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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Makes Key Treasury Appointments; NBA Great Barkley Reports to Tent City Jail; North Korea Holds Parliamentary Elections; Clinton Says President Will Visit Turkey Soon; Experts Still Gloomy on Economic Outlook; Master Beekeeper Removes Insects From Atlanta-Area Home
Aired March 08, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Good morning to you.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's 5. Isn't it really?
NGUYEN: It -- it really should be. But because it is daylight- saving time, it's actually 6:00, folks. And we're still who we are, right? So far? Betty Nguyen, T.J. Holmes.
HOLMES: T.J. Holmes. We got (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: We're here. We're awake.
HOLMES: But no, we're going to have a good morning. Good morning to you all. Hope your clocks are about right, that everybody blew off (ph) this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes. Hope you're feeling human at this hour.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Because it is 6:00 a.m. out here on the East Coast.
HOLMES: All right. But welcome to you all. A lot of stuff we're working on, as always, on a busy Sunday morning.
President Obama, he's announced some key Treasury appointments this morning, and they are badly needed. Tim Geithner has been working non-stop and on his own pretty much. We're going to be taking a look at who will be helping out the Treasury secretary and try to help shore up this shaky economy.
NGUYEN: Also, Charles Barkley shows up for his three-day jail sentence, but not without a media circus. And not without a few comments, shall we say?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BARKLEY, FMR. NBA PLAYER: Let's be realistic. I mean, I'm not going to kill myself. I just -- this is a screw-up on my part, and that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Ah, Chuck. But he had a whole more to say. Strange kind of news conference. You don't see things like this every day.
NGUYEN: Yes, he covered a wide range of topics.
HOLMES: Yes, including President Obama. He talked a little about -- a bit about Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff, Chris Brown and Rihanna. Yes, this was all before he went in to serve his sentence. But a whole lot more of that coming up for you this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: (SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's the Dolly Parton remake. Yes, she did it just for this show. And we are going to be showing you more of that straight ahead.
HOLMES: You love the nails (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: I do, how she plays music on her nails.
NGUYEN: We are going to start with this guy, getting some much- needed help. That's the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner. And he needs some help badly right about now. President Obama has now picked three candidates to fill some of the Treasury Department's openings.
Now, nominated as assistant secretaries -- you might not recognize these names but you'll get to know them: David Cohen, Alan Krueger and Kim Wallace. Right now, all are serving as counselors to Geithner. But still, they don't have any real authority or any power. They can only advise right now.
NGUYEN: Well, Turkey will be the first Muslim country that President Obama will visit in office. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the trip during her own visit there. Administration officials confirm that it will happen next month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: But I was thrilled when the White House called on the plane as we were coming and was able to finalize this decision, which I'm excited about as a demonstration of the very high value that the president and I place on our relationship with Turkey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, to North Korea now. Election happening there, however it's a bit of a formality many people consider. But it's important for a different reason. Now most believe -- people believe that Kim Jong-Il and the Workers Party have hand-picked the candidates here. Again, that's the formality part. However, Kim's youngest son is running. So a lot of people are keeping an eye on this to see who could emerge as a possible successor to Kim Jong-Il.
NGUYEN: Change and controversy. President Obama is set to reverse a major decision from the Bush administration. The president spent the weekend at Camp David. He's due back this afternoon, and let's hope he got a lot of rest, because he has a very busy schedule.
Here it is: Tomorrow, he signs an executive order overturning President Bush's limits on funding embryonic stem-cell research. On Tuesday, he turns his focus to education, when he gives a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And on Thursday, he and Vice President Joe Biden lead a conference on the economic-stimulus package.
HOLMES: Well, stem-cell funding, of course, always a controversial topic. The research could help those suffering from several illnesses, from diabetes to Parkinson's disease. Also, a moral dilemma here. And that's where the controversy comes in.
The Vatican newspaper today calls the research "deeply immoral." So what exactly is this stem-cell research? You hear it all the time. What exactly does that mean?
Here now, CNN's Campbell Brown and chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Let -- Let's walk people through this.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure.
BROWN: There are different kind of stem cells. Explain to people what's so controversial about what the president is going to announce on Monday.
GUPTA: Well, you know, when you talk about embryonic stem cells, the thing that is so controversial is, in order to get these cells, you have to destroy embryos. That's a simple way that you can put it. And that has led to controversy that has extended many, many years.
But your point is a good one. When you say stem cells sort of as an umbrella term, you are referring to several different types of cells. Adult stem cells are not controversial. You take those from adults. You can take them from their bone marrow, their liver, their blood.
There's also something known as IPS, induced pluripotent cells. You don't need to remember the name, but remember this: You can take normal skin cells and expose them to certain viruses that almost make those skin cells revert backwards into embryonic stem cells. Those are also not controversial.
But this idea of creating federal funding for embryonic stem- cell research is something people have been talking about for some time. And we're hearing, like you are, there's going to be a reversal of the existing policies on that very issue on Monday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, should President Obama allow funding for stem- cell research? That's our e-mail and our online Facebook question of the day. You can e-mail us your answers at weekends@cnn.com.
Also the topic on -- like I said, on Betty and I's Facebook pages. You take a look at Betty's here, in particular, right now. But she has it posted on her page. Also, you can find the question and put the answers up on mine as well.
Also, we got Twitter boards up as well this morning. Our Twitter page, you can find us there as well and send the comments in. We will be sharing those with you this morning. We're starting to get a few in already, but we will certainly be sharing those. So please, keep those answers coming.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
You know, in the meantime, the president is also wrestling with the recession. There is the possibility of yet another stimulus package.
HOLMES: Another one? Where's all this money coming from, Betty?
NGUYEN: Well, for the most part, it seems like it's you and me and all of you out there.
HOLMES: Yes, and our Elaine Quijano now telling us the latest jobless numbers really giving the White House and really the whole country all kinds of headaches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. economy has shed nearly four and a half million jobs since the country slipped into a recession last year.
Unemployment last month soared to 8.1 percent, its highest level in a quarter century.
Economist Mark Zandi says get ready for even worse.
MARK ZANDI, MOODY'S ECONOMY.COM: Well, I think 10 percent -- I think that now seems likely. And that probably won't happen until all the way into the spring/summer of 2010. So all indications are that the job market is in for a rough ride.
QUIJANO: Against that backdrop, President Obama hopes to restore hope.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead. But I also believe that we will get through this; that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before.
QUIJANO: Obama says his administration is already taking action to create jobs, spark lending and slow down home foreclosures.
OBAMA: That's why my administration is committed to doing all that's necessary to address this crisis and lead us to a better day.
QUIJANO: But in an interview with "The New York Times," the president avoided predicting when that better day might come.
OBAMA: How long it'll take before recovery actually translates into stronger job markets and so forth is going to depend on a whole range of factors.
QUIJANO: Some experts say the crisis is so bad, the president will need to do much more beyond the massive $787 billion economic- stimulus plan.
ZANDI: Yes, I'm afraid so. You know, the $800 billion package that was signed into law -- you know, it was a good package, a reasonably good-size package, pretty well-designed. I think it will be helpful -- we'll see that later in the year.
But if I were constructing it, I would have made it larger.
