sense security measures that will prevent students from being attacked. That they don't need to weaponize themselves.
EAGER: We definitely agree. And common sense safety measures are necessary while on campus. We've seen people ignore those entirely and get robbed. That's something that is critical to their safety.
However, we've now seen cases where people were walking in groups, noticed suspicious people behind them and tried to get away but were unable to do so. Or in their apartment on campus apartment, were mugged at night while they're sleeping. There's no way to get away from that if they're able to breach that many layers of security.
MALVEAUX: What is your next move? I know that you've got a FaceBook page. There are a lot of people who are liking what you are doing now. How do you get Georgia to change -- to active (ph) change its law?
EAGER: We're working right now with some state legislators, as well as Georgia Carry, to draft legislation that allow carry on campus. We've also been talking to incoming students of the freshmen class and their parents at all of our freshman orientation sessions and work to speak with the general population on campus. We're scheduling an opening meeting to offer information about that in August and we'll hopefully have a debate with the administration or at least with other individuals on campus who are concerned since the administration has simply told us they're following state law and don't want to comment further.
MALVEAUX: Have you then -- have you faced an attack? Have you been attacked personally yourself? Is this something that affects you personally? EAGER: Not on Georgia Tech's campus. I've been approached off campus at knife point in Atlanta before. Happened to be in front of an Atlanta Police Department cruiser, so I happened to be safe in that case. But criminals aren't terribly observant at all to their environment or what risks were posed to them in this case. But it's not something that's affected me on campus so much as my concern for my safety and that the safety of others.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.
EAGER: Thank you very much.
MALVEAUX: So, does it seem hotter this year than ever before? Well, you're not imaging it. The U.S. has a new record for the hottest first six months of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right. If you own one of the smartphones, you're not alone. According to research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more U.S. adults own smartphones than basic feature phones. But there is a problem. Tens of thousands of smartphone apps like Air Push, Phone Living, can actually hijack the phone and steal your context. Tech expert and Reuters columnist John Abell, he's joining us from New York to talk a little bit about this.
Tell us what's happening here.
JOHN ABELL, COLUMNIST, REUTERS MEDIALIFE: Well, there's a problem with some free apps which includes in app advertising. These are basically delivery systems for terrible advertisements that kind of take over your notifications. They change your bookmarks. They take your name and address and send them to the mother ship so that they can send you other things. It's kind of a small problem, but very annoying and potentially, because mobile ads are going to be such an important business, potentially turn people off to mobile apps.
MALVEAUX: So we've seen reports, as many as 5 percent of the free mobile apps use this aggressive ad network to make money here. What about the payouts? The ones that you actually have to, you know, put out the money for?
ABELL: Well, there's a couple of things going on here. These are mostly in the Android ecosystem. The Android marketplace isn't policed as well as the Apple iTunes app store. And it's also kind of limited to sort of free dumb things like wallpaper and fonts and stuff like that. Silly things that you really don't need.
The apps that you get from legitimate vendors that you're paying 99 cents or $2 for, generally speaking, will not have aggressive apps that do bad things to your phone. They may have aggressive ads that do -- that are in your face all the time, but they're not going to go into the operating system and do nasty stuff.
MALVEAUX: So is there anything, John, that we can do to keep our information safe? ABELL: Yes. Well, look, it's kind of a small problem. The basic advice is, like in the old days, don't download stuff that you really don't have any faith in. Keep away from those things. The problem will sort of take care of itself because the industry is very, very motivated to stamp this sort of thing out. So I think nature will take its course.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll have to wait and see. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, John.
All right, anybody who is guessing that it was the hottest year on record, you probably need to guess no more because now we've got a report from the government today saying that the first six months of the year were the hottest on record in the United States. And they've been keeping these records since I guess, what, 1895, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right.
MALVEAUX: Wow. So what is happening here? And, by the way, I experience, like, this apocalyptic thunderstorm that happened last night here in Atlanta.
MYERS: Apocalyptic (ph) it was (ph).
MALVEAUX: That was crazy.
MYERS: Yes. There was a lot of lightning. And actually that had something to do with the heat.
We have so much heat in the atmosphere now. And we've had so little dry areas across the country that just got bigger and bigger and bigger. We're almost in a whole drought for the whole eastern U.S. When the sun bakes on dry land, it heats that dry land up a lot more than it would heat up a mud pile, right?
