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Dems Threatened by Opponents of Health Care; Bank of the America to Go Easy on Mortgage Holders; What Will Impact of Health Bill Be?
Aired March 25, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time to turn over the keys to the mothership, to the man. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, HOST: Tony, have yourself a fantastic afternoon.
HARRIS: You, too, sir.
VELSHI: As Tony said, I'm Ali Velshi. I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and these two hours every weekday. I'm going to take every important topic that we cover and break it down for you. And I've got my work cut out for me. I'm going to try and give you a level of detail that will help you make important decisions about your health care, your taxes, your world.
Let's get started. A new hour, I've got a run down here. If you think health-care reform is a done deal, wow, think again. The Senate spent the night picking the bill apart. Now, oh, my goodness. It has to go back to the House.
Plus, things may be simmering in Washington. They are boiling over every place else. The battle over health care turns into a real battle. We're talking threats, bricks, now even bullets. Folks, it's getting ugly and dangerous.
OK. Politics is one thing, but you want to know how health-care reform affects you and your wallet and your waiting room. We're bringing back our avatars because you loved them. It's something you might see yourself in when we show you these avatars.
Plus, it's three weeks until tax day. If you haven't done your return yet, you're going to want to stick around. We've got some tips that could save you big money and fatten up that refund check.
OK. We could be just an hour away from the next big vote in the process of overhauling health care in America. You know that process goes on even after the president signs the bill.
Guess what? The president is still working it, too. An hour from now, he'll do a sales pitch in Iowa City. We'll be there for that. That's where he first pitched health-care reform as a presidential hopeful back in 2007.
Let me break down what's going on for you right now, though. You'll note I said the next big vote, not the last big vote. Senators are wrapping up two days of work on a companion bill to the monumental health care. This is the health-care bill. This is the companion bill that they need to work on. The president signed it. They are swatting down every Republican amendment.
But overnight two small provisions were ruled out of order by the Senate parliamentarian. Two provisions that the Republicans wanted dealt with were ruled out of order. That means that under the rules of reconciliation, the changes have to come out of this package, and they have to go back from the Senate to the House for a revote.
Now, that assuming -- assumes that this package clears the Senate an hour or so from now. It's almost certain that that will happen, and then a final House vote could come as soon as this evening. But we could have two more votes.
Now, what are those disallowed provisions that the Senate parliamentarian said aren't able to go in there? They don't have a thing to do with health care, by the way. They're part of an unrelated rewrite of the federal student loan program. We talked about this with Roland earlier in the week.
As we've reported, the government is cutting out the banks that serve as middle men, making all the profit, while taking none of the risks. So that is still going to happen, but the feds will lend directly to students if the bill passes.
The disputed parts of this are relatively minor. They're details. I want to spend a minute on some major details that everyone needs to pay attention to.
More than a few House Democrats who voted for reform on Sunday are fearing nor their safety today. This after death threats and vandalism by radical opponents of what some call Obama care and its impact on abortion coverage in particular.
I want to -- I want you to listen to a chilling voice mail that was left for Michigan Democratic Representative Bart Stupak, an avidly anti-abortion rights Democrat who was pivotal in passing health-care reform. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congressman Stupak you are one big piece of human (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And think about this. There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill. And all of those thoughts projected on you will materialize. We don't have to do anything but sit back and wish -- go to hell, you piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK. That's just a little bit of the flavor.
House leaders met yesterday to talk about security. Some top Republicans are also condemning the nastiness. Here's what House Majority [SIC] Leader John Boehner had to say about it this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: I know many Americans are angry over this health-care bill and angry at Democrats here in Washington for not listening. But as I've said before, violence and threats are unacceptable. They have no place in a political debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I want to bring in our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar. She's got the latest.
John Boehner continued to say after that comment that, you know, if you want to do something, go out, organize, volunteer, you know, go out and support a candidate. There are ways to do it. But since he made that statement, more revelations of threats and violence have come out.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this is really interesting also to listen to what he says there, Ali. Because in one breath he's saying this is not the appropriate behavior. But in the other breath, he is talking specifically to these disaffected people who we saw protesting here at the Capitol over the weekend, saying, "We are listening to you," which is a phrase that they used over and over when I talked to them. They said, "We don't feel like our members of Congress are listening."
And he also used the world "revolt" in the next breath. So this just goes to show you he's trying to walk a fine line here between harnessing the power of this upset part of the electorate and also trying not to embrace them too much, to become tainted by them.
But I also want to say Senator Republican leader said in his remarks, this was a press conference that -- he billed it as a press conference, but in the end he didn't take any questions. So we really couldn't -- But he said that he has been really the target of this. He said that his campaign office in Richmond, Virginia, was actually shot at.