QUIJANO: The Obama administration has left the door open to another economic-stimulus package, and the latest jobs numbers could make that a more urgent priority.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, a lot of jobless center probably around the country overwhelmed right about now, including in Texas, your home state.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: "The Dallas Morning News" reporting that the volume of calls to centers there more than doubled from a year ago.
NGUYEN: All right. Listen to these numbers though: About 26,000 people file unemployment-insurance claims in Texas each week. The call centers have been adding workers. The Fort Worth staff has been doubled to 244 workers. Texas does have $1 billion for the unemployed, but like many states, the fund is running low.
The National Association of State Workforce Agencies says about 30 states have potential funding problems.
HOLMES: All right. I want to take you to Massillon -- Massillon, I should say -- Massillon, Ohio. The high school there, there's a job opening. Seven hundred people applied. The job...
NGUYEN: Wow. One opening?
HOLMES: One opening. And Betty, the job? Janitor.
NGUYEN: Really?
HOLMES: The position of custodian, one job, 700 people applied. Some of them that are applying have all kinds of backgrounds. But everybody going after this one job.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRY MASON, BUSINESS MGR., PERRY LOCAL SCHOOLS: Plumbing, tile work, electrical, carpentry. People certainly on the -- I guess residential-building industry who are looking for a good, stable jobs and -- and good pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now the school district there has extended the deadline for applicants until Monday because of the huge response.
Now this job -- of course, everybody's looking for a job right about now. But this one in particular pays about $15-16 an hour. Not bad, but also comes with benefits.
NGUYEN: With benefits. That's the main thing.
And you know, when you look at all those applicants, you are -- whoever they pick, I bet, is going to be so overqualified for this job.
HOLMES: Yes, it's a good point.
NGUYEN: This person could really maybe even do it in their sleep, you know? So overqualified for it. But there's a lot of people out there falling on hard times, no matter what it is that you do.
You know, talk about downsizing in a tight economy, one CNN iReporter in California is basically living in a closet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ZAMBRANA, CNN IREPORTER: Most of my life is now in this closet. Pretty much everything I own is here now. As you can see, it's not terribly big, but it's not -- not the worst place in the world you could be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, she's still keeping her spirits up though. And we're going to take a look at some of your iReports later.
HOLMES: Also, evicting all these little guys from a home. Bees. Yes, our Reynolds Wolf had his hands full and his buttocks even, as he said...
NGUYEN: Pricked, shall we say.
HOLMES: Pricked, that's a good word. But yes, this is our Reynolds Wolf. He got up close and personal with these bees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, I think I just sat on something. Wow, that'll wake you up.
CINDY BEE, MASTER BEEKEEPER: What a place for a first sting.
WOLF: That's what I'm talking about. Ay yi yi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, that'll wake you up. He's just using coffee this morning, I believe.
But our guy -- there he is, the bee wrangler himself. That says it all.
NGUYEN: He's recovered.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) we know this: The employment picture is bleak for millions of Americans. That is for sure. But in some lines of work, job security not an issue.
HOLMES: One of those lines of work: bee removing. And...
NGUYEN: Who would have thought?
HOLMES: If you can call it that. But if you're an expert there, when the pests invade, homeowners don't have a choice. They have to...
NGUYEN: That's true.
HOLMES: ...come get your services.
Reynolds Wolf now is looking to the future, looking beyond TV and this meteorology thing.
WOLF: Bee-yond.
NGUYEN: Yes, should this not work out, you have a fallback, right?
WOLF: Absolutely. You know, I mean -- it -- it -- it's a -- it's a stinging proposition.
NGUYEN: Oh, goodness.
WOLF: It's a lot of fun. It's an amazing thing. And really, what really encapsulates the whole idea of team effort and working than a bee?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: That's true.
WOLF: But is an issue; people do have some problems with bees. They do sometimes make homes where they're not supposed to. Sometimes in suburban areas and homes. And you'll see that unfold in the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: I'm coming to you from outside this dwelling in metro Atlanta, where today we're here to serve an eviction notice not for the people who live here, but rather for the thousands of bees that call this place home.
Today, we're on the job to find out what it takes to be a bee- removal expert.
(voice-over): And for that, we turn to Cindy Bee. Yes, that's her real name. And part of her real job is ripping up the floor and finding the hive.
BEE: What I'm feeling for here is warmth. I want to -- I should be able to feel the hive.
WOLF: It actually radiates heat. And this is a huge one: home to roughly 40,000 bees. Once found, we've got to take it out.
(SOUNDS OF SAWS)
BEE: Another (INAUDIBLE)
WOLF: We cut through the floorboards, and here they come. Make no mistake about it: These bees are angry.
(BEES BUZZING)
WOLF (on camera): Now what -- what do you think their -- what's their mindset now? Are they pretty freaked out, you think?
BEE: Yes. They're -- they're surprised. We've flooded it with light. But you can see, they didn't just all flood out.
What we're going to do now is we're going to vacuum.
(SOUND OF VACCUM)
WOLF (voice-over): Now remember, the job is to remove, not exterminate the bees. And to do that, you need a vacuum and a big container.
Now we're going to keep the honeycomb, because Cindy will rebuild their hive and take it away.
But why go through so much work to save these bees?
BEE: You know honeybees. We need them for our food source. We need them for pollination. We need them for honey.
WOLF (on camera): So basically, what you're telling me is that everything that we do, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, depends on -- depends on these bees.
BEE: Everything goes back to the honeybee because of pollination. Even the air we breathe.
WOLF (voice-over): Because they're responsible in some way for one-third of all the food we eat, we obviously owe these bees a lot. But still, trust me, no one wants to get stung.
(on camera): Oh, I think I just sat on something. Wow, that'll wake you up.
BEE: What a place for a first sting.
WOLF: That's what I'm talking about. Ay yi yi.
(MUSIC)
WOLF: And so that's it. They're out of the house, and Cindy's making a new home for them. Now I guess they're -- they're going to be OK now, huh?
BEE: They're going to be great. They're going to continue to pollinate and make honey.
WOLF: Now how is that for a sweet ending?
Reynolds Wolf, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Do you know what I ate there? Do you know what I was eating?
NGUYEN: The honeycomb?
WOLF: No, I ate the bee. I ate the bee that stung me.
NGUYEN: You did not.
WOLF: I'm a Don Corleone. You sting me as a bee...
NGUYEN: You're coming after her.
WOLF: ..and I'm eating you. That's -- that's -- that's basically what's going to happen.
Now, I was eating -- eating the -- the honeycomb. You can -- you can chew it; you can eat it; you can...
NGUYEN: And it tastes like chicken?
WOLF: It tastes just -- it tastes ...
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE). It tastes like wax.
WOLF: ....exactly like Honeycomb. (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: The cereal?
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Interesting detail though. You've given us little factoids here, but there's a reason you're wearing the light coloring.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Light clothing.
WOLF: There's a -- there's a reason why we are dressed alike. I did not, you know, copy Cindy's wardrobe.
The bees react...
NGUYEN: Although you were cute.
WOLF: Thank you very much.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: The bees react in -- in a -- I guess more of a calm way, as calm as you can be when your home is ripped apart by power saws and that kind of stuff. They -- they do react a little bit easier.
