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CNN Sunday Morning
Troubled U.S. Economy
Aired March 23, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just rolls into this big financial mess. You almost feel like you're breathing underwater.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: They tried to do everything right, walking away before taking on a bad loan, but they say she got scammed in a major way and now they are paying the price this story will outrage you.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Also this is probably the best $50 million the taxpayers of Valley Park, Missouri ever spent and we are going to tell you why.
HOLMES: And when the button says "do not push," your natural inclination is to push. But, we'll tell you why you really should not push the button. We'll tell you about this gas station goof. Yes, we'll explain.
NGUYEN: But you're right, when you see a sign that says "do not push," you usually want to push.
HOLMES: Well, good morning, folks. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, bringing you news from around the world and they'll be pushing your buttons this morning, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: That's what we do. Good morning, folks, I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for being here and yes, March 23, today, and we have a lot on the plate.
HOLMES: And first, financial turmoil and economic maneuvering slapped us in the face pretty much last week.
NGUYEN: Oh, yeah. And we're taking closer look, though, at the economy, because it is issue No. 1 for Americans and in a remarkable week, we are all stunned by the meltdown of bankruptcy headed at Bear Stearns, the fifth -- the nation's fifth largest investment bank.
HOLMES: And perhaps its boldest action since the great depression, the feds administered the sale of Bear Stearns to J.P. Morgan Chase for a mere $236 million.
NGUYEN: Well, then the fed slashed a key short-term interest rate by 3/4 of a percentage point to 2-1/4 percent. HOLMES: Now, these steps followed moves to lend $100 Billion in cash to banks. The goal in all of this, to prop up the financial system and head off a recession. The turmoil triggered wild swings on Wall Street, but the DOW ended the week up, Thursday. Markets closed on Friday still worried about the economy heightened from the comments from former fed chairman Alan Greenspan wrote: "The current financial crisis in the U.S. is likely to be judged as the most wrenching since the end of World War II."
NGUYEN: Well, the economic slowdown is hitting many people right in the wallet where it hurts.
HOLMES: Yes, and they hope the next president will turn things around. CNN's Christine Romans reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of America...
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The challenge for the presidential candidates: Restore the American dream, that ability through hard work, talent and smarts to do better than the generation before you.
ISABEL SAWHILL, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The American dream is alive, but somewhat frayed at this point.
ROMANS: Here is how it is frayed, according to exhaustive analysis by the bipartisan Economic Mobility Project. This country faces the most staggering income inequality in the century. Men in their 30s today are earning less than the men of their father's generation. Families are better off, only because women have gone to work, and households are earning two incomes, much of the extra income eaten up by childcare and a highest coast of living. A child born poor in this country has only a six percent chance of rising to the top income bracket in a lifetime.
LEO HINDREY, FMR FORTUNE 500 EXECUTIVE: This failure of economic mobility may be, in fact, the greatest, most acute failure of the economy over the last seven to 10 years.
ROMANS: A failure felt more deeply, depending on race. The group finds "some subgroups, such as immigrants, are doing especially well. Others such as African-Americans are losing ground." Almost half of African-American children born to middle class families will eventually fall down the income ladder.
HUGH PRICE, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It's often said that blacks are canaries in the coalmine. It's what has happened to the children of the black middle class merely an early warning sign of broader dysfunction in the system that will begin to spread.
ROMANS: The big questions -- Why? And what are we doing about it? -- still, unanswered. It is a direct challenge to the presidential candidates and their advisers. (on camera): One of the biggest challenges, education. Researchers urged reform at all levels of education to make sure that quality schooling is available to move all children up the economic ladder.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And if you are among the millions of people looking to get ahead, maybe land a New job, you need to stick around. Later this hour, we'll tell how to you spiff up the resume of yours, and would you believe it's OK to lie on it?
NGUYEN: That's true. That's what she says.
HOLMES: Now they tell me?
NGUYEN: I know. Why haven't we been doing that all along? What was I thinking?
All right, so we're going to turn now to a success story out of Missouri. The town of Valley Park is right on the edge of the bloated Meramec River. But, thanks to a new levee, it has been saved from severe flooding. Take you live now to our Reggie Aqui, who's been out there in the water, today.
We saw you dumping all that water out of your boots earlier, but you know, where are you is actually one of the positive stories out of this storm.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It is, I must confess, Betty, I made the mistake walking two feet that way and fell very deep into the water. So, I'm not going to do that again. But in fact, what I'm going to do is show you progress, because if I just walk about 10 feet this way, you're going to see just how far this water is receding. This is, of course, good news. I'm about to walk on dry land.
But the even better news is, right down there, on the other side of that overpass of Highway 44, is a town that didn't need sandbags, it didn't need volunteers, all it need to do was buy themselves out of this problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice over): They live and work just a few feet away from this, the Merrimack River, the same river that flooded a couple hundred Missouri homes in neighboring towns and caused 1,000 people to flee to shelters. It should have done the same in nearby Valley Park, Missouri, including Bill Coleman's boat propeller repair, flooded so many times before.