And then he went on to really blast political leaders in the Democratic Party. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: Just recently I have been directly threatened. A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week. And I've received threatening e-mails. But I will not -- I will not release them, because I believe such actions will only encourage more to be sent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Bottom line here, this whole issue of threats that lawmakers are getting, predominantly Democratic lawmakers, is just blowing up into a huge partisan battle here on Capitol Hill, Ali. VELSHI: All right. Brianna, stay right there. Bringing us the latest on what's going on, on Capitol Hill. After the break, we're going to talking about the process, the things that still have to happen, the passions, the politics. Roland is joining us, CNN political analyst Roland Martin, and Brianna will stay right with us.
Stay with us. We're going to continue this conversation when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I want to continue our conversation about not just what's happening with the health-care bill but the politics and the tensions and the emotions that are building around it.
I want to bring Brianna Keilar back, our congressional correspondent, and Roland Martin, our political analyst, who is at the white House right now.
Roland, it's kind of unbelievable to me the chatter that's going out on the Web about who's using these slurs and threats and discussions of them to annoy people and to get them riled up. Why are leadership of both parties not coming out and just stating explicitly, "We want no part of this kind of stuff. We don't want people, no matter how angry they are or supportive they are, using threats, violence, racial slurs, homophobic slurs, anything"?
This has just -- this has ratcheted down the debate so poorly.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, politics. I mean, you have to understand. If you're the Republicans, you want to over-take the House or the Senate come November; if you are Democrats, you want to actually protect your majorities.
And so what you have is you have politicians who want to play both sides from the middle. And that is, they don't really want to truly go after, aggressively, folks on their side, because frankly, pushing those buttons, getting people hyped up and riled up plays -- play into, you know, their argument, which makes no sense because you're really turning off the very people who are likely going to sway in the election. And that is, your independent voters.
VELSHI: Right. That's a good point.
Brianna, when everyone is focusing on these independent voters, cutting gas lines, throwing bricks, shooting bullets through campaign offices, this doesn't strike me the place where most independents in this country sit, regardless of how upset they may be or not be about legislation.
KEILAR: No, but I think the point here, and if you look at this from where the Democrats stand, they would consider that independents are more moderate; they're in the middle. So what they're trying to do is, when they see that there this is this kind of extreme element in, say, this Tea Party group or at least the people who have the sentiment of the Tea Party group, then it works for them to sort of keep Republicans in that category. And this is certainly a fear of some Republicans.
MARTIN: Right.
KEILAR: And then on the flip side, you have Republicans -- and I mentioned this before the break -- who are trying to harness that energy...
VELSHI: Right.
KEILAR: ... that is coming from this very energized sector of voters while, at the same time, not trying to embrace some of the extreme stuff too much.
And -- but in the end, this is becoming a huge partisan battle here. You've got to have at least one Democrat and one Republican fund-raising on these issues.
MARTIN: It is -- it's shameful, Ali. And so really, what we should be seeing, we should be seeing John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Jim Clyburn, Steny Hoyer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi actually having a joint news conference condemning this.
And so if you want to talk about bipartisan, how about being bipartisan and saying, "Look, enough is enough. We understand that people are passionate, but you crossed the line." And so I don't have the respect for political leaders when they don't see the need to come to together on this kind of issue...
VELSHI: Right.
MARTIN: ... because it can get worse.
VELSHI: This might be the part of health-care reform that they can actually come together on, to say legislating is what gets done in Washington. Somebody is not going to like -- there's always going to be somebody who doesn't like what's going on.
Brianna, you brought something up earlier. And there's this interesting discussion of a revolution: let the revolution happen at the ballot box. I heard somebody from the Tea Party saying that this morning on Tony's show. Let the revolution come to the ballot box. So they're walking this line about revolution but not wanting it to be violent.
KEILAR: That's right. And you heard John Boehner, who is the top Republican in the House. In one breath he's saying this behavior is inappropriate; there are other ways. And he's talking about voting or getting your voice heard. Those are ways to really explain how you're feeling and make your point, not some of these other ways, the throwing the bricks through the window...
VELSHI: Right.
KEILAR: Those other vandalism, these threats. But then in the next breath, you hear him say -- use a word like "revolt." So he's sort of playing to this constituency and also trying to sort of take a step back and walk a fine line there.
And you also have Democrats, I mean, when they publicly call for Republicans to condemn this with them and they're doing that publicly, Republicans feel that that is them playing politics. That is them fanning the flames.
That's what we heard from Eric Cantor, the number two Republican. And so that's why you have this kind of like, you know...
VELSHI: Well, as Roland says, this is a remarkable opportunity...
MARTIN: A protest of words. A protest of words.
VELSHI: A remarkable opportunity for everybody to come together and do the right thing. To say that nobody in this country, no matter what their politics are, need to condemn -- needs to condone these kinds of words, these slurs, and these kinds of acts of violence. I truthfully hope for the sake of this country that this stops immediately.
Thanks to both of you. Brianna Keilar, our congressional correspondent, working the story hard. And Roland Martin at the White House. Thanks, guys.