One thing that's really interesting about these bees is occasionally, they'll find different hives, and that -- you can actually merge the two of them. The way they merge them -- let me borrow this for a second.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: They actually get a sheet of paper, a piece of paper, and they'll put the paper between two separate hives, two different bees -- or -- or sets of bees. And the bees will actually see this as a foreign object in their hive. They'll actually chew threw it, and by the time they're done with that, they are -- they become one.
NGUYEN: Huh.
WOLF: And how -- how many times should that probably happen here at CNN, where you could actually get a sheet of paper between two people, and they could actually through that paper...
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: ...and then there's a bond. That's what I'm talking -- that's a beautiful thing, an example of that we should all learn from.
NGUYEN: An irreversible bond.
How many times -- OK, you got stung once in the rear.
WOLF: Just one time.
NGUYEN: How many times did she get stung?
WOLF: Cindy got stung, I believe, eight times that day, if I'm not mistaken.
HOLMES: Wow.
NGUYEN: Wow.
WOLF: Yes. And -- and the thing is, she's done this so many times, she's really grown used to it.
One thing that's really interesting about these bees is she's actually taken these bees to places where people suffer from arthritis.
NGUYEN: Mm-hmm.
WOLF: And rumor has it that there is a medicinal effect from these bees, form the venom of these bees.
NGUYEN: That is interesting.
WOLF: So yes, all kinds of neat things about the animals. They've been around for thousands of years.
NGUYEN: OK. Great reports for us.
WOLF: Thank you.
NGUYEN: We really enjoyed them.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds.
Another report we enjoyed -- hope you enjoyed, Reynolds, and some of you all might enjoy as well.
We talked to a country-music legend. She has the working person's anthem, "9 to 5" -- gave us a remix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARTON: (SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: I love Dolly Parton.
HOLMES: She's going to lay that down to music for us. You can catch the new open next week on CNN SATURDAY and "SUNDAY MORNING."
Yes, we talked to her -- talked to her last week, on Friday. You will hear our conversation, all kinds of things she has to talk about. Not just her career.
NGUYEN: Yes, she was a really good sport, too.
On top of that, we are going to be talking with Josh Levs. He is looking at some of your iReports.
What are you finding, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So unfair you guys got to meet Dolly. Man...
NGUYEN: She's fantastic.
LEVS: No one ever tells me anything. Not jealous of the Reynolds assignment this week though.
How are you doing, guys? What's going on?
NGUYEN: Pretty good.
LEVS: So here's the deal: You know -- sometimes you're watching TV, right? You start screaming at the TV, "That's now what I think!" And you want to get your words out.
We have your way. It's really easy: through iReports. Better than YouTube.
And coming up, we're going to show you what many of you are having to say these days about whether help for homeowners is really on the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We knew this was only a matter of time, right? Everybody does everything on the Internet -- announcing this and announcing that.
Well, this guy has announced that he is going to run for governor of Hawaii, and he did it on Twitter. His name is Congressman Neil Abercrombie. He says he's going to run for governor for 2010. He's been Twittering for more than a year, according to his spokesperson. And he also uses Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.
But check this out: Betty and I use Twitter. We -- we're just now getting on this thing, Betty and I.
NGUYEN: I'm a very new person to Twitter.
HOLMES: Very new.
NGUYEN: A novice, shall we say?
HOLMES: All right. But what you're seeing there is my Twitter page.
NGUYEN: Yes. (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: And he is -- we -- there it is there. We'll show it here.
NGUYEN: We'll get it up for you again.
HOLMES: We'll get it up.
But Neil Abercrombie, Congressman Abercrombie, is the first person that I signed up to follow ever.
NGUYEN: Oh.
HOLMES: My first one -- I did it this morning after I learned that he had done this. But if you go down on his page here and you see where it says, "Aloha, everybody. I want you to know I'm running for governor of Hawaii in 2010. Let's bring to Washington Place."
So there it is. That is my first person I am following, is Congressman Abercrombie.
NGUYEN: I just noticed people can follow us as well.
HOLMES: Yes, they can follow you all around town, Betty.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: It's a little frightening.
HOLMES: A little bit.
NGUYEN: I don't know why you'd want to follow us, really though. But we'll be posting more information on there as well.
In the meantime though, there is help for homeowners. And the president has announced several plans, in fact, to Congress, taking some action. But our iReporters are not expressing a whole lot of optimism.
HOLMES: Not necessarily. And plan -- how many plans? Can't keep up with all of these plans.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Josh Levs hearing from folks out there who are also trying to keep up with all of these plans.
Good morning to you, sir.
LEVS: You're exactly right. Good morning to you guys, too.
And that's actually what our first iReporter is saying today. I'm going to show you guys a clip from -- from Patty (ph) Lewis, who's saying, you know what? There's also legislation that's gone through, but she doesn't think it's going anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA LEWIS, CNN IREPORTER: My question is, is why on each of -- one of them underneath a microscope before they're put into legislation? Because the fact of the matter is that six months from now, we are going to see all the people who recently lost their jobs and are going into foreclosure, who are all the people that they forgot from this original plan on housing and foreclosure. We're going to see where they go when they do another bill. Another multibillion- dollar bill..
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: I want to show you guys a clip from John Stevens, because he's a really good example of an iReporter who's willing to get really emotional, really passionate talking about his experience and his frustration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN STEVENS, CNN IREPORTER: This is totally ridiculous. I don't know what to do. I can't afford an attorney. I keep calling HUD counselors that are approved in my area. I can't get them to return my phone calls. I can't get through to them because they are so swamped with people.
I -- I don't know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, at least they have their homes. I'm going to show you one more twist here that's interesting. It comes to us from Maria, who took a -- a picture of the home that she's been subletting. She had been in the military until a few years ago, but then she left for medical reasons.
And she says now she's basically living out of a closet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAMBRANA: And this is the bulk of my stuff: a few things, a few storage chests, suitcases. And my wardrobe. My wardrobe fills up maybe two-thirds of the hanging area. And that's all I've got.
And to be honest, by the time I hit the age of 38, I expected to have a house, maybe a dog, maybe a real life. Not now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, you know -- these are -- these are obviously emotional.
I will tell you, I looked through to see if there were iReports from people happy, celebrating, more optimism. Not seeing it so far when they're specifically talking about this idea of housing and foreclosure.
But I don't want to throw water on this show. I am going to tell you guys, we also have some really good news stories coming up. And, it's interesting, on my Facebook page, we're asking, "Are you confident about the economy?" More people are saying they are confident than are not confident. And we'll take a look at -- at that next hour, Betty and T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you so much for that, Josh.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: You know, President Obama is giving Americans good news about the economy when he says, "We'll see some improvements."
HOLMES: And -- and also, there are some new picks for his administration. These are some badly needed picks.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Of all places we need help right now is in the Treasury Department, and that department has been lacking.
Our Paul Steinhauser with us this morning right after this commercial break. He's going to -- he's in the house. We -- we can't help it. We're excited.
NGUYEN: There he is.
HOLMES: We're excited to have Paul.
NGUYEN: Good morning, Paul. Thanks for being with us.
HOLMES: Good to have you with us. We're going to be talking about the -- what? -- Obama and his -- actually, an interview he gave "The New York Times" as well. A lot coming out. Good to have you here.