MALVEAUX: Right.
MYERS: If it was muddy, it wouldn't be that hot. It wouldn't get to 120 degrees because the ground would just absorb some of that. The humidity would roll off. It would be the -- it's not the heat, it's the humidity kind of thing. It's been so dry over so much of the country that this dry dirt has given us so extra heat across the entire country.
Now, we talked about this hottest first six months. Believe it or not, this doesn't even count the last 10 days that have been brutal that have broken 2,200 record highs. So we're going to probably see this hottest seven months out of the year coming up rather soon. It's not going to take very long.
The heat has moved off to the west. It's Vegas. It's Reno. It's all the way down to Phoenix. And Las Vegas was 113 degrees yesterday. Boise, Idaho, wouldn't expect that, 108. That's only 7 degrees above normal today, though, for Vegas, 113. You get all the way to San Francisco and Fresno, cooler along the coast. Boise today at 102. So what's going on? What caused all that you saw yesterday? There was a front. This cool air here. And that's a relative term because it's in the 80s. But warm air down here or hot air down here, it's a relative term, it's in the 90s. So along this front is where all of the battles are happening. The up and down. The moisture. The motion going up and going down. Those are the storms we saw here in Atlanta, all the way through the Carolinas.
And, in fact, we even had an awful lot of rain out in Texas. We're downloading some pictures now from Texas. Not that far from San Antonio, where Webberville picked up almost 10 inches of rain in three hours. And there has been some flooding there. We're trying to download those picture pictures now. It's not a big area of flooding, but there is flash flooding going on. When there's this much heat and humidity in the there, you can get an awful lot of stuff in the sky.
And one more thing to talk about, Emilia. Emilia. Some kind of a strange name. But it's a category four hurricane in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
MALVEAUX: Oh.
MYERS: Big storm out there, but not going to hit anything. Good news.
MALVEAUX: Oh, that is good news.
MYERS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: We need some good news, Chad.
MYERS: That's right.
MALVEAUX: All right, thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: A hospital that the U.S. has given million of dollars to is treating patients in horrible conditions. Watch CNN's exclusive report up next.
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: The U.S. is offering up to a $1 million reward in the search for the killers of a U.S. border agent. Brian Terry died in 2010 in a border gunfight. Well, guns at the scene of the death were later determined to be part of the botched Fast and Furious arms trafficking scheme. Well now the feds have unsealed an indictment charging five men with murder, four are still fugitives. The men are believed to be in Mexico.
And a federal judge has thrown out cyclist Lance Armstrong's lawsuit against the U.S. Anti Doping Agency. Now the judge said the suit, which Armstrong filed on Monday, is full of legally irrelevant claims aimed at increasing media coverage. The agency accuses Armstrong of using performance enhancing drugs. The judge told Armstrong he can refile his case without any of the overheated rhetoric he used the first time.
Afghan soldiers who are wounded in battle often wind up at the military hospital in Kabul. And all too often their suffering is only compounded, even exploited. Well, this afternoon, U.S. lawmakers are going to hold a hearing on these abysmal conditions brought to light now by an American doctor, and later by Pentagon inspectors. Our Barbara Starr, she's got an exclusive report. But first we have a warning that some of the images are hard to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Afghan soldiers starving, lying in dirty beds, with festering wounds, denied painkillers. All of this at the Kabul national Military Hospital. A hospital the U.S. paid more than $100 million to help the Afghans run.
COL. SCHUYLER GELLER, MD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Things as simple as dressing changes are not done. Patients become infected and they die.
STARR: These days, a world away, Schuyler Geller, a retired Air Force doctor, tends to his Tennessee farm.
GELLER: This will be kind of a little haven.
STARR: From February 2010, to February 2011, he oversaw training of Afghans at the hospital. These photos were taken by his American military staff.
GELLER: There are patients that are starving to death because they can't buy the food. They have to bribe for food. They have to bribe for medicine. Patients were beaten when they complained about no pain medicine or no medicine.
STARR (on camera): And you're not supposed to worry about that?
GELLER: That's what we were told.
