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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Obama Announced His Plans for Bringing Combat Forces Out of Iraq; Obama's Budget Plan Being Criticized; Some Mayors Refusing to Accept Part of the Stimulus Bill; Interview with Mayor Manny Diaz
Aired February 28, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia, 5:00 a.m. Pacific. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thank you so much for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: Of course we know a lot of people start their day with coffee. They need that caffeine, that stimulus to get it in them. Well -- your coffee is not wearing a top, is that a double dose of stimulation in the morning, Betty?
NGUYEN: It depends on how they look I guess.
HOLMES: Well, it's a topless coffee shop. We'll see if it's getting business as well as the customers.
NGUYEN: And the key here, it's not just men who are going topless either.
HOLMES: Just all we can show you.
NGUYEN: We'll try to show you a little bit more a little bit later on.
HOLMES: How much more?
NGUYEN: Just a little bit.
OK, in the meantime though, we have help for those of you looking for a job. We have a career builder expert on hand this morning. Send your resume to weekends@cnn.com. You see it right there on the screen. In fact, our expert will speak with viewers live on the air, giving free advice next hour.
HOLMES: So, our Reynolds Wolf, he's been up to something. He's been way up to something, almost 2400 feet above sea level. What's Reynolds got going on? He'll be around here in just a second to explain it to us.
NGUYEN: But we do want to start with the closing of two more banks. That brings the number of failed financial institutions to 16 this year alone. A total of 25 banks failed all of last year. Security Savings, Bank of Henderson, Nevada closed Friday. Customers will be moved to the Bank of Nevada. Also closing is Heritage Community Bank of Glenwood, Illinois. They will be taken over by NB Financial Bank of Chicago. Now the latest figures will cost the Federal deposit insurance fund about $100 million.
And with that, another drop for the Dow on Friday just down over 119 points. The Dow ends the week down more than 300 points or about 4 percent. Now that is a level that we have not seen in 12 years. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both down for the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With respect for the security in the region --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, well President Obama, well, as a candidate he said he would bring the war to an end in 16 months. It's going to be closer to 18 or 19. Still, a lot of people are now looking at it as an end is in sight. This was the president just yesterday laying out his plan to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He announced his plan to bring combat forces now, combat forces out of Iraq by August 31 of 2010. There are about 142,000 U.S. service members still in Iraq right now.
So, about all of them or most of them, two-thirds going to be out by August of next year. About 35,000 to 50,000 will still stay in Iraq to help with the drawdown however, but all U.S. troops will have to be out of Iraq by New Year's Eve, 2011 and that is because of an agreement that was put in place by President Bush, an agreement his administration made with the Iraqis already.
We wanted to know what you think about President Obama's plan to withdrawal troops in 2010. A lot of you are responding to Betty and I this morning at weekends@cnn.com, but also, most of you are choosing a different way this morning to get in touch with us.
NGUYEN: Our Facebook pages, in fact I have one response now on my Facebook page from Kathy Murphy and writes, "plans for withdrawal from Iraq were long overdue. The fact that McCain is quote, cautiously optimistic about Obama's plan gives it even more credence. President Bush apparently didn't understand that he could have set goals and objectives leading to phased withdrawal."
And on my other Facebook page, let's see what we have here, oh, Beverly Bishop from Tennessee writes, "I'm happy to hear about a deadline, finally. However, I think with all the billions of oil money Iraq has taken in, not to mention the billions we have given them, they need to take over the security of their own country and bring all our U.S. troops home. If they truly want a free and democratic nation, they must sacrifice just as our nation did in the beginning."
And of course, we are getting lots of really good responses from you on our Facebook pages this morning. The question once, again, what do you think about President Obama's plan to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2010? We've got a lot of comments and we want to keep them coming and we'll be sharing that with you throughout the morning.
HOLMES: All right, want to turn to the White House now. Another of our Facebook friends, Kate Bolduan is reporting there for us this morning. All right, Kate, good morning to you.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HOLMES: Well, we just got past the stimulus package. That was a big fight. Well, it looks like the budget could stack up to be an even bigger fight for the president.
BOLDUAN: It seems like the fights are going to continue for awhile now, T.J. President Obama, using his weekly address this morning to defend his budget proposal and push for its approval. This is -- the budget overview is just 134 pages, but it includes $3.5 trillion in spending, and that would be money for -- enormous amounts of money for education, energy, and a 10-year $634 billion investment in healthcare.
President Obama himself acknowledging in his weekly address that passing this budget isn't going to be easy. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I know these steps won't sit well with special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old ways of doing business and I know they are gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this, so am I.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Basically, also saying in this address that he's making good on a campaign promise in putting these spending priorities in the forefront of his administration. That includes repealing the Bush tax cuts for couples who make more than $250,000 a year.
Now, Republicans on Capitol Hill, the same day the budget overview came out, they started criticizing the spending proposal. They continue that this morning saying in a general sense, T.J. that there isn't enough in this budget to cut spending, enough of an effort in this budget and also that by repealing those tax cuts, President Obama is in essence hurting small business that would be helping fuel this economy. So you can see, it's already laying out to be quite a fight on Capitol Hill where this budget needs to be approved.
HOLMES: All right. We thought the last one was a tough one. Kate Bolduan for us at the White House this morning. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you again soon.
BOLDUAN: Thank you.
NGUYEN: From the budget to this, health care will highlight the president's agenda in the coming weeks. Here's a look at his schedule. On Tuesday, the president welcomes British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the White House. Now on Thursday, the president kicks off his White House reform on health reform. That summit will include members from both parties along with real people telling their stories of getting stuck in the health care system.
HOLMES: All right, you know what that severe weather animation means. It means we got some nasty stuff that Reynolds needs to tell us about. It was nasty this morning coming into work here in Atlanta, a lot of rain.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: So the threat of severe weather, tornadoes, rain, snow. You've got it all this morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Typical Saturday morning.
NGUYEN: And it's only 8:00. Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We know a lot of people are getting hit by this mortgage mess, a lot of foreclosure notices and whatnot. But can you imagine, you and I, If you get in trouble, you want to go to a mortgage broker and look to them for help. They know what they're doing.
NGUYEN: Something.
HOLMES: What does it mean now when the mortgage brokers are the actual ones now who find themselves in foreclosure? It's getting that bad.
NGUYEN: And it looks like any other ski resort in America, this does in fact, except for one big thing. Can you spot it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, if anyone should be able to rescue themselves from foreclosure, it's a couple of mortgage brokers, right? But even they are falling victim to the housing collapse just like millions of other Americans.
CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matt Swift and Matt Wallis both worked as mortgage brokers for American Home Mortgage. So when they bought their house about three years ago for $400,000, they knew what they were doing. They took out a fixed rate mortgage from Countrywide Financial that was well within their budget.
MATT SWIFT, FORMER MORTGAGE BROKER: This is our business, yes. I've been doing it for a very long time, 13 years.
MATT WALLIS, FORMER MORTGAGE BROKER: We both did very well for ourselves. We had money left over even after the down payment to do what we needed to do to make the house livable.
CHERNOFF: But when the mortgage market turned south, both men were laid off. Matt Swift was able to land a new job with Countrywide, but within a few months, he was let go again.
SWIFT: They had other rounds of layoffs and so on. It was last in first out I guess.
CHERNOFF: Their savings dwindled and their affordable house suddenly no longer was. Soon they fell behind on their mortgage.
SWIFT: We wound up about 11 months of unemployment. So that kind of did it in for us.
CHERNOFF: Before his foreclosure notice arrived, Matt Swift filed for personal bankruptcy in an effort to hold onto his home.
SWIFT: What that did was kind of throw a monkey wrench in the process. It gave us time, much needed time to find employment.
CHERNOFF: By last autumn, both Matts had landed jobs, Matt Wallis as a retail banker, Matt Swift in health care. Now, they are trying to get their mortgage adjusted to an affordable level.
WALLIS: We have proof we can pay. We need them to do something. We need them to modify the mortgage for us.
CHERNOFF: But Countrywide, now part of Bank of America, offered a mortgage modification the two say that gives them no break. They have to spend nearly two-thirds of their combined income meeting their monthly obligation.
SWIFT: In my best day of loan underwriting and pressure from sales, I would never have been able to approve a loan like that. But yet they sent that to us right away to hurry up and sign it.
CHERNOFF (on-camera): Countrywide says it can't comment on individual mortgage cases, but it says it will review the couple's finances to see if it can somehow lower their monthly payment. Only last week, Countrywide parent, Bank of America, announced a moratorium on foreclosures and the bank says any borrower who has sufficient income and the desire to sustain home ownership should be able to do so.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, it seems like few people have a single dime to spare these days. But if you want to get ahead, you will have to find a way to put something aside. Our Gerri Willis tells us how this preview of next hour's your bottom line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi T.J.
The first step is to start saving when you are young. Put together emergency savings in your 20s for having money direct deposited to a savings account or money market mutual fund. By setting aside three to six months worth of savings, you'll set yourself up to weather pretty much any storm.
And don't forget about saving for the long term. When you are young, you can afford to take a lot of risk in your retirement savings. Your asset allocation in a 401(k) or IRA in your 20 something, can be pretty aggressive with 80 percent in stock and the remainder in bonds.
Now in your 30s, your obligations are growing. You may have a house, children. Now is the time to start salting away money for your child's education. A 529 college savings plan is a great vehicle for doing just that. Count on putting aside 4 to 5 percent of your gross monthly income to get started. Now that your income is growing, you can afford to put some savings away and not touch it.
Your 40s is a time to step it up a notch. If you haven't been contributing to maxing your 401(k), now is the time. You may even want to set up additional investing brokerage accounts to supplement your savings. And if your income is rising, you've probably hit a higher tax bracket so seek out tax advantaged investments.
Coming up on "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," we're breaking down what President Obama's plans are for the economy and your wallet. Answers to your jobs questions and DIY projects for your home. That's "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," 9:30 a.m. Eastern -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, thank you Gerri. President Obama said in his address to Congress Tuesday night that the number one issue is boosting the economy and that's by way of energy. He wants to double renewable energy resources in the U.S.
But as Reynolds Wolf found out in Massachusetts, some places are already on board the green train.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: I'm coming to you from high in the Berkshires, the Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort and at first glance, this could be any ski resort in America. You've got skiers. You have the snow. You got trees. You have the ski lifts. But there is one big thing that does set this place apart from any other ski resort in America.
Take a look. Meet Zephyr, a turbine named after the Greek god of wind. It's taller than the Statute of Liberty, standing more than 250 feet high and it generates power for the mountain. Our CNN crew was the first to take the camera to the top. Is it safe to stand up here you think? Is that the wind shaking or is it me? It's freaking me out.
Zephyr's 123-foot blades produce a third of the electricity at this Massachusetts resort. In terms of dollars and cents, what kind of a difference has this wind turbine been for you and your business?
BRIAN FAIRBANK, PRES., CEO JIMINY PEAK RESORT: Two million kilowatt hours that we don't have to buy from the grid. That's worth $300,000 to us. Two million go out to the grid and we get $150,000 for that, so $450,000 of economic impact is here forever.
WOLF: Pretty substantial.
FAIRBANK: Pretty substantial and as long as we take care of it, that thing's going to keep giving us power every year.
WOLF: In the off season, there's even energy to spare and Zephyr helps power local homes and businesses. Still, not everyone is a fan of this $4 million green machine.
FAIRBANK: We had some people in the community that have said, I don't want to look at that.
WOLF: And studies show turbines can be deadly for migrating bats.
PROF. THOMAS KUNZ, BIOLOGY, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: When they are trying to fly and there's a low pressure system and any time the blade moves through the air, they die from hemorrhaging.
WOLF: But most bats migrate early in the fall before skiers hit the slopes and some think the benefit far outweighs the cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it helps us have less dependence on foreign oil, it's a wonderful thing. This is the sign of the future.
WOLF: I am Spartacus. Wow, it's a long way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: I am Spartacus, at least I was then. I mean, it's tall. The thing's taller than the Statue of Liberty on top of Jiminy Peak, which is the highest points in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. This is really the first up close look we have had at something that is this wind energy. It seems like such a distant concept for so many people. But we were the first camera crew to actually get up close and personal to one of these things and climb all the way to the summit.
NGUYEN: This is just amazing how we can truly harness our natural resources.
WOLF: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: ...and put it into forms of electricity and things that we do need in fact.
WOLF: Absolutely. It has the green banner on it. But even if you happen to be tuning in and you're not -- consider yourself an environmentalist, just the idea that this is one of those things that can throw off the yoke of foreign oil to make us a little bit more independent. I mean you have to be for it. I can't imagine anyone really being against this. There's so many great benefits about it.