Good to have you all here. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
OK, hopefully you set your clocks forward. We are springing forward right now. It is 6:30 Eastern, which means, what, 5:30 Central, 3:30 out West. Very early. But not as early as you think if you didn't set those forward.
HOLMES: I was terrified about the alarm and setting it and getting it right.
NGUYEN: I set three of them, just in case.
HOLMES: You and I can't be late. Some people can be late to work. We can't do that.
NGUYEN: Right. Not here.
All right. Let's give you top stories that we're working on this morning.
Former First Lady Barbara Bush is out of intensive care. Doctors in Houston moved her yesterday, three days after she had heart surgery. Mrs. Bush will stay in the hospital for about another week. Her doctors do expect her to make an excellent recovery.
HOLMES: A plane has crashed at Camp Pendleton. However, it was not a military plane, it was a civilian plane. Three people were on it. It crashed out there. Two of those folks onboard have critical injuries. Third person hurt pretty bad as well. This is a single engine Cessna that was on its way to an airport in San Diego. No word on what caused that crash.
NGUYEN: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is getting some much needed help. President Obama is filling three key positions at the department.
HOLMES: All right. Three key positions, still a ton more positions that need to be filled. The three names we have, David Cohen, Alan Krueger and Kim Wallace. You may not know the names.
It might not mean much to you now, but it means a lot to this country, Paul, to get these people in place. It's amazing to think that there is an economic crisis -- this is the biggest deal going on in the country. Tim Geithner essentially got no help.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: You know what it's like? It's like a baseball team. You have a manager and but you don't have all those coaches. You have a football head coach, but you don't have all the assistant coaches. You need them in place.
As you mentioned, right now 17 top positions at the Treasury not filled. And as you mentioned, the Treasury Department is the department that is getting all that money from the stimulus for the states, cities and communities. So these three guys, Cohen, Wallace, Krueger, they have a lot of experience on Wall Street, some on Capitol Hill, some in the former Clinton administration. And they will, if confirmed by the Senate, get in there and get to work immediately.
HOLMES: As I say, he's got no help. Of course, he has this big team of advisors around him. But they don't have the authority right now to sign those papers, make those decisions. They're in an advisory role.
STEINHAUSER: Right. You have a lot of people helping him out but not the ones that can do the important things that need to be done. And that's why it's important to get these three people in there.
You know what one of the problems is, you had some high-profile problems with early nominees, like Tom Daschle. Even Timothy Geithner, remember he had a tax problem. That's what delayed him.
HOLMES: Had issues as well.
STEINHAUSER: So I think the vetting process now is even tougher than it was just two months ago. That's why maybe there are some delays here in getting some of these crucial people into crucial jobs.
HOLMES: And it's turning some people off the process. They've been waiting so long. It is so extensive and it's just -- some people are just bowing out and saying, I don't even want to do it. And some of them, who knows? A lot of things might be coming up. They're falling by the way side anyway.
The president, meanwhile, gave an interview to "The New York Times." And he is trying to still calm fears and let people know that there is help on the way and hope on the horizon.
STEINHAUSER: That's a good way to put it, very good way to put it.
He gave this interview on Friday when flying back on Air Force One from Ohio, back to Washington, D.C., to "The New York Times". Among the things that he said was an interesting quote that I pulled out from the interview. He said, "What I don't think people should do is suddenly stuff money in their mattresses and pull back completely from spending. I don't think the people should be fearful about our future. I don't think people should suddenly mistrust all our financial institutions because the overwhelming majority them managed things reasonably well."
HOLMES: Reasonably. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
STEINHAUSER: Reasonably well. He also said, T.J., that the pillars will be in place by the end of the year for recovery. So I think his timetable is by the end of this year, hopefully the recovery can begin into 2010.
HOLMES: So, we're getting our ducks in a row right now.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: What else is he talking about? All economy in this interview? He has some things to say about Afghanistan?
STEINHAUSER: He did have some things to say about Afghanistan. How we're doing over there. If we are winning the war or not. We'll talk about those next hour.
HOLMES: All right. We will see you next hour. Paul Steinhauser. Again, a friend of our show, on CNN SATURDAY & SUNDAY MORNING.
Good to you have here in studio with us, Buddy. STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So we are asking you this morning, should President Obama allow funding for stem-cell research? That is our e- mail question of the day. Send them to us, your thoughts, Weekends@CNN.com. Also, it's our topic on our Facebook pages, also on our Twitter pages. Go to Facebook.com and you'll --
HOLMES: That's a great picture.
NGUYEN: We have to move past that.
HOLMES: Go back to that picture.
NGUYEN: Actually, I need to get to this other page, which I can't right now because of the screen. But I'll read this to you from the official Betty Nguyen Facebook page.
And it says, "If this is going to treat diseases, Obama should allow stem-cell research."
And then Andy writes, "Absolutely. Progressive science is like this should not be restricted."
So send them to us. You have a couple, too, don't you?
HOLMES: I have a couple here. Deirdre, you can go ahead and take mine up on the full screen. I have my Facebook page up as well. Getting several responses. One from -- the name is Winford Warick (ph), it says, "I am for funding of stem-cell research especially being the child of a Parkinson's disease patient. This will be a point in the right direction f money well spent. Go, President Obama."
That is just one of several you can see. We will continue to share those with you this morning. Continue to send those in to us. Can you Twitter us, Tweet us, you can also get us on your Facebook.
NGUYEN: We're everywhere.
HOLMES: We're all over the place. We will be right back, right here, right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A few economic stories to bring you up to date on this morning.
British government says it's taking a majority stake in the famed Lloyd's banking group. That leaves only two major British banks outside of the government's control.
Also the Federal Reserve vice chairman, here in the U.S., is refusing to name the institutions getting a piece of the bailout pie for insurance giant AIG. Some Senate Banking Committee members, last week, threatened no more dollars for the credit crisis -- ever -- if he didn't spill the beans.
Also there could be a rally on Wall Street this week. Market watchers say since the market reacted mildly to Friday's dismal February jobs report. Traders who bet on a weak market may now be jumping in.
NGUYEN: Well, you know it is hard to imagine teenagers living on the street. But a whole lot of them are. So we're going to show you how a shelter right here in Atlanta is helping get them back on track.
HOLMES: Also coming up, Dolly Parton catches us a bit off guard.
NGUYEN: Just a little.
HOLMES: A little unprepared. But leave it to Dolly to save the day with her purse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER, SONGWRITER: I'd like to point out --
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, take a look.
PARTON: At CNN, you'd think it would be worth a fortune. Well, they had to use my purse to prop up their microphone. Now, he wasn't kidding about not being prepared. They just came down and just threw me in the chair, sat down in the chair.
NGUYEN: She is calling us out.
HOLMES: Yes, it's the weekend show. There's no budget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We're usually prepared better than this, folks. We really usually are.
NGUYEN: It was last minute, honest to goodness.
HOLMES: Very much last minute.
NGUYEN: And we made the most of it. Let me tell you. She even changed one of her songs for us. It's our new theme song. Hear much more about that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Dolly, Dolly, you got to love Dolly.
NGUYEN: You know, this woman, Dolly Parton , a living legend in fact, will pretty much discuss anything.
HOLMES: She will.
NGUYEN: She is an open book.
HOLMES: She doesn't hold back. Things you think she might not want to talk about, she doesn't mind.