BILL COLEMAN, BOAT PROPELLER REPAIRMAN: In 1994, the level was up here at 37.4.
AQUI: But, the shop is dry, as is the entire downtown.
(on camera): The only thing stopping this water from getting into your town is what we're standing on.
MAYOR JEFFEREY WHITTEAKER, VALLEY PARK, MISSOURI: This levee.
AQUI: How highway is this levee?
WHITTEAKER: It's 43 feet.
AQUI: And how high did the water get up?
WHITTEAKER: Thirty-eight feet, 38.7 feet.
AQUI: Man, I meant, that is close.
WHITTEAKER: It's real close.
AQUI: The difference between a flooded town and a dry one?
WHITTEAKER: Fifty-thousand dollars million.
AQUI (voice over): Mayor Jefferey Whitteaker describes a 20-year endeavor, even with a major federal grant, this $50 million levee is still by far the most expensive project in the small town's history. Without it...
WHITTEAKER: City hall would be underwater, school district -- the community would just be paralyzed.
AQUI: It all came in just the nick of time. The levee project was still being tweaked as recently as one year ago.
WHITTEAKER: Blue collar town.
AQUI: It's been a nerve-wracking couple of days for the city's fire chief, pacing the levee wall. But it appears the $50 million investment paid off.
CHIEF CHARLES WILKER, VALLEY PARK FIRE & RESCUE: In the last 30 hours, I've had about three hours worth of sleep.
AQUI (on camera): When are you going to get back to sleep?
WILKER: In about 15 minutes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI: Well, hopefully that chief did get that much-deserved sleep and we're told by city officials they're going to try to get this intersection, if they can, opened up later this week. The really good news is, they never had to shut down that major highway, Highway 44, that gets you from these outlying areas back into the city of St. Louis -- Betty.
NGUYEN: A lot of people looking at them thinking, man, we should have spent the money and got one of those ourselves. All right, Reggie Aqui, joining us live, today. Thank you, Reggie.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of flooding to tell you about in Arkansas, as well. This is Pine Bluff, which has seen its share of high water. Northeast Arkansas, as well, getting a lot of runoff from the flooding in Missouri, some rivers in Arkansas at their highest levels in more than 90 years.
NGUYEN: Well, more than a week after a tornado slammed into downtown Atlanta, the body of a man has been found. That body was discovered under a pile of bricks and rubble, yesterday. Now, an autopsy is being done to determine if he was the victim of the storm. At least 27 people were injured in that tornado. But until now, police believe no one had been killed in the storm. But, another tornado killed, a day later, did kill two people in north Georgia.
HOLMES: And I guess we'll find out for sure after the autopsy, but we were all thinking, wow, we dodged a bullet, nobody was killed in that thing downtown.
NGUYEN: There were so many people, here, thousands of people that were in downtown Atlanta when it came through and some of the pictures, when you see the mass of this tornado. It was quite a large one, that expanded over a large area. Reynolds Wolf is joining us now with the latest on the weather out there.
We're not talking any tornadoes today, are we?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, we're not going to see that kind of activity. What we're going to seeing -- one of the top stories is going to be just the snowfall that we're seeing in parts of Missouri. A lot of the people that may be in this flood- ravaged areas are looking out and seeing flakes come down. The last thing you want is any kind of precipitation, but the good news, this is going to be incredibly light and not going to add too much to the problems they've already had there. Floodwaters, as I mentioned, are receding as we speak. It's going to take about five days, or so, before things get back to normal in terms of the river levels; however, they're going to be waterlogged for some time to come.
(WEATHER REPORT)
OK, we're going to switch gears a little bit. I want to show you a great iReport that was sent in on this Easter. T.J., I especially want you to pay attention to this. In this iReport, the message we have, this is Melanie Saab, from Harwood, North Dakota, and it says this bunny is a -- she made this snow bunny, it is 10 feet high. OK, if that bunny is 10 feet high, she's at least a nine-footer. She is, she's a nine-footer and I'm telling you, I know that Arkansas is playing North Carolina in March Madness, they're playing the No. 1 team in the country, they need all the help they can probably get...
HOLMES: We'll take her.
WOLF: That's a Razorback for you.
HOLMES: We will take her. WOLF: That's what I'm talking about.
HOLMES: She's what -- 9'6" at least. She has to be.
WOLF: Or maybe it's a misprint, but I'm thinking she's nine feet tall.
NGUYEN: And what is that bunny made out of?
WOLF: Snow.
NGUYEN: That is incredible.
WOLF: Snow bunny in Harwood, North Dakota. It happens.
HOLMES: Well, we'll keep you away from it. We know about that infamous video of you taking out a snowman not too long ago.
NGUYEN: That is true.