One other quick thing about this huge fan, amazing, this big turbine is that it can actually pivot just like an oscillating fan. So if you happen to have a storm system that's going along the Eastern seaboard, it can actually turn and actually take advantage of that wind or use the storm system coming in from the west. It's just like a regular little fan you might have on your desk. It's a neat thing, only a lot bigger and $4 million.
HOLMES: That's going to be the question. These things are expensive and it'll take some time. But if we ever get this thing up and running, it will save this country money down the road many would say.
WOLF: Why not? Absolutely.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate that.
WOLF: We do what we can just to make you guys happy.
NGUYEN: All right, stick around for this because we're wondering is it really true? President Obama's claim that his housing plan does not reward those who bought homes that they cannot afford.
HOLMES: And Josh Levs with a reality check coming up.
NGUYEN: But first, your misfortune could be their gain. Most pawnshops are benefiting from the slumping economy and one in Connecticut is A-Z pawn. We caught up with the owner to find out how he got started.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): When it comes to being a pawnbroker, Phil Pavone knows his stuff, but it wasn't always that way. Before opening A-Z pawn in Norwich, Connecticut nine years ago, he was in the nightclub business for more than three decades.
PHIL PAVONE, OWNER, A-Z PAWN: The aggravation factor on a nightly basis was a lot. I looked in the mirror and said I'm old. I said you know what, I got to get out of here.
NGUYEN: After hanging out with a friend who owned a pawnshop, Pavone thought he'd give the business a shot.
PAVONE: The first two years were very difficult. I got taken. You have to know tools. You have to know musical instrument. You have to know what they are worth new, what they're worth used, how they work, if they are in good condition, if they are not.
NGUYEN: His on the job training was essential to mastering his new trade.
PAVONE: I had a couple semesters of college and it was good. But the actual world and how things really are, you got to live it.
NGUYEN: He says business at A-Z Pawn is up more than 10 percent from last year. Pavone credits his success to a location on a main road, establishing a good reputation and the economy.
PAVONE: The recession has definitely helped us out. Unfortunately, when people are miserable, I'm happy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK, so we know there's a mortgage crisis in America. But a whole lot of people believe that the government should not bail out people who bought homes that they cannot afford.
HOLMES: Yeah, that was a big part of the debate and that's why a lot of people were struck by something the president said this week about housing claims, but what they claim, is it really true? Josh Levs here to check the reality.
Good morning to you, sir.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you guys. This was indeed surprising when we heard it. Here is what President Obama said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Second, we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages. It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford. But it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Here's the thing. The plan the administration has put forward would help your neighbor down the street who bought a home he can't afford. In fact, officials have defended that. They've said it makes sense. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke compared it to calling the fire department to put out a fire in your neighbor's house even though your neighbor was smoking in bed.
I have this quote for you here. He said quote, "I think the smart way to deal with a situation like that is to put out the fire, save him from his own consequences of his own action, but then going forward enact penalties and set tougher rules about smoking in bed." And the head of the FDIC, Sheila Bair told NPR quote, "I think it's just simply impractical to try to do a forensic analysis of each and every one of these delinquent loans."
And guys, you can see on the board behind me here, the headline from the Associated Press about this, fact check, Obama's words on home aid they say, ring hollow -- Guys.
NGUYEN: All right. We need a fact check on this, a claim by several Republicans this morning. I know you've been delving into it. What are you finding?
LEVS: We do. We took a look at that a couple hours ago. We're going to take look at it a little bit later in the show. It's something that some Republicans are saying about President Obama's plans and how it would affect taxes for small businesses. We'll have that again at the 11:00 hour.
NGUYEN: All right, looking forward to that and you may want to stick around for this Josh. Sex sells, right, including coffee, apparently. This is a shop in Maine that's really booming with business because it is what -- booming with business because they are busting at the seams when it comes to customers because...
HOLMES: There are no seams.
NGUYEN: ... because men and women are topless. T.J. has been talking about this all morning long.
HOLMES: I have not. I don't even drink coffee.
NGUYEN: You're watching the video.
HOLMES: But this is -- seriously, again, a lot of the people he said, the owner of this shop says about 150 people applied for jobs there. He only hired about 10 to 15, I do believe, but people are looking for jobs. A lot of them had sad stories about losing their previous jobs. He wanted to try this. At first, the town of 4,500 didn't really think they would be into, up for something like this, but it has taken off.
NGUYEN: Isn't it funny that we just keep showing the topless men?
HOLMES: It's all we can show.
NGUYEN: I understand that, but it will tell you this, of the customers that have been coming in, some of those waitresses that have been going topless, they have gotten tips up to $100 and the owner says he didn't just hire those perfect 10s. He hired real people as you mentioned looking for real jobs and business is booming.
HOLMES: And despite some of the lobbying by some of our male members of the staff, we couldn't show the other video.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: They got a job. A lot of people are trying to get a job. Sometimes you have to take your shirt off to do it.
NGUYEN: Not always.
HOLMES: But not always. A lot of people trying to find a way to get their foot in the door. We'll have a career builder here on hand, an expert going through some of your resumes and our executive producer has been telling us, we have got a flood of these coming in to us at weekends@cnn.com. This expert is going to take a look at some of those resumes, give you some advice about what you should do to improve it maybe or maybe a new direction you should go in your career. Free advice coming up. Keep those coming in. NGUYEN: And in just days, money from the stimulus package should be starting to trickle down to the states, but some governors are saying, no thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll look at every provision, see what's good for the state, see what's not, see what strings are attached. But the reality is, the bigger philosophical point is this, I just have a fundamental disagreement with this package.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The governor of Louisiana there reluctant to take the money. Well in less than 10 minutes, my sit down interview with Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. He's challenging those reluctant governors to take the money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: OK, (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: OK, you get to have maybe your favorite musician of all time come and you get a front row seat to see him . And then you get to hand him an award. And you get to, all kinds of stuff, you get to marry your wife actually because of this guy according to the president.
NGUYEN: Yeah, Stevie Wonder brought them together per se, right?
HOLMES: If you will. That's what the president said. He said if it wasn't for Stevie Wonder fan and it wasn't for that music, he would not have probably gone out with Michelle. And she would probably never would have agreed to marry him.
NGUYEN: Well, Steven Wonder has since won the Library of Congress' Gershwin prize for popular song. And as we mentioned, one of Obama's favorites. He's also won what 25 Grammys during his career.
HOLMES: Just about everything.
NGUYEN: Yeah, he deserved that trip to the White House and the award that he received. So congratulations.