NGUYEN: She'll even do it. Even the questions that she doesn't want to answer, she'll do that, too. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: OK, so we were upstairs and got word that Dolly Parton was in the building. We had to come down and say hello to you.
Hi, Dolly.
PARTON: Well, hi, you. When you walked down, I went, Oh, it's them! I watch you all the time. I think it's so funny when you meet people that you watch on TV.
NGUYEN: Right. You feel like you know us.
PARTON: Big stars.
HOLMES: We're serious. We didn't plan on -- I didn't even shave today.
NGUYEN: I have a sweater on.
HOLMES: We're a mess. But we ran down because you were in building.
PARTON: I think you look good. I'm happy to get a chance to talk to you. We're here doing some work with our Imagination Library, my literacy program. So we just teamed up with the Rotary to kind of sponsor that whole thing. So we've just been doing a lot of press today and came up here to do some stuff. I'm glad we got to do this.
NGUYEN: Yes. That is a wonderful project. I want to ask you about this, with the economy the way it is. You have some really good insight. I mean you -- singer, songwriter, businesswoman, you have reinvented yourself in many ways. How do you stay successful and what advice do you have to people who have fallen on hard times?
PARTON: It's very hard right now for everybody. I think everybody is kind of scared. But there's really no -- you don't really know how to give advice. I try not to give people advice. But even like being in business with me, like at our Dollywood, we're always very conscious of the economy and have to kind of hold back a little bit to see how things are going.
But we're very encouraged by the fact that our season ticket sales are going good. But we just have to say, just keep your head up, keep your faith. You've got to kind of believe that things are going to be better. I hope that they are going to be. It's just scary right now.
HOLMES: You've done so much with your career, the philanthropic work, but what is it, would you say, maybe a question out there that you get a lot of that you love to answer but maybe another question you get sick of talking about? What question -- you know there's got to be something. I'm tired of talking about that but you still answer it. What would it be?
PARTON: Well, I've had it all. I guess, probably, I get a little sick of people talking about the plastic surgery. Have you done this? Have you done that? That's all part of it. I know people are curious. You think, they should know that by now. Yes, I have. You know, I always say, see something sagging, dragging, and bagging, I get it nipped up or sucked away. You get all that. And you just really hope that people will ask those questions and then get on with the things that you want to talk about.
NGUYEN: Move on.
PARTON: But I've been blessed. I've been lucky. I don't mind talking about anything. I try to do it all with a sense of humor. And enjoy my own life and my own work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we've enjoyed her work. You know the song "9 to 5"? We got her to change that. We did a little remix with Dolly. She changed it "6 to Noon" because those are our hours here at CNN. She did a pretty good job of that.
HOLMES: That song's world premier will be right here next weekend.
NGUYEN: The video is next week.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness! All right. Reynolds Wolf with us as well.
And, Reynolds, the same old story, the same old song with you, at least, about severe weather.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's the same old song. But I'm not going to sing for you like Dolly did. That's not going to happen.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: The song we're singing this morning, some scattered showers and storms. Nothing severe right now, but later on today, it looks like the Midwest may be under the gun once again. Strong storms a possibility. At least a slight risk through parts of say, Kansas City and back into the Great Lakes. Also could see some flash flooding. We'll talk about all of that coming up in just a few moments.
NGUYEN: All right, and they were homeless, under the age of 18. We're going to show you how they're actually getting some help and how you can participate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Ah, Chuck. Going behind bars now with his NBA all star. He's in jail this weekend. But, you know, he's restricted where he can go. But his mouth is still going in typical Chuck fashion.
The former NBA great, of course, who is also a TV analyst at TNT, he is spending a three-day sentence this weekend in Arizona for that drunken driving arrest you may remember from around New Year's Eve, I believe it was. He is spending today and tonight in Maricopa County's infamous the tent city. You know the place probably.
But he spoke with reporters on Saturday. Didn't exactly go in like other inmates. And you might remember when he came back to TNT after being -- taking some time off after that arrest, he was totally, totally admitting fault. And he did it, once again yesterday saying that jail sentence, the drunken driving arrest, it was completely his fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA STAR: I don't think Sheriff Joe just goes around just saying hey, let me pick people who are driving around DUI. I mean you come here when you screw up. And I don't blame anybody for this situation but myself.
Let's being realistic, I'm used to being famous. I accept the good with the bad. And this is just one of those things. But like let's don't -- I know you guys get overly dramatic on things. But let's be realistic. I mean, I'm not going to kill myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, Chuck. OK, he didn't stop there. He had a whole lot more to say. Again, this is a press conference before going into jail essentially. You don't see this every day.
NGUYEN: On the jail grounds, no less.
HOLMES: On the grounds with the sheriff right there next to him. So it is really a circus.
NGUYEN: Something you don't see every day, at all.
HOLMES: And a scene, but knowing Chuck, that's typical Chuck fashion. He covered a lot of topics. He dropped a lot of names. See if you hear yours in there.
NGUYEN: My goodness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARKLEY: Bernie Madoff is a crook. You guys are not crooks. Martha Stewart went to jail and she came back out and she was Martha Stewart.
President Obama is a good friend of mine. And I just like to think about him and, you know, I know Rush Limbaugh and a lot of jack (EXPLETIVE DELETED) are giving him a hard time.
You can never hit a woman, that's unacceptable. I wish both of them the best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, he spent all Saturday in custody. He'll actually be allowed out of jail for 12 hours today. It's a work release type of deal, going to get out for good tomorrow. He'll be done with the sentence.
NGUYEN: He'll be done.
HOLMES: In all, it is going to be 36 hours he has to spend in jail.
NGUYEN: You know the great thing about Charles Barkley? Chuck, as a lot of us call him. He will speak his mind.
HOLMES: Always.
NGUYEN: I mean, that is a man who is going to tell you straight and tell you the truth how he sees it. And you've got to respect that.
HOLMES: You know, spoke to him about this. Like he said -- he said this. He said, I don't want PR people. If you got a question for me about it, I will answer it. I screwed up. My fault, that's the end of story.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And that's really, for him, that's all that needs to be said.
HOLMES: And kind of refreshing.
NGUYEN: His fault. He screwed up. He's sorry.
HOLMES: And sometimes, and Reynolds you come in here to do the weather, but we see this a lot, that when people do screw up.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: You see their officials come out, you see them maybe say a couple of words. And they put out a release. Chuck came right out and said this is my fault. So its something that some people might find -- he screwed up, yes.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
WOLF: He doesn't have a mute button. I mean, the man is going to speak. He is his own spokesperson. Like we have just seen, my gosh he has a lot to say. He really does.
NGUYEN: On a lot of different topics.
WOLF: No question. I wonder what he'd say about the weird weather we have had lately. I'm sure he'd say something.
HOLMES: He's got something.
WOLF: I'm sure he'd mention something about it. There's no question about it.
NGUYEN: He has to have a comment.
WOLF: I mean, yes, this is Sir Charles.
We've got just an amazing transition. Take a look at some video that we had. This is just taking you back one week ago. This is our magical little time machine. Time machines make that noise. That's right. Here we go back in Atlanta, we had snowfall. This is something that if I'm not mistaken, T.J., a very good friend of yours was saying we're not going to get any of that snowfall. But by golly, we did get some didn't we.