WOLF: You know, it's always good when these stories come up and then we -- yeah, it is. I can't leap through the screen.
NGUYEN: Leave it alone, Reynolds, step away from the snow bunny.
WOLF: Well, if the bunny is 10 feet high, then I'm getting pretty close to being an eight-footer. Who know, maybe the Houston Rockets will give me a call. All right guys, happy Easter.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
Speaking of Easter, Christians around the world celebrating this day on Easter morning, as well. They were up bright and early.
HOLMES: Yeah, a day, of course, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A huge crowd turned out in the cold and rain as Pope Benedict XVI led an Easter mass at St. Peter's Square, followed by the traditional blessing.
NGUYEN: And some U.S. troops in Afghanistan attended a special Easter service in their camp in Kabul this morning. The chaplain said the service would help the soldiers deal with the dangers they face every day.
HOLMES: Also, Arlington National Cemetery in the pre-dawn hours, estimated 5,000 folks attended the sunrise service at the Amphitheater, there.
Well, he spent a career as a whistleblower, first as an undercover cop, now as an NBA referee. We'll take a look at the Bob Delaney's amazing life story.
NGUYEN: That's a new way of whistleblowing.
Oh, and you just thought we had one implosion. Oh, no. The walls come crumbling down in Pittsburgh and we are going to show you why. But, first...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just outright theft, except instead of using shotguns, they're using documentation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Wow. That was actually attorney general, there, of California, talking about a couple ripped off in their own home, and now they might lose it. You won't believe how the loan officers allegedly pulled it off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The weekend is complete now, Betty. You know, we criticized our staff yesterday on the air. Our implosion unit is usually better about giving us more implosions.
NGUYEN: This is true.
HOLMES: And they went through a dry spell, but now we got two implosions, two days. They're doing better.
NGUYEN: And we didn't even expect this one, but this implosion, in Pittsburgh, wasn't easy. They actually tried and failed last month, so this is the second attempt. But, they got it right this time, as you can see. The old hospital is being demolished to make way for a new hockey arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
HOLMES: Oh my goodness. Did they have to hire a new implosion unit? A new staff, a new company?
NGUYEN: They fired the first team? Hmmm, I don't know.
HOLMES: We can't knock down a building. All right.
We'll turn to Sara Jane Olson. You all remember this name? Well, she's actually back in prison this morning. She the 1970s radical. She got out Monday, she wasn't supposed to be, actually. Not up for parole for another year. There was an error which has since been fixed. Now, the former SLA fugitive, back behind bars.
NGUYEN: Well, rescuers are searching for two missing people after their boat capsized on the Tennessee River. Six other people have been plucked from the water and taken to the hospital. The sheriff's office says two children were on that boat when that accident happened near New Johnsonville. But right now, it is not clear if the children are among those rescued.
HOLMES: Well, we will turn back to the economy, now. Issue No. 1, it's one thing to be duped by a predatory mortgage lender because of fast talk and fine print, but what happens when you refuse to deal, the deal still goes through?
NGUYEN: You've already said no and it still goes through? Well, our Thelma Gutierrez spoke with one couple who walked away from a bad mortgage deal and still got ripped off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ronald and Tracylyn Sharrit was living the American dream, they owned their own home, raised six kids. Now they are in financial quick sand after what the California attorney general calls one of the worst mortgage scams he's seen.
JERRY BROWN, CA ATTY GENERAL: This is just outright theft, except instead of using shotguns, they're using documentation.
GUTIERREZ: California fraud investigators say a group of young, successful mortgage brokers and escrow agents ran Lifetime Financial and several other companies. The CEO, 25-year-old Eric Pony.
TRACYLYN SHARRIT, HOMEOWNER: It's too late to stop it now.
GUTIERREZ: The Sharrits say their ordeal began two years ago with a phone call, telling them they could refinance at a low fixed rate.
T SHARRIT: They could get us a rate as low as 6.36 percent fixed for 30 years.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): When you heard that?
T SHARRIT: I thought it was a really good deal.
GUTIERREZ (voice over): The Sharrit's went to sign the loan, and said they walked away because it wasn't what they were promised.
T SHARRIT: That evening, we got a phone call from Eric Pony and wanted to come to our home, all the way from L.A. to come to our home and make nice-nice and bring better documents.
GUTIERREZ: But again, they say Eric Pony's loan wasn't fixed or low interest. The Sharrit's discovered somehow the loan went through, a loan, they say, they never signed.
T SHARRIT: It was a 40-year loan amortized starting at 9.5 percent interest with two balloon riders and a prepaid penalty of 20 percent. Why would we do that to ourselves?
GUTIERREZ: How did the loan go through?
My signature showed up later in the loan documents in the lone documents at "Tracy Sharritt," my name is Tracylyn. My name is spelled with one "t" not two "t's," they misspelled my name.
GUTIERREZ: Sharrit says her name was forged on notarized documents.