We do want to welcome you back on this Saturday morning. Hello, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you could start your day right here with us. We have some economic news to start with.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. As we always do as of late. An economic slide that we didn't expect. The biggest economic indicator is now showing a bigger drop than experts thought we'd see. The gross domestic product fell at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter. That is the worst decline in the last 26 years. The Gross Domestic Product measures the output of goods and services produced right here in the U.S.
HOLMES: All right. Well, they lost the White House, they've lost Congress but hey, you can still find them out there, conservative Republicans. They're there. And one place you can find them this weekend is at a huge political action conference that's happening in Washington. The third day of it's going to be wrapping up today.
Our Paul Steinhauser is in Washington, D.C. for us, a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. All right, conservatives are gathering. Are they licking their wounds? Are they pointing blame? What are they doing now, what are they trying to accomplish at this particular conference?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think the message from conservatives, T.J., at this conference is they are down, but they are definitely not out. They're ready for a fight. I was over there at CPAC. That's is the Conservative Political Action Conference. It's an annual get together of conservatives from across the nation. They come here to Washington.
T.J., it sounds like they are ready for a fight and ready to rebuild and come back from the political wilderness. And that was a message you heard a lot yesterday. I was over there right around the time you were interviewing Ron Paul. He was a big hit over there. You heard a lot of things from him and from other speakers. And one of them is the "s" word, socialism. They are throwing that word at Barack Obama and at the Democrats in Congress.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: I'm afraid I know where the liberal Democrats want to take us. And as they try to pull us in the direction of government dominated Europe, we're going to have to fight as never before to make sure that America stays America.
NEWT GINGRICH: I have listened carefully to the president's speech that night. I think it is the boldest effort to create a European socialist model we have seen. I think it's quite clear what his values and his attitude is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Fighting words there, T.J. Fighting words at CPAC. And you know what? I think you're going to hear a lot more of that today as this conference concludes.
Now right there, Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, he made a bid for the White House last time around. Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker. Both of those gentlemen may want to make a run the next time around, the next election. And they are CPAC today going to be releasing a straw poll they've been taking of who their early favorites are.
But you don't have to wait for that straw poll. We have our own brand-new numbers from CNN Research Corporation. We polled Republicans from across the nation. And take a look at these results. We asked who do you think you would be most likely to support as your nominee down in 2012, granted a long way away?
On top, Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee and the governor of Alaska. Right behind her, basically a dead heat. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who also made a bid for the White House. Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor down there, and 10 percent is others.
Now T.J., it's early. And basically what this poll is is a beauty contest. It's what you know best from name recognition, but we got a couple years to go until the real race begins.
HOLMES: Yeah, and you know some of that vitriol we're hearing out of there, of course, we expect that to play a certain way in front of that audience, but how do you think that's going to play to hear some of these words, those fighting words, as you said, to the -- a broader audience that this -- that conservatives, that the Republican party is certainly trying to reach right now?
STEINHAUSER: Well, I think their first mission, and they realize this, is to reenergize the base. And that's why you're hearing a lot of these fighting words. That's why you're talking, hearing a lot about being fiscal conservatives, getting back to your fiscal roots. They really oppose the stimulus, the bailout on Wall Street, and they don't like the president's budget either. So that is their first step.
And then, they need also from there to go out and reach out to moderates and also minorities as well. That is the second step. And I think you'll hear that after they reenergize the base. And then one other thing today. Rush Limbaugh, he will be the final speaker at the conference, be very controversial Rush Limbaugh, tonight around 5:00, T.J.
HOLMES: Yeah, and he's usually, I mean, he would say not one you want to get, if you want to reach out to moderates or across the aisle to liberals. So we're going to cover his speech I do believe live. And you can catch right here on CNN. If I'm wrong, please producer, correct me, but I think we're doing that so people can catch it right here.
Paul, we appreciate you as always. Talk to you again, everybody.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, we -- you just heard us say CPAC a lot, the CPAC conference. Exactly what is that? Well, CPAC stands for Conservative Political Action Conference. Well, its Web site boasts it's the largest annual gathering of conservative students, activists, and politicians. CPAC largely organized by the American Conservative Union. The first event it had back in 1973. Past speakers include former President Ronald Reagan, also former Vice President Dick Cheney.
NGUYEN: Well, money from the stimulus package will soon begin trickling down to cash strapped states, but some governors are saying no thanks. This week, in fact, six governors announced they will not accept parts of the stimulus package. And more governors have been hinting at it. They could be turning away billions of dollars. Republican Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is taking heat for it, but he says he does stand by his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOB JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We're going to look at every provision, see what's good for the state, see what's not, see what strings were attached, but the reality is the bigger philosophical point is this. I just have a fundamental disagreement with this package.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Some of the mayors in these states are fired up because they want the money. They say they need the money.
Manny Diaz heads my -- the Conference of Mayors. He's also the mayor of Miami. And he sent a letter this week to President Obama, criticizing governors who say they'll refuse the funding. I was there when he drafted that letter.
Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Why draft a letter to the president airing your concerns about governors who threaten not to take the government up on the stimulus money?
MAYOR MANNY DIAZ (I), MIAMI: Well, it defeats the whole purpose of the stimulus plan. And particularly the mayors in the states that who's governors in South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas. Some of those governors that have given the impression that they're not going to accept the money, or that they're going to cherry pick whether they want education money, whether they want unemployment benefits. Those mayors are very concerned.
Because again, they're on the ground floor. They're seeing the pain and the suffering of their residents. And they want to make sure that there is some kind of a vehicle in place that will not withstanding the governors objections make sure that that money gets down to help the people that need it the most.
NGUYEN: In your letter, you say "we can not allow our citizens and communities to needlessly suffer." It goes on to say that "we ask you and your administration to devise a mechanism that will allow cities and residents to have full access to all programs." What kind of mechanism are you hoping for?
DIAZ: Well, for example, there's something in the legislation now that if a governor says no, the legislature can in essence override and choose to accept despite the governors objections, but it could also be that the legislature might not want it.
So these mayors particularly are asking for, you know, if everything else fails, there has to be some way for direct funding either to cities, but more particularly to residents in those cities who are going to benefit from these direct -- these programs that will provide, put money in their pockets directly.
NGUYEN: Should it be illegal for those governors not to take this funding?
DIAZ: Well, I don't know if it's illegal. I mean, obviously, there's states rights and issues like that. But again, these are times where people are struggling, people are suffering. This is a stimulus package that should not be subject to political ideology, but we should all be focused on making sure that it works and making sure that the money is getting into the hands and pockets of the people who are struggling today, who need this kind of help today.