HOLMES: You were right.
WOLF: That's right. That's what I'm talking about.
HOLMES: Why would anybody challenge a meteorologist?
WOLF: Maybe that dog would, right there in that picture. That dog out there enjoying the snow as we make our way back up to New York; some locations there had up to a foot. We just had a light dusting here in Atlanta, all things considered. Some places like Douglasville had up to 4 inches of snow.
Now we're talking about temperatures going up into the 70s, even 80s around here. Look at that pathetic snowman. Not bad. That's a real man. But the snowman was the one before.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
HOLMES: A good day here in Atlanta yesterday, too.
NGUYEN: What a beautiful day.
HOLMES: It was really nice.
WOLF: It didn't start off that way. I mean, it looked like the world was going to come to an end with those low clouds, but hey, great day.
NGUYEN: It warmed up nicely.
You know, Reynolds, you wear a lot of hats around here. We know that. Last week, what? You were Spartacus?
WOLF: I was Spartacus, yes.
NGUYEN: And this week you're doing what?
WOLF: I actually got a chance to -- we were talking about the wind power a few weeks ago. What we're really showing you is somehow it's really playing out in a few locations like restaurants here in Atlanta. Take a look at this. Cool story we have for you coming up in a just a few moments.
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you. We'll talk to new just a minute.
Also some contentious comments to tell you about from the attorney general; who is he calling a coward?
NGUYEN: And are we winning the war in Afghanistan? President Obama says, no.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There's a super model somewhere in the house when you hear that song.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: We're talking about the first African-American super model opening up to our Don Lemon about breaking down barriers.
NGUYEN: Remember this face? There she is. What a beautiful woman. Beverly Johnson, it was in 1974 when she made history as the fist African-American woman -- well, that was not her -- there she is -to graced the cover of "Vogue" magazine. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You probably didn't know where it came from. I mean, it happened very quickly. Most models don't get on the cover of "Vogue" as quickly as you did.
BEVERLY JOHNSON, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN SUPERMODEL: No.
LEMON: That was because of your chutzpah?
JOHNSON: Yes, because the agency that I was with, this top agency, the owner said, you'll never be on the cover. Who do you think you are? Well, I said, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, she was determined to prove them wrong. And she did. Becoming one of the most successful models history; and 35 years later, she is still going strong with her own television show. You can see Don Lemon's full interview tonight, "Up From The Past: African- American Firsts". It airs at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., Eastern, only here on CNN.
Change and controversy, President Obama sets to reverse a major decision from the Bush administration. The president spent the weekend at Camp David. He is due back this afternoon. And let's hope he got a lot of rest, because he does have a busy schedule.
Tomorrow he signs an executive order overturning President Bush's limits on funding embryonic stem-cell research. On Tuesday, he turns his focus to education when he gives a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And on Thursday, he invites President Joe Biden to lead a conference on the economic stimulus package. All right, so speaking of, that is our e-mail question today: Should President Obama allow funding for stem-cell research? Send your thoughts us to at Weekends@CNN.com. Also take a look at our Facebook pages, because we have the questions posted there as well. And you can add what you think about it. And we'll be airing some of your thoughts right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. So go to our Facebook pages and Weekends@ CNN.com. A lot of ways that you can do this. Also, on Twitter. So there's really no excuse if you're watching, get on the Internet and let us know what you think.
Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
So, did you set your clocks forward?
HOLMES: Uh-huh. Thank you.
NGUYEN: We did, thankfully. We had to set three or four of them to make sure we got here on time.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: OK. Speaking of time, it is 7:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Central, 4:00 a.m. Pacific. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Yes. Hey there. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us.
A lot going on this morning, as always, including the president, he's just announced some key treasury appointments, some badly needed treasury appointments. We'll take a closer look at the new team that has a task of getting this economy back on track.
NGUYEN: And last week, he was Spartacus, atop of wind turbine at Jiminy Peak Mountain. Well, now, Reynolds Wolf has found a smaller turbine right here in Atlanta. And we're going to show you how it's saving thousands of dollars and protecting the environment all at the same time.
First, though, an anonymous tip back to a Los Angeles television station led police to a dead woman in the trunk of a car. Officers say they found the body yesterday in a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Police say the fax mentioned who the victim was and even identified two suspects. Now, investigators are trying to track down the person who sent that fax and the people named as suspects.
HOLMES: Radio and broadcasting legend Paul Harvey remembered yesterday in Chicago. More than 200 people attended his funeral at the Fourth Presbyterian Church. It was on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Harvey's son delivered the eulogy. The legendary broadcaster died last month in Phoenix, less than a year after the death of his wife of 68 years. Paul Harvey was 90 years old.
NGUYEN: President Obama moved to beef up the Treasury Department and not a moment too soon. Many top jobs in the department are still open. The president nominated three people, though, for assistant secretary positions and among them -- David Cohen to monitor terrorist financing. Right now, Cohen is a counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
HOLMES: President Obama is telling the "New York Times" that we are not winning in Afghanistan?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: No. I think that we are -- we are doing an extraordinary job, or let me say it this way: Our troops are doing an extraordinary job in a very difficult situation. But you've seen -- you've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think the -- in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack us in ways that we have not seem previously.
The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people. And so, it's going to be absolutely critical, I think, for us to not only get through these national election to stabilize the security situation, but we've got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that al Qaeda and extremists that would do us harm don't have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate.
At the heart of a new Afghanistan policy is going to be a smarter Pakistan policy. As long as you've got safe havens in these border regions that the Pakistani government can't control or reach in effective ways.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, is here with us.
Good to have you again. Listen to the president there, the focus always seems to be on Iraq when we talk about wars going on. Is he going to try to elevate this, I guess -- and I guess just in the public psyche, if you will, and put this on the forefront -- make Afghanistan now the new battleground?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's what he talked about during the presidential campaign: Moving resources from Iraq to Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: Just in the last couple weeks, he talked about, you know, getting the U.S. troops out of Iraq by -- most of the combat troops by August 2010 and the rest by then, I think, a year later, and then putting the emphasis right there in Afghanistan.
Another thing he said in that interview with the "New York Times" which he gave on Friday as he was flying back on Air Force One from Ohio to D.C., he talked about using maybe some of the same tactics that worked well in Iraq when the U.S. military reached out to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and got them on the U.S. side, that brought the level of violence down. So he is saying maybe we'll open the door to reaching out to some members of the Taliban and try that in Afghanistan as it worked in Iraq.
HOLMES: What about the rest of -- the rest of -- the start of his week, our week is wrapping up. We're confused here with our schedules. But his week is starting here. What will be the folks -- of course, the economy is always at the top -- but some work to do at the Treasury Department this week.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. We were talking about that last half hour. You will probably see this week some official nominations of the three people to help out at treasury. Seven top positions still up in the air in the treasury at a time when you really need to beef up that department. That's the department that gets the stimulus money out to the states and communities.
He's also got some other things on the schedule as well. Monday, he deals with stem cells, we believe.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: An administration sources are telling us he's going to repeal the ban on extending the lines on stem cell. Tuesday, he's talking education at a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event. And then, Thursday, he's got state officials from across the U.S. coming here to -- or coming to Washington, D.C., where I normally am -- I forgot where i am this morning.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: I know.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. And they're going to be talking about how to spend that stimulus money again -- the best ways and smartest ways to spend the money in the states.