LARRY ROBERTS, DEP D.A. SAN BERNARDINO CO: They created documents that were simply false and they would submit them to the escrow company and the escrow company would process and submit it to the lender. T SHARRIT: It just rolls into this big financial mess that you're -- you almost feel like you're breathing underwater.
GUTIERREZ: The Sharrit's payments nearly doubled. Their son Matt, who's fighting in Afghanistan, helped out.
T SHARRIT: I have a son who's in a warzone, who's more worried about his parent right now than he is about what's around the corner for him.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): While the Sharrit's were struggling to make their house payments, investigators say Eric Pony was living the high life, right here behind these gates.
(voice over): It all came to an end this week. The state seized all of Pony's assets, including Ferraris, a Bentley and 13 different properties. Prosecutors told the Sharrits, Lifetime Financial processed thousands of loans.
T SHARRIT: Not just us, but seniors and single mothers with children. It could happen to anybody.
GUTIERREZ: Pony, his sister Paulette and four others were arrested charged with 47 felonies, including conspiracy, grand theft and forgery. During their arraignment, each of the defendants pleaded "not guilty" to the charges.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Wow, that is an eye opener. Didn't even sign it, those documents were forged.
HOLMES: And we keep asking, how you can legally be held liable if people know the name was forged?
NGUYEN: I guess they had to go through the legal maze to prove that they didn't sign it, because they said their mortgage rates went up.
HOLMES: Oh my goodness.
NGUYEN: What a mess.
HOLMES: And the Ferrari and the Bentley, the kicker.
NGUYEN: Gone now.
HOLMES: Well, the slumping economy is affecting you in more ways than you know, probably. Check out cnnmoney.com/specialreport, issue No. 1, from protecting your money to finding a job that's right for you. There a ton of information that could save you some cash. Issue No. 1, noon eastern this week, plus we've got interactive tools and a lot more for you at cnnmoney.com. NGUYEN: And you probably remember, you know, that old advice that says don't lie on your resume, whatever do you do, do not lie on your resume. Well, you can forget about that, because coming up in 20 minutes, our guest says you can lie on your resume. Oh, yes, you can. Plus, how to answer those trick questions in the job interview.
HOLMES: I could have got a better job. I'm just saying.
NGUYEN: Oh, wouldn't that be great. No, I'm kidding. But, we'll have the latest on all that. But first, this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEEPAK CHOPRA, HOLISTIC HEALTH EXPERT: So, when I'm writing a book my attitude is god is going to right the book and I'll collect the royalties and all is well.
HOLMES: And it's working well for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's a pretty good plan. Is that all it takes to have a best seller? He's got a lot of them.
NGUYEN: You need to start writing some books.
HOLMES: We're going to have more from my interview from Deepak Chopra, that's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, did you know, there is something you can do right now, this instant, that doesn't cost you a thing and could change your life? It's just one of the many things I learned recently when I sat down with author and holistic health expert, Deepak Chopra.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Chopra wasn't always a best selling author. In fact, no one would publish his first book so he used his own money to publish 100 copies and sold them at the Harvard Bookstore.
CHOPRA: I was not discouraged at all. And I think for anyone who wants to really make a difference, you have to be independent of criticism, you have to be independent of flattery and you have sing your song, because every human being has a unique song to sing and they should just sing it, not worrying who listens or what they think.
HOLMES (on camera): What would you say the title of your song?
CHOPRA: The title of my song is "Infinite Possibilities."
HOLMES: Are you a happy man?
CHOPRA: I have divine discontent.
HOLMES: Divine discontent, not really a happy man?
CHOPRA: Yes, in the absence of discontent there's no creativity. You know, so, you know be happy and don't be too happy.
HOLMES (voice over): One of Chopra's most famous books outlines "Seven Spiritual Laws" for success, one for each day of the week. He attributes his own success and happiness to following those laws.
(on camera): Why do you people have such a tough time? Because so much of it seems so simple.
CHOPRA: They convince themselves it's difficult. They convinced themselves that they don't have the time. It doesn't take any time, it's just shift inside. You do the same things that you do every day, but the way you do them, your attitude is different. So, when I'm writing a book my attitude is god is going to right the book and I'll collect the royalties and all is well.
HOLMES: It's working well for you. What little nugget could you give somebody right now, a piece of advice to help them immediately in their day to day life?
CHOPRA: Take five minutes everyday, close your eyes, put your attention in your heart and ask yourself, "Who am I and what do I want? What's my purpose? What's my contribution to the world? What do I look for in a good friend? What do I do in a good friendship to nurture that friendship? What are my unique skills and talents and how can I use then to help humanity?" Your life will change because if you live those questions, you move into the answers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: That's some really good advice. I mean, who thinks about taking five minutes? We're always so busy, you know, five minutes of your life.
HOLMES: The "Seven Spiritual Laws," there's one for each day. Today is the "Law of Pure Potentiality" and you're supposed to take time to be silent -- Betty.