STARR (voice-over): Pentagon officials do not dispute that the photos from 2010 show hidden but deliberate abuse by Afghan staff, but they insist that after a U.S. inspection, conditions have improved significantly. In this memo to Congress, Geller alleges two senior U.S. generals, who oversaw Afghan training, Lieutenant General William Caldwell and his deputy, Brigadier General Gary Patton, in 2010 delayed bringing in Pentagon investigators because of their political concerns over the looming midterm U.S. elections. Geller says Caldwell was angry his staff wanted the inspector general to investigate and that Patton ordered a delay out of concern it would embarrass the Obama White House.
GELLER: And then he said, but we don't want to do -- we don't want to put that request in right now because there's an upcoming general election and we wouldn't want this to leak out.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, (R), UTAH: That's just not acceptable.
STARR: Congressman Jason Chaffetz's House Oversight Subcommittee is investigating the general's alleged behavior.
CHAFFETZ: That's a very serious allegation. But it didn't just come from one high-ranking military official on the ground, or two. We have several of them who have stepped forward that said, yes, indeed this is the case.
STARR: Geller says he wants the truth to come out.
GELLER: The biggest frustration is our own leadership's response and how slow that was and how inadequate that was.
STARR (on camera): Both Caldwell and Patton declined to comment. But the Pentagon is looking into Geller's allegations. Caldwell eventually did request a DOD investigation into the hospital, but that began after the 2010 elections. A senior Pentagon official tells CNN there's no indication the White House knew about any of this, and that conditions at the hospital are better. They're even inviting TV cameras in.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: They're known as the Millennials, the generation that grew up texting, using iPads. There's a lot more about them that's different from generations past, like how they behave in the workplace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: New generation entering the workforce. Most companies not prepared for this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: There was a time when you would expect to work for one or two companies for your entire career. Now you're likely to change jobs every three or four years. Technology has raced ahead and changed the way we work. And while all these changes and many more have been significant, they may not compare to the change that is coming -- the Millennials.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I love that.
Joining me from California, senior consultant at Red Tree Leadership and co-author of the book "Managing the Millennials," Chip Espinoza.
Good to see you again, Chip. Tell us about the group, the Millennial generation. They are largest in numbers compared to the baby boomers. For Gen-Xers, like myself, what does it mean when you look at the sheer numbers of how many folks are in this group?
CHIP ESPINOZA, SENIOR CONSULTANT, RED TREE LEADERSHIP & AUTHOR: Well, normally, when you look at numbers in the workplace today, you have the boomers, a large generation, then you have the Millennials. And it creates tension because usually the largest group gets to set the agenda. And so what's happened is boomers have been able to set the agenda for years. Gen-X came along. They were a smaller generation. When they wanted to kind of act out and say, this is what we want out of work, the baby boomer just kind of gave them the smack down.
(LAUGHTER)
They had to fall in line and put their head down and do the work.
But what they're finding, Millennials come into the place, say, this is how we want to work. To give you an example, they want to have a say in how they do they work and they want to have a say on when they do their work.
MALVEAUX: Are there any advantages of having Millennials in the workplace? We have quite a number on our team.
ESPINOZA: Oh, absolutely. They're incredible. I mean, they're fun. They're energetic. As a matter of fact, in my research, and my colleagues with Red Tree, what we found is that when a manager had a change initiative they were working on, they preferred to have Millennials on their team. Whenever they wanted somebody to embrace change, they absolutely went for the Millennial.
MALVEAUX: And I understand --
(CROSSTALK)
ESPINOZA: By the way, too, another thing was that -- and this came out, was managers, the ones that were effective with working with Millennials, said Millennials made them feel younger.
MALVEAUX: That's a nice thing. We all want to feel a little bit younger.
(LAUGHTER)
I understand they're great at multitasking, don't mind moving. They don't want to get driver's license. They travel in different ways. What is the biggest challenge, you think, facing -- in the workforce when you have all the Millennials there?
ESPINOZA: I think their expectations. I mean, they've grown up in a society or a culture that really is for them. And so if you look at everybody in their life prior to work life, everybody's there to help them succeed. When they show up at work and have that same expectation, they have kind of a culture shock. Because managers say, hey, you're here to do what I need you to do and I'm not necessarily here to make you a success. And so I think that's probably one of the greatest challenges.