HOLMES: And like you said, on those treasury appointments, those are just three out of 17. And these have to get confirmation. This is a process. That's still a long way to go. Just the first three we're getting here.
Paul Steinhauser, it's always a pleasure to you have here in Atlanta with us. Thank you so much, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
Well, should the president, as you just heard Paul mention here, we're going to be talking about stem cell research this week -- should the president allow federal funding for stem cell research? Essentially, take back and reverse some of the restrictions that President Bush had on stem cell research and funding by the federal government. That's our e-mail question of the day. You can send us your thoughts weekends@cnn.com.
It's also the topic on Betty's Facebook page as you see right there. You can send us your comments. We're starting to get some. We got plenty.
Again, you can go to -- just look us up on Facebook. You can't miss us. Betty and I. You see hers right there.
So, by all means, continue to send those into us. We will read some of your comments and continue to read them actually live here on the air.
NGUYEN: You know, we are going behind the doors of one of the largest privately-funded childcare agencies in the country. You want to see the story because Covenant House wants to reintegrate homeless young people who have fallen through the cracks to become what the system calls throwaways.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
JOANNA JOSEPH, COVENANT HOUSE RESIDENT INDEPENDENT LIVING: I try and I try and I try.
NGUYEN (voice-over): Nineteen-year-old Joanna Joseph finally has a place to call home.
JOSEPH: This is my kitchen table.
NGUYEN: Joanna is in the final stage of completing an independent living program designed by covenant house to give homeless young people off the streets.
MAXINE SHOULDERS BRANDON, EXEC. DIR., COVENANT HOUSE OF GEORGIA: They come from the shelter. They stabilize. They move on into our Right of Passage Apartment Living which is an independent living program because the kids can stay with us up from two to five years and then take the keys over and actually have their own apartment. So they won't face adult homelessness.
JOSEPH: Me and my mom couldn't get along for nothing in the world like we were just always, just disagreeing on everything. And my father and I, we never really had a connection. We barely even spoke. I barely even see him.
NGUYEN: Joanna, a Miami native, has seen her share of hardship. After shuttling between homes, she eventually ended up on the streets of Atlanta at the age of 18.
JOSEPH: It was upsetting, because I have some -- I had to get used to a new environment. I had -- no one wanted me like I had (ph) -- I have like a large family and no one wanted to take me in. And no one felt my pain. So, it's very hurtful. My mom was just telling me, I can't stay with her and stuff like that.
Well, this used to be ... NGUYEN: The director of the Georgia Covenant House has dealt with countless cases of young people facing similar situations. Many childcare agencies label these kids as "throwaways."
BRANDON: A parent may say to a daughter, I got a new boyfriend, and the mother actually feels like her daughter is a threat to her and her boyfriend's relationship. And she will say, you need to leave. So, she will choose her mate over her child.
JOSEPH: Just before Covenant House, days without food, you know, a 6:00 to 6:00 shelter.
NGUYEN: While staying in a women's shelter, Joanna got a break when a counselor suggested Covenant House as a solution. She is one of the lucky few.
BRANDON: The predators who are sexually trafficking our younger ladies across the state lines and they're abusing them in strip clubs. And our young kids get caught up in it if we don't get them off the streets within 48 hours.
NGUYEN: Her life is back on track and Joanna credits her success to Covenant House.
BRANDON: She not only went through the crisis cycle and took classes and things to work on her anger management, she then went out and she got employment, and now, she's enrolled in college, going for her nursing degree. So, she is one of our rising stars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And what is really amazing is that Covenant House is one of the largest privately-funded childcare agencies in the U.S. and it estimates that 40 percent of the homeless in the U.S. are under the age of 18.
So, T.J., it's obvious why places like this are so very needed.
HOLMES: And critical.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: And it's good to bring that -- to give attention. Maybe something people really don't think about and realize what's happening out there.
NGUYEN: Especially this day and time when everyone, you know, has their own problems ...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... when it comes to money and mortgages and loss of jobs. So, there are teenagers on the streets that really need help.
HOLMES: All right. Well, thank you, Betty. And we want to turn now -- we're going to turn to Iraq. And a breaking story we're getting this morning of a suicide bombing that happened outside of a police academy. We understand that the majority of the dead and injured are police recruits. Again, the number we have now is 30 dead, at least 61 hurt.
This is the same police academy that was attacked back in December and a number were dead there as well. The security had been beefed up around that police academy. But still, that was not enough.
Now, we understand that this person, this suicide attacker actually detonated explosives after being on a bicycle and just plowed into a crowd that was right outside of that police academy. The number, again, 30 dead, at least 61 hurt.
Now, we have been seeing -- or we haven't seen as many of these dramatic attacks, I supposed, over the past several months. And a lot of the security situation in Iraq over the past several months or the past couple of years -- past year or so has really moved the country's policy -- this country's policy towards getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Of course, we know that President Obama just announced a little over a week ago that, in fact, he was putting plans in place to get all U.S. troops, combat troops, at least, out of Iraq by the end of August of next year and then all forces out by the end of 2011.
So, this, again, who knows what this may do for that plan. But, again, it just goes to, still, the fragile and volatile situation there in Iraq. Again, a suicide bombing, 30 dead, 61 injured at a police academy. Most of them police recruits.
A developing story, a breaking story we'll continue to follow. We certainly will be getting new details of this as they become available. But certainly, we'll pass them along to you.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, we have been hearing a lot about going green, being environmental conscious. Well, we know about a restaurant that takes it to a whole new level. They put a wind turbine on the property. And we're going to check it out.
HOLMES: Also, Josh Levs has been looking into some good news for a change.
NGUYEN: We need it. Oh, yes.
HOLMES: We've been trying to get more of that. Well, we should make that a new segment. We should do -- every weekend, we should find something that brings some good news.
NGUYEN: Something good in the world, yes, to bring our viewers.
What do you have, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We actually got a bunch of stuff for you guys. One thing that might surprise you a little bit, you'll see why the majority of people we asked are actually optimistic about the economy. Plus, you know what, Betty and T.J., since you said that, we got some great video for you coming up. Let's watch some kids droppings in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Everyone seems to want to be environmental friendly. You know, going green, just helping the environment.
HOLMES: It's good to do.
NGUYEN: Well, even restaurants are taking a whole new look at ways to save money and save the environment.
HOLMES: And right here in Atlanta, this is -- you rode the big fan last week.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
HOLMES: A little fan this week.
WOLF: Yes. I mean, I think it's easy for people to grasp the idea of seeing one of these wind turbines at places where which just happen to have a lot of wind. It's kind of unusual to see them in Atlanta, but that's where our story takes us today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): Just a typical greeting from the owner to customer, but Tad Mitchell's Atlanta restaurant offers a lot more than fried catfish and a glad hand from the boss. He's made green his business -- from waterless urinal in the boy's room, biodegradable to- go boxes, and a small wind turbine for generating electricity.
So, what's a wind turbine doing in the middle of downtown Atlanta?
TAD MITCHELL, OWNER, SIX FEET UNDER: We thought it would just be a really good idea and a green objective. This is our green game plan for 2008. And it's just -- it's been a lot of fun.