NGUYEN: Are you claiming that they're playing politics with the stimulus package?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So that's what I asked him, are they playing politics? Are they grand standing? Well, hear Mayor Diaz's answer right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the governors of some states say they won't take funding from the massive economic stimulus package. Well, just before the break, I asked Miami's mayor are these governors playing politics with people's livelihoods at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAZ: I think there's a lot of ideology that's involved here. I think there's some leftover partisanship from some of what we saw in the Congress that, you know, again, this bill may not be 100 percent to everyone's liking, but I think they did a fairly good job of trying to get us broader as possible a consensus.
NGUYEN: Do you expect to hear from these governors who have decided that they don't want this funding?
DIAZ: Well, we have been hearing from them, and clearly, especially the mayors of those states, the larger cities in those states have been in communication with them and trying to convince them that they shouldn't stand in the way of this very necessary aid and assistance for the people of their state. The people of the state are also the people of the city. And so the mayor also has an obligation, a moral obligation really in this case to fight as hard as possible to make sure that this funding is going to go to its residents.
NGUYEN: The time is running out because March 5th, we're going to see more details of this plan. And those money are going to be starting to trickle down to the different states and the different cities.
DIAZ: Time is short. And perhaps one of the things that has to happen is that the residents of those states really need to put pressure by calling their governors, writing their governors, e- mailing their governors, and making their voices heard, and making them understand from the state capitol that this is something that's very, very important to them, and that if they are losing their homes, or they've lost their jobs, that this is a time when they want government to help them.
And you need to put your political perspective aside on what you think is the proper role of government. This is not a traditional time. This is a time when we are in a serious economic crisis. And it begs -- the times are calling for government to reach out and lend a hand to people in need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: I also talked to the mayor about the housing crisis in Miami. And next week, we are going to hear more from Mayor Diaz. Find out, listen to this, how you can get a new home for the price of what it would have cost you five years ago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness.
NGUYEN: "Eye of the Tiger," do you hear it playing?
HOLMES: I wasn't accepting that. We get down here folks, we all have a reason to watch golf, again. Tiger is back. He had an eight month layoff. He had knee surgery, had a new baby as well, but he's back in action.
This week, Rick Horrow joins us now, our sports business analyst and also former consultant for the PGA Tour.
Rick, hello. I was so happy to get to watch golf again. And it's all because of Tiger. Am I perfect example of why golf needs Tiger? It's because people like me and folks will watch just because of him?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: You are a perfect example, my good friend. And even more so is when Tiger finished his dramatic win last year at the U.S. Open, the market was over 12,000. Now it's hovering around 7000. 20 sponsorship deals, the lifeblood of the PGA Tour, come up for renewal by 2010. Ten are banks or auto dealers. U.S. Bank out in Milwaukee. Wachovia shuts down in Charlotte. The FBR down in Phoenix.
So, Tiger isn't going to win all of the money, by the way, but it's really important that he stays. Thank God for Tiger.
HOLMES: Thank God for Tiger. And there are record ratings for the golf network, watching the Accenture match play this week. He won his first round. He lost his second, but still a lot of interest and people were watching this week.
But still, a lot of people question, did he come back too soon? And why did he come to this particular tournament? This was match play?
HORROW: Well, he didn't come back too soon, because you got to come back first. At one time, and he decided to tune this up on the way to the next one, but not only is he happy he's back, his sponsors are happy he's back. He made $120 million off the course last year, $800 million total.
HOLMES: Wow.
HORROW: He's going to be our first billion dollar athlete. And believe it or not, Tucson's happy, $50 million of economic impact. And the pros are happy. Do you realize 11 years ago when he started on the tour, the prize money was about $80 million now?
HOLMES: Wow.
HORROW: Now $280 million. Thank you, Tiger.
HOLMES: Everybody's glad to have him back. So last thing, you got to do this for me real quickly, what is next for Tiger? What's next for golf?
HORROW: Well, he's back in two weeks. Golf is really creative. This week the Honda Classic. There's something called the Fin cup, a tournament in the tournament for former dolphin. Steve Ross involved in it, the Dolphin owner.
The industry needs to be creative in order to continue and take the next step. And that's exactly what's happened.
HOLMES: All right, Tiger is back. And so is our Rick Horrow. Always good to see you, kind sir. We'll see you again next week. And you enjoy the rest of your weekend.
HORROW: Yes, sir, my friend.
HOLMES: All right, thanks, buddy.
NGUYEN: Well, it's a good thing the tournament is being played in Tucson.
HOLMES: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: We have been warned. All right, thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: All right, another warning here for you cheating hearts out there.
NGUYEN: Oh, yeah.
HOLMES: I don't know how big of our viewing audience is cheaters. Sorry, didn't mean to...
NGUYEN: Hopefully not too many of you out there.
HOLMES: Didn't mean to offend any of you, but the economy is forcing people to be creative, shall we say, Betty about their cheating habits.
NGUYEN: Yeah, and you know, if you are cheating, you got more problems than just your finances. We're talk the recession and infidelity next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: It's cheaper to keep her.
NGUYEN: That's so wrong.
HOLMES: It's cheaper to keep her. It's expensive to break up.
NGUYEN: Well, how about not having an affair, because that could be expensive, too. Right?
HOLMES: But once you get beyond that. I mean...
NGUYEN: Oh, OK, that aside.
HOLMES: No, no, no. This is some serious stuff. A lot of folks now, a lot of people are staying together because they can't afford to break up. But also, if you're cheating...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: ...it's expensive for hotel rooms and maybe some dinners and drinks. You know, we got to old school with this thing.
NGUYEN: Some people say skip the room, skip the dinner, because we're going to dish the dirt on how they are cheating these days. Randy Kaye has the eye opening story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This private investigator for Massachusetts has been tailing cheating spouses since he was 16 when he father first taught him the business. But today, John Dinitale says business ain't what it used to be.
JOHN DINITALE: Surveillance pieces and especially domestic surveillance, you could see just falling off the charts.
KAYE: In the last year, Dinitale has seen a 75 percent drop in infidelity cases.
DINITALE: We've seen some what we would consider good size surveillances that would keep us busy for a week at a time just kind of go by the wayside. And I think there's any question that that was the result of people not being able to afford it.
KAYE: In a slumping economy, even hanky panky takes a hit. A full day of surveillance work will set you back about $2500. A full week, $15,000. So some spouses are doing their own snooping.
DINITALE: It's not unusual now where a client will call and say belook, I've already done all the leg work. I've been checking his Blackberry, been looking at his text messages, I've been downloading his cell phone bills. I think I've got about three or four witnesses.