NGUYEN: That's going to be difficult, especially up here.
HOLMES: Well, if takes 30 minutes for yourself and take in the intelligence of being around you, is what it is, the "Law of Pure Potentiality."
NGUYEN: Well, how about I be silent and you read this.
HOLMES: I will. Folks, the wall of silence from John Edwards to Al Gore. Democratic heavy-hitters are keeping their lips zipped on who they support for the presidency. See, they are even seeing silence right now.
Also, a little later, we're looking at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I thought I had "cop" marked right on my forehead, I thought everybody knew what I was doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, before Bob Delaney was an NBA whistleblower, he really was a whistleblower as an undercover cop. We'll tell you how he went from the mean streets to the hardwoods. And Betty is still practicing the "Law of Pure Potentiality" next to me, she is being quiet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. it's Easter. Happy Easter.
HOLMES: Happy Easter to you, Betty Nguyen. I'm T.J. Holmes. We got a quick check now of our top stories.
Some people in the Midwest breathing a sigh of relief after heavy rain and rising floodwaters. The town of Valley Park, Missouri, has been spared from flooding among the Meramec River by a new $50 million levee.
NGUYEN: And at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI used his Easter message to appeal toward an end of conflict. During Sunday mass at St. Peter's Square, he called for peace in Iraq, the holy land and also for peace in Tibet. Thousands turned out in drenching rain to attend that mass.
HOLMES: And all the presidential candidates are taking it easy like Sunday morning. None of them have official campaign events scheduled. Senator John McCain will be flying back from London, he's been in the Middle East and Europe for the past week. Senators Clinton and Obama taking time off. Clinton at home in New York, while Obama is hanging out in the Caribbean.
NGUYEN: Now, that's the way to spend a weekend, huh?
HOLMES: It is a good way to do it.
NGUYEN: Well, Barack Obama goes on vacation with a big endorsement, though, in his pocket. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announcing his support, this week. But there are a couple of heavyweights who don't seem ready to commit just yet. CNN's Brian Todd has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One of the most hotly sought after endorsements, John Edwards, who beat Hillary Clinton in Iowa and won 26 delegate slots before dropping out. Edwards still is not saying whether he will endorse Clinton or Barack Obama and didn't tip his hand on "NBC's Tonight Show."
JOHN EDWARDS (D), FMR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the case of Senator Obama he's inspirational, he gets people excited; he gets young people out who otherwise may not be involved in the process. Senator Clinton has a toughness and a tenacity and experience that has value. So, I think both -- either of them, I think, will be a great candidate and I think either will be a great president.
TODD: Both Clinton and Obama have visited the Edwards house since he dropped out. A former top aide to Edwards says he is speaking frequently with both and has also consulted advisers about who to endorse or whether to endorse at all.
(on camera): So far, Edwards has divulged nothing and a former top aide to him says he may not, even to those closest to him. The former aide says that is part of his pattern.
(voice over): Also still silent, Al Gore, who won the popular vote for president in 2000 and endorsed Howard dean's failed candidacy in 2004.
GLORIA BORGER, SR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm told that he didn't really want to insert himself into the middle of this campaign because if he had, say, endorsed Barack Obama it would have brought up the psychodrama between the Clintons and Al Gore.
TODD: But, if the race is still undecided at the time of the convention, could Gore take on a different role?
ROGER SIMON, POLITICO.COM: You are going to need someone to step in, meet with both senators and say, look, we don't want to go to 55 votes on the floor of the convention and we don't want to leave anybody with a bad taste in their mouths. We've got to work ought a deal in this room and I am here to help you come to some agreement. I think that is the role, if any role exists, that Al Gore could play.
TODD: Some other high-profile Democrats, like Jimmy Carter and Howard Dean, have pledged to make no endorsement and they, too, could play a role in brokering an agreement near the convention.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Let's talk about the Bill Richardson endorsement, the other endorsements possible. CNN political editor, Mark Preston, a friend of ours here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Sir, always good to have you. Tell us, is there any way Bill Richardson -- is there any kind of behind-the-scenes deal going on, where he -- any chance he's endorsing now because he thinks this could help him get, I don't know, a cabinet position, a cushy ambassadorship or something down the road?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well T.J., he's been there before, certainly he was a key player in President Clinton's administration, ambassador to the U.N., he was the energy secretary. Look, his backing of Barack Obama certainly was a blow to the Clinton's. He was seen as someone on the inside. Certainly during the presidential race, when he, himself, was seeking the nomination, at times during the debates, he would appear to come to Senator Clinton's defense when it looked like she was getting ganged upon.
What his motives are, you know, we don't know. I think it's fair to say that Bill Richardson, if offered, would probably take the vice president slot.
HOLMES: But, he was the same one out there yelling about experience and how much experience he had and how important that experience was and now he's with the one -- with the guy who a lot of people say has the least experience out of everybody left.