ROGER CONE, PRESIDENT, SOENSO ENERGY: One of these wind turbines in this location right here will prevent as much CO2 from going into the environment as an acre of mature healthy trees.
WOLF: A turbine like this can generate electricity in winds as low as eight miles per hour. And it can produce anywhere from 200 to 400 kilowatt hours per month, typically offsetting about $60 in Tad Mitchell's utility bill.
President Barack Obama's stimulus bill provides a 30 percent investment tax credit to consumers who purchase small wind turbines. But in an urban environment where wind can be scarce, a wind turbine could prove better at generating customers than electricity.
RON STIMMEL, AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION: A small wind turbine really needs consistent winds in order to function as expected.
WOLF: Wind or no wind, with an upfront cost of up to $25,000, a small wind turbine like Tad's had better earn money somehow.
MITCHELL: When we're choosing renewables, one big -- one big factor for us was that turbine has a lot of visibility. And we think it's helped to drive customers and people generally feel good about coming in here to eat because they think that we're doing some good for the environment.
WOLF: So whether it's for business or the environment or even both of the same time, a small wind turbine is something Tad can feel good about -- and so can the customers.
ALAN TUPPER, CUSTOMER: I'm really glad to see small businesses like this taking a stab at renewable energy, and overall, I think it's a great move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: And see, that's small. That seems small but it makes a big difference, you know. And we go from the smaller winds to or rather the wind turbines to the bigger ones like Jiminy Peak resort. I was there a few weeks ago.
NGUYEN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: (INAUDIBLE). Let's show you what we got. Look at it. How can you not be if you happen to go skiing up there, it's an incredible thing to see, there's no question about it. But, you know, you need to go and ski and see something like this that's green and provides energy for the entire resort. And it's something that's feeding off the nature, feeding off the winds coming off the coast. So, kind of a need thing to see. This one that you see here is actually much bigger, taller than the Statue of Liberty, some 250 feet in height, an amazing thing.
NGUYEN: And weren't you one of the first journalists to be allowed up there?
WOLF: I think that's what they called me this week.
NGUYEN: The first person ever besides those who built it.
WOLF: Absolutely. Now, the first camera crew to actually go to the very top, first television crew to ever make it up there. And, really, an amazing thing. And we're going to see more of these spread around the country. It sure seems that way (ph).
HOLMES: So, where will you be bringing us a turbine from next week?
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: T.J.'s house? Who knows?
(CROSSTALK) WOLF: I don't know. We'll find something interesting.
NGUYEN: You'll have to install one there to work.
WOLF: We sure will.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate it.
WOLF: You bet guys.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
You know, there are a lot of prayers during these tough economic times, those staggering job losses and home foreclosures. Some may feel their prayers are going unanswered. So, is this a time to get angry with God?
HOLMES: Well, one unusual way with coping -- coming up in our Faces of Faith. That's in our next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING. A lady essentially, she went to a couple's therapy with God.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, this morning, we've heard about people struggling in the foreclosure crisis, unemployment, and Reynolds getting stung by bees.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: We covered many topics. And we could all use some more good news right about now.
HOLMES: So, Josh Levs, give us the good news.
LEVS: Yes, I'm trying to give you guys a little dose of it. We were talking earlier, right? We could use some. Let me tell you -- and we started this project two weeks ago. And it really took off for the same reasons that you guys were just saying. People want good news.
And like I emphasize, this is not in a cheesy way but in a real way. It's like you're giving us a reality check. You're telling us the awesome stuff going on in the world.
Let's zoom in. Our cleaver producer had us put this on Facebook so that people can interact with each other. This is my page here, Josh Levs CNN. And people are writing us all sorts of things that they say are great that are going on in the world. And a lot of people are saying that people are now finding careers they wouldn't have found otherwise.
Dirk wrote, "I moved to New York and I'm going back to school, getting my masters in teaching high school, a job that will never go out of demand, doing the one thing I really love."
We had a couple quotes that we pulled up here into graphics, just make them look pretty for you, because they summarize what a lot of people are saying. Check this out, Kelly, one of many people who are saying, "Alternative sources of energy," she says, "are finally being given some serious exploration by the government."
We got one more here which is about the economy and something good inside this economy, Keith Lewis, "Prices for gas, furniture, travel, clothing, cars, and homes are all down."
And one more note on this, guys. Check this out. We also are asking the question here at this Facebook page: Feeling more or less confident about the economy? And one thing that really surprised me after I posted this here is that, by far, the majority of people like Ogbonnaya are saying they are feeling more confident. "I'm feeling pretty confident that the United States economy will bounce back."
All right. One more thing to show you guys just for fun. And we'll post it here afterwards at the page. Take a look at this. This is something we got off at CNN.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(KIDS SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: This comes to us from our affiliate KUSI in San Diego. It's pretty cool stuff. There's a local deejay there who decided kids might get into reading if he helps them to rap it. And it's taking off. This is one of the most popular videos this week.
So, who knows, guys? What do you think? Is this going to be a new teaching style around America?
NGUYEN: I like it. It's kind of catchy.
LEVS: Yes.
HOLMES: We're going to start rapping this one segment.
NGUYEN: The whole newscast.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE). We'll just do one -- one block.
NGUYEN: OK. We'll start with one segment and then probably viewers will call in, the lines will light up and they'll shut us down.
LEVS: I don't know. You guys got to sing with Dolly Parton and now you're going to rap some Dr. Seuss?
NGUYEN: No, she did most of the singing. OK.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: A little country, a little rap.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: All right.
Parents out there, have all kinds of fits with their kids and cell phone bills.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: But, how about a $1,900 cell phone bill?
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. Do you know how much trouble I would be in had I done that?
HOLMES: Yes, I think (ph) that's all of us, you know.
NGUYEN: OK. We're going to show you how a new ban might prevent that from happening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: This could be a great story, but for students who love to text, they may not be too happy about it. Because a bill in the Iowa legislature might actually help with your teenagers cell phone bill.
HOLMES: You know, this might just be the type of story and legislation that gets kids involved in the process.
NGUYEN: OK. Exactly.
HOLMES: You're going to see kids in Iowa running for office.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: This would actually ban cell phone use in schools. Some families hope that it becomes law so kids will pay attention in class. You know, no kids under the desk, you know, testing while they should be paying attention.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Many students today are texting in class all the time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAY SCHOLTEN, TEXTING STUDENT: I'm not going to lie like I do. I'm not going to lie about that. And I've only been caught once by a teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hide it under our desk, but sometimes they let you. DR. KEVIN TOOK, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST: How can you listen to what the teacher is saying and take notes if you're texting your friends? It's just -- it's an impossibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Kids are, you know, they can do two things at once.
NGUYEN: I was going to say, they can figure a way around it, always.
HOLMES: Walk and chew gum. You know, kids can do that. Well, parents also say that cell phone ban will save some money because, according to reports out of Iowa there and one student there at least, $1,900 cell phone bill, one month. $1,800 of it was texting.
NGUYEN: Geez! In this economy?
HOLMES: In this economy. I wonder what they did to that child, besides just take the phone.
All right, we will keep an eye on what's happening there. But, what's happening next, Betty?
NGUYEN: We have "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming up right now.