And another thing, too, Suzanne, is that this is the first generation that did not need an authority figure to access information. And if you think about it, it changes the dynamics and the rules for relationships with authority. They don't have a felt need to build a relationship with authority. And so when they don't show up in front of the manager and say, hey, how do I do this, tell me about your experience, tell me about your career, the manager goes, boy, they think they must know it all or maybe they don't need me.
MALVEAUX: Is that because of the role of technology?
ESPINOZA: Absolutely. I mean, technology really has changed things when it comes to -- even in communication in the workplace. If you talk to a Millennial, one of the biggest challenges they face in the workplace is miscommunication. And they know it's partly because their communication style is through texting, messaging, and they realize that the curtness of that communication style can create problems with older workers.
MALVEAUX: Do we know if it carries over into their relationships in any way? Are they likely -- more likely to live together, get married, or how does that translate?
ESPINOZA: Well, I think what we talked about last week -- and by the way, this is becoming "Tuesdays with Chip."
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: I love it. We'll make it a regular segment. That's OK.
(LAUGHTER)
ESPINOZA: What we talked about is they're putting off things that earlier generations -- the milestones that we talked about. They're putting them off until longer. I think some of the things you're seeing -- yes, they're more likely to co-habitat rather than get married. If you also look at it from a religious perspective as far as their faith, you'll find a lot of them aren't -- they're unaffiliating from, you know, churches, denominations they grew up in. And politically, they're the same way. They wouldn't really identify Republican or Democrat as much as they identify as Independent.
MALVEAUX: All right. Chip, we'll have you back on Tuesday. How's that? "Tuesdays with Chip."
ESPINOZA: Perfect.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: All right.
ESPINOZA: That's great.
MALVEAUX: Thank you, Chip. Good to see you.
So you remember how ubiquitous the Blackberry used to, right? We called them crackberries because people had them, just couldn't put them down. Even President Obama, when he was a Senator, said he would take his Blackberry with him to the White House, of course. But times have changed. The Canadian company that makes Blackberries has its annual meeting today. It's facing pretty tough questions from shareholders.
Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange to explain this.
It's a company that's lost, what, half a billion dollars last quarter, is that right?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been really, really tough for RIM. RIM hasn't been able, Suzanne, to keep up with the competition. So now Research in Motion executives are facing some very angry shareholders. They want to know who the future holds for the Blackberry maker. The company has about $2 billion left in cash. That's really not a lot for a company of its size. It's just been a very tough time for RIM over the past 12 months.
Look at how the stock has performed. It's plunged 75 percent. The stock is sitting at $7.33 right now. It's down another 4 percent. The Blackberry operating system has been delayed countless times, over and over again. RIM is laying off thousands of workers. Believe it or not, it needs to do more. Early reports coming out of the meeting that's happening there say RIM expects the next several quarters to continue to be challenging.
It's a sad story because the company was at the forefront of the Smartphone game with the Blackberry, Suzanne, but it hasn't been able to keep up with Apple or Google devices. They keep moving forward and RIM is just stuck.
MALVEAUX: There was another piece of news that was important. A report showing now folks are actually putting more on their credit cards again. Alison, is that good for the economy? Is that a good sign?
KOSIK: Well, there are a couple ways you can look at it. For the good side, you know, many believe wracking up debt, in a reasonable amount, of course, is generally viewed as a healthy sign for the economy. This report, by the way, came from the Federal Reserve and it shows Americans actually borrowed $2.6 trillion, with a "T," in May, near the all-time high. That's up $17 billion from April. This includes credit card debt, student loans and auto loans. It shows borrowing for all those things rose sharply. It could show consumers are more confident about the economy and more comfortable taking on more debt for big-ticket items.
Of course, the flip side to this is many Americans are out of work. Their incomes are stagnating. People could be charging more to cover their everyday expenses and actually taking out more student loans, Suzanne, because tuition prices are skyrocketing -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: How's the market doing? What are we looking at today?
KOSIK: Markets have some modest losses right now. The Dow is down about 27 points. It's having a problem looking for direction after three days of losses on the Dow. The market had been solidly higher earlier on optimism about progress being made in Europe. Eurozone finance ministers agreed to give Spain a $37 billion in a bank bailout. But investors kind of are shrugging that off now, looking ahead to the second quarter earnings season. It's not supposed to be great. You're seeing that negative sentiment weigh on stocks at the moment -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Alison.