PRESTON: Yeah, absolutely and that's actually a big endorsement for Barack Obama at a time now when Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are fighting for every superdelegate, right now. I mean look, this is what it's come down to, it's come down to these superdelegates, these party officials and these elected officials and Bill Richard comes out and says, look, I did talk about experience, you know, through the whole campaign, I think that Barack Obama actually can overcome that now and does have that experience. That means a lot, so.
HOLMES: Is it -- as I say, he we were talking about Gore, we're talking about John Edwards, is it advantageous for them to endorse someone? I mean, these guys on the sidelines, they don't have anything to win or lose, really, if they -- if they just stay out of it, so I mean, what -- what is it in for them? I mean, does there need to be something in it for them before they endorse?
PRESTON: You know, let's look at this as two separate situations, here. Someone like Senator Edwards, the North Carolina primary is coming up on May 6. I think there'll be a lot of pressure on Senator Edwards to actually make an endorsement before that primary. Will he do it? We don't know. I'm sure that Senator Edwards certainly is looking down the road to see what role he might play in an Obama or Clinton administration.
I think Al Gore, at this point, probably won't make an endorsement. I think that he is looked at on one of these party elders and if there needs to be a negotiation held right before the convention, that he would help lead that and that would be his role in history.
HOLMES: All right, last couple of things here I want to hit on. I want to touch on McCain, also, Florida and Michigan. What in the -- I mean, it looked like it is possible now for the delegates there to count. Surely, Obama is not go for a plan that would let the delegate be seated the way that they are now. There are not be re-votes, we understand, now, in Florida, for sure. Looks like Michigan, either. Are they just out of mix? And that's certainly going to hurt Democrats in November.
PRESTON: Well look, I don't think their votes are going to count towards the nomination. I think that that storyline is over at this point. But they will be at the convention. There's no way that Democrats are going to tell Democrats from Michigan and Florida that you're not allowed to come to Denver to help nominate the nominee. Having said that, I think in the end, these Democrats will still come out, they're still going to vote for the nominee. Look, they've had eight years of a Bush presidency, right now, they want to see a Democrat in the White House. Right now, this has been embarrassing, but it's not been fatal.
HOLMES: But man, the delegates won't count. It's going to be a brawl in Denver, possibly, Mark. And last thing here, McCain.
We saw him on his world tour, if you will. We was in Europe, also in the Middle East. It was not a campaign trip, if you will. He was traveling with a delegation, there, from the Senate, but, still, how important is this for him to look presidential?
PRESTON: Very important, on two quick points. One is, he is a senator, he's a senator Republican member of Congress, he does make these trips. For him to go overseas right now, it makes him look statesman like. He goes, meets with top leaders. He also went over to Iraq at the time of the 50th anniversary. He's been a big supporter of the surge in Iraq. We've seen the violence, certainly, cut down. But also, right now, all the headlines are being dominated by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with John McCain going overseas and having these meetings; it has allowed him to continue to be on the front page -- that is very important, right now.
HOLMES: And you know what, you mentioned Barack Obama, there, about the headlines. I'm sure he appreciates that you and I just made it through this entire interview without talking about Reverend Jeremiah Wright. So, maybe that is behind.
PRESTON: I'm sure, perhaps it is, for his sake.
HOLMES: All right, Mark Preston, always good to see you. Sorry about UMass not making it to the NCAA tournament. There's always next year. All right, well, good to see you, buddy.
PRESTON: Take care, T.J.
NGUYEN: Yeah, nice of to you say. You still have to get past North Carolina, today.
HOLMES: Yes, the Razorbacks will be fine, just fine.
NGUYEN: OK, we'll see.
HOLMES: Hopefully you'll forget about it by next weekend.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Well, this person has spent a career as a whistleblower, first as an undercover cop, now as an NBA referee. We're going to take a closer look at Bob Delaney's amazing life story.
HOLMES: And $2 gas? Woo! Where can we get this stuff? Divine help at the gas pump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a break from high gas prices, yesterday. In Houston, a local church allowed people to fill up at a gas station for $1.99 a gallon.
NGUYEN: That's great.
HOLMES: A church paid the extra costs. Of course, the gas is probably around $3 or something like that, like everything else around the country and the cost to the church was about $6,000.
NGUYEN: Faith at the pump. I tell you, I don't remember when gas was $1.99 a gallon.
All right, residents in Alamosa County, Colorado, they are taking advantage of free bottled water, but only because they can't drink the tap water -- 138 cases of salmonella have been linked to the local water system. Only one person still hospitalized, but officials plan to flush the system with chemical cleaners on Tuesday. No, that could be weeks before it's safe to drink the water.
HOLMES: And you can rate your doctor, your teacher and now a police officer. Yes, a new Web site, ratemycop.com lets you post comments and evaluate any police officer in the country. Some police departments want the site shut down, however, they say it provides too much information about the officers putting them at risk. But, the site's owners say it's the same information you'd find on a traffic ticket. So, Betty, bring in some of your tickets and let us...