KAYE: Dinitale still gets some surveillance work, but this new recession style cheating looks different. With corporate America tightening its belt, gone are the fancy dinners out billed to the expense account. Now, cheating couples cook at home.
DINITALE: It has to be the economy. And people are just not spending money the way they used to.
KAYE (on camera): John Dinitale says cheating spouses are cheating with a little less style these days. Instead of booking rooms at high end hotels like the Ritz or the Four Seasons, he says they're choosing what he calls the no tell motels like this one.
(voice-over): Or in some cases, they're skipping the hotel expense completely and just using the car. Dinitale trailed one couple with his partner and will never forget how it ended.
DINITALE: There were no heads in the front seat anymore. I'm working with a guy. And I said did you miss that? Did they leave. No, no, no. I said well, let's sit here for a second. And the next thing, two feet come right up on the windshield. Mark looks at me and he says now I know what they're doing.
KAYE: Not all couples are doing that. Some are just hanging out at the park. It's free.
DINITALE: We'd be scrambling around trying to pick up a spot where we can set up a video. And this would be a typical spot.
KAYE: The economic slump has put a damper on divorce, too. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 37 percent of attorneys polled reported fewer divorces during an economic downturn. Divorce lawyers say more couples are sticking it out, not because they want to, but because they have to.
DINITALE: They are staying together because they can't afford to get their own place.
KAYE: As the saying goes, in this business, it is cheaper to keep her.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Austin, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, Good morning, everybody on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, for February 28th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen. You know, in this tough economy, people are looking for ways to slim down those budgets. So how about getting things for free?
HOLMES: Sounds good.
NGUYEN: One of my favorite words. Free exercise, free food, free wine. We found a woman who knows how to locate all the freebies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything dealing with social networking is excellent to pass the word along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: I spent the day with a frugalista. We spent the entire day without shedding a single dime from our wallet.
HOLMES: You didn't spend anything?
NGUYEN: Not a dime.
HOLMES: OK. I'm impressed.
NGUYEN: Can you believe that?
HOLMES: No, I can not actually. So I'm looking forward to seeing this myself actually.
Also, millions of people out there, unemployed, we are trying to help and we know that you need help. We are starting to get your resumes. We have been asking for them. We have a career builder expert who will be on hand with us this morning. Send us your resume at weekends@CNN.com. We're going to be calling some of you live, on the air later. And that career builder will be giving you some free advice on how to find a job. Maybe dusting off the resume, improving it a bit and maybe even looking for a new line of work. Stay with us.
NGUYEN: OK. Up first, President Obama has fixed the economy and the new budget at the top of his agenda today. In his weekly radio address and internet webcast, Mr. Obama focused on his new spending priorities for the country.
Our Kate Bolduan is at the White House this morning with the latest on that. So Kate, what did the president have to say when it comes to those priorities?
BOLDUAN: Well, Betty, President Obama using his radio and internet address this morning to really defend the budget proposal that he unveiled on Thursday and pushed for its passage. $3.5 trillion. That's the spending we're talking about. Enormous amounts of money in this budget request going towards education, energy and a 10-year $634 billion investment in health care.
President Obama in his address says he knows that it's going to be tough to pass this budget with those types of numbers, but he also says this is the type of spending priority that he fought for on the campaign trail. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The system we have now might work for the powerful and well connected interests that have ran Washington for far too long. But I don't. I work for the American people. I didn't come here to do the same thing we have been doing or take small steps forward. I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Republicans on Capitol Hill came out quickly when the budget was unveiled, talking, criticizing these eye-popping numbers. Continuing to criticize the president's spending priorities this morning, listen here to Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA: It seems that every morning, you pick up the newspaper and you're reading about another multibillion government spending plan being proposed or even worst passed. The numbers are so large and the debts are so staggering. It's difficult for the average person to imagine how much money we're really talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Republicans arguing in a general sense, Betty, that the president in his budget, there isn't enough, there's not enough cutting of spending and also that these tax cuts repealing the Bush era tax cuts that are part of this budget also means it will be hurting small businesses that are supposed to be fueling this economy. So you can see really the fight is already kind of laying their lines as we are (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: All right. Kate Bolduan joining us live from Washington. Thank you for that. You know health care will highlight the president's agenda in the coming week. Here's a look at his schedule. On Tuesday, the president receives his second world leader to the White House when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown comes calling. Then on Thursday, the president holds a White House forum on health reform. His summit will include members from both political parties. And then on Friday, the president heads to Columbus, Ohio, where he is scheduled to attend a police academy graduation ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: So let me say this as plainly as I can, by August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end. As we ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's the president announcing the end to combat operations in Iraq. That means the bulk of U.S. troops will come out by August 31st of next year. But still, nearly 50,000 will stay to help complete the Iraq handover. Now, the president's plan also has the rest of the troops coming home by December 31st, 2011.
But that was actually in agreement that was put in place by the Bush administration and the Iraq government there that was already planning to have all troops out by the end of 2011. We have been asking you what you think this morning about the president's plan to withdraw most of the troops by 2010.
We have a lot of what you have been saying. We have been getting those comments in at weekends@CNN.com. Also, using a Facebook page a lot this morning, Betty. And that has actually gotten a lot of response and it's a quick, more instant response we're getting.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. The first one that you're looking at right now is from my Facebook page -- this from MJ who writes "For Iraq to become a truly independent democracy rather than a propped up republic, they have to claim it for themselves at some point. This has to happen and the sooner the better."
We're getting a lot of responses from you on our Facebook pages this morning. So keep them coming. The question for you, what do you think about the president's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq by 2010?
Now, we also have another question for you this morning. And we're trying to get some answers in fact when it comes to those job seekers out there, looking for employment these days.
HOLMES: A lot of folks have resumes out there that they are sending out. You can send them to us. And we will try to send them out a bit, if you will. And we're also helping you with your resume. You can send them to us at weekends@CNN.com.
We are getting a ton of them in. And we have career builder experts who are going to be here and actually critiquing some of those resumes and also telling you what's the next step you might need to take. Maybe you need to move to another city, as you were saying, Betty. Maybe you need -
NGUYEN: New skills.
HOLMES: New skills or new line of work.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Think about other options. So we all want to get into that now. Richard Castellini is his name. He is the chief marketing officer for careerbuilder.com. And he's joining us now this morning with a few tips. Sir, good morning to you.
RICHARD CASTELLINI, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Good morning.