How do you find a low rate on your house payment? First, you have to understand how the mortgage rates are set.
That's what Poppy Harlow and the "Help Desk" team are talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, everyone. Here on the "Help Desk" today we're talking about your home. A very, very important asset likely for me.
With me, Ryan Mack and Carmen Wong Ulrich.
Carmen, take a listen to this question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How come all the mortgage rates are different at different banks?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That's a good question.
(LAUGHTER)
And they're often not as low as we see advertised.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PRESIDENT, ALTA WEALTH MANAGEMENT: I love this question because it's a basic understanding of what a mortgage is. Think about it like this. It's a gallon of milk. Why does a gallon of milk at the store next to you is priced differently than the gallon of milk at Costco or Sam's Club? It's a product. A mortgage is a product like any other product you buy. Think of the financial institution as the retailer. So they are selling a product. So that's why the price is different wherever you go. There are marketing costs. There are all these costs, overhead. So they can price it where they need to do. Is it a promotion?
Here's what's important to understand. The prices that are advertised, you may not be able to get those prices.
HARLOW: Yes.
ULRICH: Can you get that mortgage rate? That's your responsibility. That's about you. That's the only difference between buying that milk and buying the mortgage.
MALVEAUX: I'm glad they don't check my credit card --
(CROSSTALK)
ULRICH: Before you buy the milk. The price would go up or go down. You have to pay attention to what you can control. That is shopping around then making sure your credit is great, fantastic and on par and will affect your rate.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: There are certain things, again, you can control, maybe going to a credit union. A lot of credit unions -- you can go to a smarterchoice.org that can find a good credit union in your neighborhood that gives you good levels of interest rates.
HARLOW: A lot of people think you don't qualify to go to a credit union.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: And that's not the case.
MACK: Be part of a fireman or policeman credit union by knowing a fireman or policeman.
(LAUGHTER)
So --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Exactly.
All right, guys, thank you very much.
If you have a question you want our financial experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your question to ireport.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: President Obama set to speak live at a campaign stop in Iowa in just a couple of minutes. The president's theme is going to be helping the middle class.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Both President Obama, Mitt Romney on sales trips today, if you will. President Obama selling what he calls his middle class tax relief plan, Romney selling himself as the best possible replacement for the president who he is calling an extreme liberal.
Our national political correspondent, Jim Acosta, is joining us.
Jim, we know they keep fighting, jabbing at each other, especially over this tax issue, but the polls still show they are deadlocked. Is this an issue that is swaying anybody either way?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we're going to have to find out. Wait and see. Latest polls out of Colorado, where Mitt Romney is today, and out of Iowa where President Obama will be speaking in about an hour from now, they are deadlocked. And that is basically the case in nearly all of these swing states. So that is why you are seeing this super-heated white- hot rhetoric being thrown back and forth between these two campaigns.
You know, a lot of this was getting going last week, Suzanne, over this issue of Mitt Romney's foreign assets. This morning, the Obama campaign came out with a new web video on some of this stuff. And Mitt Romney sort of touched on this at an event that just wrapped up a few moments ago out in Grand Junction. He actually used the words "Bain Capital," Suzanne, and defended his business. Said, you know, look, we weren't always successful in investing in companies, but he cited a study from Bain Capital that claims that 80 percent of the time that they were successful when they invested in companies and 5 percent of the time they weren't. And Romney told the crowd out there in Colorado, well, of course, you're going to hear about those times, those 5 percent of the times when we weren't successful.
And so it was interesting to hear him talk about that, Suzanne. It's something we haven't heard a whole lot out of Mitt Romney in this campaign. He doesn't really talk about Bain Capital that much out on the campaign trail.
MALVEAUX: And, Jim, you mentioned there was a new web video. This is attacking Romney for what they say is his lack of transparency. Do they believe that that is a successful pitch here, that that is gaining some ground because they've created this new video? I imagine they think this is going to be something people will pay attention to.