NGUYEN: Yeah, I have plenty of them. But, that's difficult, because most of the time the people who want to sit down and take the time it takes to...
HOLMES: Have a beef with the cops.
NGUYEN: Yeah, they have a problem with the person, so I wonder how many positive messages you're going to see on that board.
HOLMES: I know you've had good experiences that you've told me about.
NGUYEN: Every now and then, they'll let me off, but I do have a stack of tickets to show, nonetheless. But, we shall move on.
From the mean streets to the hardwood.
HOLMES: Yeah, we're talking about an undercover cop, here, who turned in his badge for a career as a different kind of enforcer. CNN's Larry Smith has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Bob Delaney has spent two careers as a whistle blower. Years before the referee every stepped on an NBA court, he walked in these footsteps as an undercover New Jersey state trooper, infiltrating the mob.
BOB DELANEY, NBA REFEREE: We made up our own little crew and started this trucking company that we thought was going to end organized crime in six months. SMITH: He was 23, in uniform just a year-and-a-half when his resignation was faked and Bob Delaney became Bobby Covert.
DELANEY: The legitimate business went on in the front and, you know, if we had some stolen loads coming in, we'd bring it to the back, offload it, put it on to clean trucks and take it away. If you can get a piece of this business and you've got 28 going around the state of New Jersey, you take a piece from all 20 and that's how you're gathering your money.
SMITH: "Project Alfa" was supposed to be a six-month assignment, it turned about three years of Bobby Covert wearing a wire, daily.
DELANEY: I would say a year-and-a-half before I felt fully comfortable. I thought I had "cop" marked right on my forehead. I though everybody know what I was doing.
SMITH: Only after the first year and by joining with a key mob informants, were inroads made into major crime families. But constantly surrounded by mobsters, as the operation moved to a larger trucking company, Delaney felt his freedom shrinking.
DELANEY: This was desolate down here. You know, just the swamplands in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, and, you know, you're just on a dead end street. The longer it goes, the more you peel away Bob Delaney and the more you become Bobby Covert.
Morality changes, your language changes, everything about you changes.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Project Alpha ended with more than 30 arrests.
Delaney thought it would be the greatest day of his life.
(END GRAPHIC)
Bobby, how can you do it to us? How can you do it to me, I'm your friend? I can tell what everybody had on their feet the rest of the day, because I couldn't pick up my head. That was the guilt that came. Then I realized I was closer to them than I had thought.
SMITH: He a hard time looking at himself, as well. Only guilt and paranoia stared back.
DELANEY: You have to come to a realization that I was doing my job. I didn't do anything wrong, but you have to work through that.
SMITH (on camera): How long?
DELANEY: It took years upon years. Years upon years.
SMITH (voice over): His way back came on the court, trying to get in shape, moonlighting as a high school ref. DELANEY: I was probably wanting to get back to something a lot calmer in my life. And those days were calm, either in high school or playing college ball. I mean, basketball was like a saving grace. That was therapy for me.
Hand-check, no shot! No!
There is emotion and crisis and chaos, at times, and you have to be the person who in control, and I'm drawn to that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And Delaney has actually been an NBA referee for 21 years, now. And this year he was one of the refs chosen to work the NBA all-star game. So, that's an honor. He's doing well.
NGUYEN: Yeah, absolutely. Well, some folks definitely are not doing well, because of tough economic times.
HOLMES: And so if your 9:00 to 5:00 just ain't getting done for you, or what if you're being cut loose, as they say? Stick around, 44 insider secrets to getting a new job.
NGUYEN: And that includes lying on your resume. You have to see this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, now it is time for us -- time for me to get myself together, here, and check in with Howard Kurtz in Washington to see what's ahead on CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES. Good morning to you, Howard.
HOWARD KURTZ, RELIABLE SOURCES: Good morning. Glad you're getting together. Coming up, Barack Obama challenges the media to conduct an intelligent debate about race. We'll look at how the correspondent and pundits measured up and why a top FOX news anchor scolded his colleagues for being anti-Obama.
Another rough week for the economy raising questions about what journalists knew and why they didn't sound the alarm months ago. CNBC Wildman Jim Kramer joins the discussion. Plus, the media awash in sex scandals, from Eliot Spitzer to David Paterson in New York to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in Detroit. Is this about holding politicians accountability or boosting ratings and circulation?
That's a heard on RELIABLE SOURCES.
HOLMES: All right, we will see. Howard Kurtz, got a good one going, this morning. We appreciate you. We'll see you soon.
NGUYEN: All right, so with the economy in crisis, how do you land your next job? Well, Cynthia Shapiro is the author of "What Does Somebody have to do to get a Job Around Here?" and she joins me now.