HOLMES: What is one of the, I guess one of the first things you have been noticing in helping people? I guess, what is the most common question you are even getting and one of the most common mistakes you're saying with people who are trying to look for a job right now?
CASTELLINI: Well, what we always want people to do is personalize. Personalize their resume and cover letters to the position and company that they are applying for instead of a generic one size fits all resume or cover letter. It's best to show the recruiter that you are interested in and have done your homework on that company and that organization.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get right to it because on the phone we have Maurice Hall. He is a telecommunications technician from Plainfield, New Jersey. And Maurice, what are the big question you have when it comes to searching for jobs as you present the resume of yours.
VOICE OF MAURICE HALL, JOB SEEKER: Well the question I have is really who to really go to. You know, the question I have is to really get to go to, I you know, pretty much people run around, secretaries and things. I just want to know who do I give my resume to?
NGUYEN: All right. Richard, what do you say? You have taken a look at his resume. What do you think?
CASTELLINI: I would say a couple of things specifically is that you want to go to as many people as possible. You know, I think you want to have to find as many relationships in an organization that you want to be a candidate for as possible. So I would obviously go through whether it be an on-line application or a personal application and fill out your information.
But do your best to find out who the direct hiring manager is and try to establish a relationship with them. So maybe that's a little bit further beyond the just the HR or the recruiting person. So the more people you know in the organization, the better.
NGUYEN: Maurice, we are looking at your resume right now on the air. Are there any questions that you have about the way it's set up or information that you should take off or add to the resume?
HALL: Well, not really. Because it was done by a couple other people that I know. I'm good at repairing and you know technical things. So I had other people hook me up with a resume.
HOLMES: Well, Richard, you have taken a look at his resume. I guess what kind of jumps out at you about that resume, that's done right or maybe done wrong even though like you said he's gotten some help with it?
CASTELLINI: Well I think the summary if you want to start out. I think in general, it's a great first step. And he has gotten some good help. I would have the summary, like I said before to be more focused on a specific position and role and be less about me focused, meaning, you know, it's right now to obtain an I.T. position.
You want to be focused on what you can do for an organization. So you want to set it up as though you're an accomplished I.T. and telecommunications technician that can give benefit to an organization versus wanting to obtain a position.
Next, I would say I think the great listing of his skill set up top is fantastic especially in the I.T. field where people are going to want to know those specific certifications or technologies that he has used.
Finally, I would say, you know, take for instance on the seventh bullet underneath his Plainfield board of education. This is something you sometimes see. Spell checks don't always catch words that are spelled correctly, but they are not the correct word. So it's filling in this example versus filing.
NGUYEN: Got you.
HOLMES: That is a good thing to point out there. Maurice, I hope that was helpful, and not just to you but also a lot of people who are looking at their resumes and some things to think about. That's good point, Richard. We're not done talking to you yet, but a lot of people will say, a lot of business owners always looking for people who want something from the company instead of saying this is what I have to offer your company.
And that's a good point to make and we need to emphasize. Maurice, thank you. We hope that was helpful. Richard, we're going to be talking to you again in talking to someone else looking for some help with their resumes. So you stand by for us.
NGUYEN: And it's more than just tweaking the resume, we also want to talk to Richard, about where the jobs are and how we can align some of these people who are searching for a position with companies that are actually hiring.
But in the meantime this morning, we want to talk about where the jobs are and how to align some of the people searching for a position with companies that are actually hiring. But in the meantime, here's a question for you. What is the secret to finding freebies, free stuff?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything dealing with social networking is excellent to pass the word along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Get on the internet. You can find it very easily. I spent the day with a woman who call herself the frugalista. And got all the hot tips for finding free stuff out there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. Just about everyone is trying to tighten their wallets in this tough economy. And we have been tracking a woman in Miami who vowed now to spend any extra cash for the entire month of February. We have been talking to her every Saturday morning. And she's getting free wine tasting, free salsa classes, free food, who doesn't want that, right?
So I decided to see for myself how she was getting all of this stuff for free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We're in Miami to see how the frugalista is going an entire month without spending any extra cash. Let's see how she's doing it. Surprise! We came to check up on you to see how you're doing this.
NATALIE MCNEAL, FRUGALISTA: Yes. I'm here. Glad you're here.
NGUYEN: Let's see how it works.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: So now, every morning, when you get up, do you get on the computer and search and find out what's s free for the day?
MCNEAL: I search and a lot of my readers give me tips. They kind of know what I'm looking for. They just send me an e-mail, hey, listen to this a good live posting. So I don't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Anything dealing with social networking is excellent to pass the word along for free things.
NGUYEN: So right now. We're looking for free yoga classes.
MCNEAL: Yes.
Me need free yoga. All right.
Bay Front Park, free yoga classes.
NGUYEN: So, essentially if you wanted to save money, you have to do your research. Because it's out there, it's just a matter of finding it.
MCNEAL: Exactly. You have to be a student.
NGUYEN: All right. So what's on our list today? We're looking for free yoga. We're looking for ...
MCNEAL: Free make up.
NGUYEN: OK. Free makeup. That's not a bad deal.
MCNEAL: You want to rent a DVD?
NGUYEN: For free.
MCNEAL: Exactly.
NGUYEN: But are these new DVDs, like the latest releases?
MCNEAL: Indeed.
NGUYEN: Really.
MCNEAL: Yes.
High School Musical III up that alley.
NGUYEN: It is a new release.
MCNEAL: All right, "Walk the Line" it is.
NGUYEN: All right. Absolutely free. OK. So where to next?
MCNEAL: I think we need to hit the mall and get some make up. Get all dolled up.
NGUYEN: Some free makeup. I like the sound of that.
So on your birthday, you get a set of three glosses for free.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every month is a different gift.
MCNEAL: OK.
NGUYEN: It's not a bad freebie. It's adorable.
MCNEAL: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: So from free make up to what else can you get free in the mall?
MCNEAL: Today, they're running a special, free chocolate.
NGUYEN: Godiva, no less.
MCNEAL: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Not bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Would you like to try free chocolate?
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
MCNEAL: I would love to.
NGUYEN: Lovely.
MCNEAL: A little birthday treat.
NGUYEN: So now that we're loaded up on free chocolate, I guess it's time to work it off.
MCNEAL: Exactly. I say let's do some yoga.
NGUYEN: Some free yoga.
MCNEAL: That's right.
NGUYEN: That was a work out.
MCNEAL: Oh, my goodness, my arms.
I think it's time for us to go out a little bit later on tonight and have some real fun.
NGUYEN: It's your birthday.