ACOSTA: That's right, Suzanne. I have to think that the Obama campaign believes right now this is one of their best cards that they're playing. Vice President Joe Biden, in excerpts from a speech that he's expected to give later on this afternoon. He's going to be talking to a La Raza crowd later today. And in that speech, he says to the crowd, Mitt Romney wants you to show us your papers, but he won't show us his. So really going after Mitt Romney with some tough language, referring to his tax returns. The Obama campaign has basically come out and said, Mitt Romney, show more of your tax returns. And it really is sort of a new stage of the campaign going after Mitt Romney on this issue.
We saw this back in South Carolina, Suzanne. You remember, during the South Carolina primary, there was a lot of pressure on Mitt Romney to show some of his tax returns. Even Chris Christie was saying, I think it would be it would be a good idea for him to do that. We're seeing a return to that now and no surprise, the Obama campaign is doing it -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: You bet.
MALVEAUX: Drug abuse, a growing problem now for the elderly. It's only going to get worse as the senior population increases. Will the resources to deal with it actually be there? We'll tell you what a new study says.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Within 20 years, the elderly population in America, those over 65, will actually double. With that comes the growing problem of substance abuse and mental health issues. More resources to diagnose and deal with it, of course, is going to be needed. Are those resources going to be there?
Elizabeth Cohen with the results of a study.
What's the situation? Do we know how bad it is?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Institute of Medicine is very concerned about this. They say between six and eight million elderly Americans have substance abuse or mental health issues and use very strong language to describe it. They say this borders on a crisis. That's the way they put this, "borders on a crisis."
MALVEAUX: Is it harder to treat with mental illness, deal with mental illness with the elderly?
COHEN: In many ways it is harder. Not only do you have mental illness, depression, anxiety, whatever, and you also have dementia on top of that, and also on top of that they may have lost their spouse or closest friends because they're elderly. You have other problems that layer on top of it. Maybe they have physical problems as well.
MALVEAUX: Are there even enough doctors who specialize with the elderly there to take care of them, to address this growing problem?
COHEN: This is a big problem. Geriatricians are trained to take care of elderly people. If we take a look at elderly people in this country -- let's take a look at this one first. Geriatric fellowships, training programs to train geriatricians, are 40 percent unfilled. Let's say these jobs don't pay particularly well, let's say, compared to becoming a surgeon. The other thing is, three to four million elderly Americans become elderly, turn 65. As you said, we're seeing more and more in this elderly category.
MALVEAUX: It's something they've got to pay attention to.
Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks. MALVEAUX: You probably heard of the best selling book "50 Shades of Grey." Now there's a musical to the x-rated trilogy, and we have the preview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: "50 Shades of Grey," x-rated trilogy, runaway best seller, it was only a matter time before someone came up with a musical. In this case, it's a mini musical.
Here's our own Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "50 Shades of Grey" has gone from mommy porn to musical. At least it won't make you blush 50 shades. It's relatively clean.
(SINGING)
MOOS: The musical pits a reader who loves the book against a reader who hates it.
(SINGING)
MOOS: The makers of this musical are brothers.
VIJAY NAZARETH, CO-CREATOR: The idea, I was in the subway and I saw all women reading it, from teenage girls to grandmothers. This is so well intent
(SINGING)
MOOS: Eventually, a gay character makes his entrance.
(SINGING)
MOOS: There have been other musical tributes to this lady porn phenomenon, turning verbatim words into lyrics.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Jimmy Fallon featured "50 Shades of Grey" karaoke.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Seriously, that's from page 277, honest.
Comedians mockingly vie to record the audio book version from Gilbert Godfrey --
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- to Ellen DeGeneres, although she chose to paraphrase the overheated prose. ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, ELLEN: He guides his hands across my secret garden. I'm just going to add sound effects if that's OK because I think -- apologize.
MOOS: What has been whipped up are sales. The "Wall Street Journal" reports the trilogy has sold almost 20 million copies in the U.S. in five months. It took the "Dragon Tattoo" books three years to accomplish that.
And while some couples say the book's done wonders for their love life --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have a big bed but we sure get around it.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: -- the musical has it both ways.
(SINGING)
MOOS: So they've written their mini musical, but have you read the book.
ANTONIUS NAZARETH, CO-CREATOR: I did not read the whole book but --
(CROSSTALK)
MOOS (on camera): And you read just a little bit?
VIJAY NAZARETH: Passages here and there.
ANTONIUS NAZARETH: It's really -- some of it is awful.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS (voice-over): No shades of grey in that book review.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