In fact, you have you 44 insider secrets that will get you hired, according to this book of yours, and one of them is -- we will to take a second look at this one, though, how you can actually lie on your resume? I mean, we've been all been told never lie on the resume, because that will come back and hurt you. In fact, we've seen some politicians see their downfall of because of it. But, you say you can actually do it. Tell me how.
CYNTHIA SHAPIRO, AUTHOR: Absolutely, you can lie on your resume. Now, I know this goes against what so many people have been taught. But, the key here is that your experience is yours. And people don't understand that they can actually take things off their resume. You don't have to put everything on your resume.
NGUYEN: So, you're not saying that you did something -- I don't know, a particular position that was a lot higher than what you actually did, but you're saying just omit some of the things from your resume.
SHAPIRO: Right. The key is, you need to know what you should never, never try to do that will land your resume immediately in the trash and then the things that you can do to help maximize your resume into be the marketing tool it should be.
NGUYEN: Give me an example.
SHAPIRO: OK, some things you should never, never do is lie about their education, that's still the No. 1 thing that people lie about on a resume. So, it's the No. 1 thing hiring managers check, it's far too easy to check. Also, saying you worked for a company you didn't work for, huge no-no, very easy to check. Land your resume right in the trash. However, if have you something on the resume that is a short-term, bad luck experience that you are really tired of trying to have to explain in an interview, that may be a great candidate for taking off your resume. And the rule of thumb is if it's on there, it's going to be scrutinized, it's going to checked. If it's not on the resume, there's nothing to check.
NGUYEN: Well, it's kind of lying, I guess, by omission.
SHAPIRO: It is.
NGUYEN: You also says your body will betray you. And now, you're talking about when you're in the actual interview, your body language?
SHAPIRO: Right. There's this interesting study that came out that showed in an interview -- and an interview is a giant first impression -- in an interview, only seven percent of the first impression is based on what you say.
NGUYEN: OK. So, hands in the pocket that means lack of confidence. Touching your nose, is that are you lying. Really?
SHAPIRO: Yeah, isn't that a good one? Yeah, watch the politicians, to see if they touch their noses.
Yeah really, you want to wait until after the interview to scratch it. There's a whole list of them in the book. You know, pointing your knees toward the door makes you look like you want to flee.
NGUYEN: Get out of here, Cynthia. Just because my doors are pointed toward the door means I want to get up and leave? Oh, come on.
SHAPIRO: You know, you are being scrutinized so heavily in an interview, and what happens is your body language supports or erodes everything that you say. So, if you look like you are doing some negative body language, it's going to looks like you're hiding something, and the hiring manager is going to give you a tougher interview than he or she gives to anyone else, because they are going to dig to see what are you trying to hide.
NGUYEN: All right, you have so many other good things in this book, like best interview questions not only to ask, but the best way to answer some of these interview questions. But very quickly, before we go, how do you know if your job is in jeopardy? Because a lot of people are facing difficult times and that's one of the biggest questions they have right now, is will I have a paycheck next week?
SHAPIRO: Absolutely. People are really running scared out there. There are a couple of things that you really need to watch. The first is, don't listen to what your company says. It's really hard for companies to say that they may be experiencing tough times. Remember, Bear Stearns told everyone everything was fine about a week before catastrophe struck.
So, open your eyes, look around, look for things, especially watch the money. Has your company lost clients recently, lost big contracts? Is there a hiring freeze? Is there a raise freeze? Did bonuses disappear? Are they not bringing in the equipment that they need? Are they outsourcing? These are all things you really want to look at that could show the company might be struggling. There are also dangerous signs that you need to watch for yourself to see if you are personally in jeopardy.
NGUYEN: All right, really good information in your book. We are simply out of time. Cynthia Shapiro, with the book "What Does Somebody Have to get a Job Around Here?" And I notice you didn't scratch your nose during this at any time, so you definitely told the truth, today and we do appreciate it. Thank you.
SHAPIRO: Thank you so much.
HOLMES: Well, we don't know where her knees were pointed, she could have been ready to get up and get out of there.
All right, well folks, hope you learned something in there. Also, when the button says "do not push," you really should not push that button. We will tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, we want you to check out this video, because it is burning of the Internet. Just another day of paying an arm and a leg at the self-serve pump. Oh, what happened right there? Well, take a look.
OK, we don't know what set off the fire extinguishers, it could have been a prank, but when this cleared, it was certainly a heck of a mess that was left. But, yeah, this is all over the Internet right now.
I was waiting for the sound, though, there. There is someone yelling, "What just happened, here?"
And that was my pause, but we will move on. No pausing going to the sex scandals in government. We definitely heard about them, this month. Once centers around the mayor of Detroit, city counsel wants him to resign, but he says he is staying right where he is. Howard Kurtz has much more next on RELIABLE SOURCES.
Plus, airstrikes, roadside bombs, a little electricity problem. On LATE EDITION, we'll get an update on the Iraq War as America faces hard economic times. LATE EDITION starts as 11:00 Eastern, but first here's a check of this morning top developments.
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