MCNEAL: That's right.
NGUYEN: And we're all going to do it for free?
MCNEAL: Exactly.
NGUYEN: And the frugalista knows fabulous. She got all dolled up for her big night.
You have a great group of friends, obviously, who threw you a party for free.
MCNEAL: Yes.
NGUYEN: What would you do without these friends you can turn to and say you know what I'm pinching pennies. Help me out.
MCNEAL: I would be at home twiddling my thumbs.
NGUYEN: Natalie has bee mooching off all of you essentially for the past month. And you say you have a conviction?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a conviction. Fellas, I strongly believe men cannot be as frugal as women.
NGUYEN: Why is that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine telling your girlfriend, oh baby, we're not going to do that, we're going to sit on the couch and watch television. Come on, I strongly (INAUDIBLE) I don't think men can do it.
NGUYEN: Well, Natalie are you going to amen over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Now, has she been cheep or frugal when it comes to getting her hair done for free from you? How thankful, how happy are you that this is over? That she can go ahead and spend her own money now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Woosh!
NGUYEN: Not a bad day to toast the month.
MCNEAL: Thank you. This has been great time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So the entire day, didn't spend a dime. I have to ask you though, her friend right there said guys can't do this. And you can't be male and not spend any cash. Do you agree?
HOLMES: Well, not if we want to go out with women.
NGUYEN: That's what he was saying.
HOLMES: That's the point. No, you absolutely cannot do that.
How many guys -- I mean any woman -- I mean sat around here now.
NGUYEN: We're in a little bit of an advantage when it comes to doing ...
HOLMES: You do because we're expected to pay for the movie tickets and the drinks, the dinner.
NGUYEN: You can got to the library and get that for free.
HOLMES: The what?
NGUYEN: The movie, the DVD.
HOLMES: No. Come on.
NGUYEN: I'm giving you an idea of how much she saved during this month of February. She usually spends on average around $531 a month. Look, in February, she only spent $187. That is a total savings of $344. But, if you add up all the freebies, which you see right there. The salsa dancing, facial, yoga and all that other stuff, she probably got some free yoga in there somewhere too. The grand total of savings is $480.52. So, if you really go online and type in free and whatever it is that you're looking for, there are a lot of search engines that will provide you with ideas of where you can go in your area, in your city, to get these free items. And I think the key though as well is having a good group of friends that will say come on over, I'll pay for you tonight.
HOLMES: I don't have that, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, you have me.
HOLMES: I don't have that, Betty.
NGUYEN: Hey, last weekend, where did we go? That was on me.
HOLMES: I don't ...
NGUYEN: I have to start writing these down.
OK. So next weekend, speaking of saving you some cash, listen to this, you can save thousands. We're going to show you how. In fact, find out how you can get a new home for the price of what it would have cost you five years ago.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: We'll show you that next weekend.
HOLMES: And also, we're talking this weekend about finding a job. Trying to help some folks out there. Send us your resumes right now, weekends@CNN.com. Our producers are going through all your e- mails, all your resumes. We trying to pick a few out. We might give you a call. We're hooking up live, folks looking for a job, and also a career from builder.com experts to go through your resume for you and give you some expert advice. He's coming up again here in a second with another viewer.
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NGUYEN: All right. So, if you're looking for a job, we have help for you this morning. In fact, we're going to be posting resumes on the air and matching them with one of our experts who is going to show what you are doing wrong, what you are going right and where the jobs are.
HOLMES: Yes. Richard Castellini is his name. He is the chief marketing officer for the Web site, careerbuilder.com. There he is. And also Michael Biron is on the phone with us. A gentleman who is looking for work right about now.
Michael, I tell you what. He has been looking at your resume. Go ahead and I'll turn it over to you and you go ask him directly a question you might have about your resume or job and we'll hear his thoughts. So go right ahead, buddy.
VOICE OF MICHEL BIRON, JOB SEEKER: Thank you very much for having me. I guess, my first question would be how can I differentiate myself in this tough job market to make myself more appealing than the next person to employers?
CASTELLINI: Well, your resume is really a marketing document. A marketing document for you to differentiate yourself. So I have taken a few minutes and taken some time to look at it and some things that I can highlight is you know, one, your objective. One, I would one, make that more specific to the position in the area that you want, have it focus with the last people on your employer.
Next, your education at the top of the section. One it's in a field, marketing That is in the area that you want and it's probably not as relevant is what you are doing today. So I would drop that down lower and then in your last position, I would highlight and quantify more of what you have done.
So, for instance, in the top bullet, when you talk about the dollar figure and the number of units in the project you manage, I would try to continue that out in your other bullet points down lower, meaning talk about how many parties that you are the liaison between. I would talk about the deadlines and times that you were able to accomplish. As long as you can quantify things in your resume to highlight your accomplishments, the better.
BIRON: OK.
NGUYEN: So, Michael, let me ask you this. Have you been looking out there. What are some of the stumbling blocks that you have faced and maybe Richard can help you with that?
BIRON: Well I guess stumbling blocks, I would say is the fact that right now, as far as development goes, it's one of the hardest times that the country has seen. So there aren't very many people that are hiring in my field, especially on the construction end. And it's just really hard to find the types of positions that I'm looking for especially when there's so many people in the market right now, looking for the same position with similar qualifications.
NGUYEN: Richard, help Michael understand where the jobs are. And you said he really needs to make himself stand out and set himself apart from the rest of pack. What else can he do besides tweaking his resume.
CASTELLINI: Well as we all know, the construction field is really taking a downturn in this economic environment. But the economic stimulus package has a lot of money earmarked, I think close to $150 billion in infrastructure projects. So, you know, I think one of the goals in that was to get out and spend that money quickly.
So hopefully you're going to be seeing opportunities in that field. But it might be a different type versus private development into public areas in which you can utilize your skills.
NGUYEN: All right. Richard, thank you so much for your time. Michael, best of luck to you. Hopefully you got some good advice here this morning and we'll be able to find that job very soon. Of course, we're going to keep Richard Castellini around for awhile this morning as we continue to look at these resumes and talk to people on the phone about their job searches.
HOLMES: And we continue to please send them in at weekends@CNN.com. We are going through them and might be giving you a call this morning. But certainly, trying to give help to you all individually specifically. But also to a broader audience about some general things they can do to improve their job prospects out there by maybe brushing up and down that resume.
Stay with us and keep those coming into us. We'll be right back.
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NGUYEN: OK, so we're going to have more on how to get that job interview and score that position coming up at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.