MARTIN: Thanks. Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK. When we come back, Bank of America wants to cut some people's mortgage down -- mortgage balances in a big way to help people who are underwater get some much-needed air. My co-host from "YOUR $$$$$," Christine Romans, standing by with the details you need to know to see if you qualify for this and what it means.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Big doings in the world of mortgages. The biggest mortgage holder in the country, Bank of America, announcing some major changes that could help people who are underwater in their mortgages.
Christine Romans joins me now. She's my co-host on "YOUR $$$$$" on the weekends.
Hey, Christine, just before we get to that, did you hear my conversation with -- with Roland and Brianna about the stuff that's going on?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: You're kind of like my alter ego. I can't imagine you ever throwing bricks at anybody. This does remind us of stuff we've gone through in the last couple of years with the financial crisis and the anger that's out there. We have taken the view there are lots of reasons to be angry about a lot of things, but there are lines that get crossed. ROMANS: You know, and exactly right. And you know, I had a really interesting conversation with John Avlon from -- you know, who writes for the Daily Beast and wrote that book called "Wingnuts." I talked to him last night about this, and he said, look, he thinks the economy is one of the reasons, too.
I mean, it's big, historic legislation, yes, but there's also a pretty terrible economy and a lot of -- a lot of sniping out there in general and unhappiness and melees out there in general.
But what kind of person actually calls an elected official and leaves such a -- just a nasty, nasty, nasty -- I mean, what's the point, really? How does it elevate the debate? How does it get a point across? It just ruins -- doesn't it just really destroy your...
VELSHI: It's upsetting.
ROMANS: ... intellectual standing on the issue?
VELSHI: Yes. We all have to work really hard to understand the issues out there, and that doesn't help us.
Speaking of understanding issues, this is one that is -- has probably contributed to a lot of people being very upset. Their homes are worth a lot less than the value of their mortgage.
ROMANS: Right. Twenty-five percent of homeowners, as a matter of fact, owe more on the house than the house is worth.
Now Bank of America trying something here that is -- it's going to be looked at to see if this is a test for a broader way to approach this. But 45,000 people who have loans that are serviced by Bank of America are going to be contacted by the bank and told that they qualify for a program to actually cut their mortgage balance, to cut the principle that they are owed, that they owe the bank, to try to see if some of the riskiest and worst-performing loans can perform if you cut the balance. They'll cut the loan balance by up to 30 percent. These are all high-risk loans from Countrywide. Remember, Bank of America bought Countrywide.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: The loan balance has to be over 120 percent of the home value. So for example, if the house is only worth $200,000 now but you owe 240 grand or more, you would qualify. And you have to have missed two payments, which is key here. You have to have had two payments that you have not turned in. So you have to be behind. Interestingly, though, Ali, this is 45,000 people. You don't have to call Bank of America. They're going to find you. There's a lot of, as you know, fine print about who qualifies and the like.
But this has been something, actually forgiving the mortgage principle, Ali. We haven't really seen this embraced.
VELSHI: yes, that's a big change. We've seen people amortize it over a longer period of time, reduce the payments and they can go back to normal. But actually saying, "You're going to owe us less money." That's a big deal.
ROMANS: Well, Greg McBride at Banker.com, he says so far we've done extend and pretend.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Extend the length of the loan or lower the interest rate of the loan. Try to push it out, push it out. Greg McBride has a couple of good points, Ali.
He said one, he doesn't see this happening on a large scale because the banks don't have the capital cushion to take these big losses up front on the mortgage principle. That's No. 1.
No. 2, he says moral hazard, a big problem. This is why so many people in the government and economists have -- leery of this.
VELSHI: You have been very clear about this over the years. Moral hazard means rewarding people for getting into trouble. In other words, you went into trouble, and now there's a bailout.
ROMANS: If 86 percent of mortgage -- people who have a mortgage are paying on time and they see somebody with a risky loan whose home has lost just as much value as theirs, and they're getting their balance forgiven...
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: ... their mortgage principle forgiven, why would you keep digging deep to pay the bills every month, right?
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
ROMANS: Why wouldn't you say, "I'm going to skip two payments, and then I'm going to get a better deal, too, from the bank."
So one of the ways that Bank of America is trying to get around that, I think, is that you have to be on time for five years after they do this little deal, and then they forgive the mortgage principle. So five years, that's still tough. People are losing jobs.
VELSHI: yes, yes.
ROMANS: Are you going to be able to redo the loans and they're still going to be able to pay on time for five years? That's a good question.
VELSHI: Christine, good to see you, as always. Thank very much.
You can also watch Christine and me discuss these financial matters in greater detail on "YOUR $$$$$," Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Bring you up to speed with some of the stories that we're covering here at CNN. In Washington, Republicans managed to bounce a package of changes to the new health-care law back to the House. They say two provisions on student leans attached to the package, the health-care reform package, violate congressional rules and have to be voted on again. Democrats say they're expecting to do that today.
At the Pentagon, defense secretary Robert Gates announced relaxed guidelines on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Among other things, the military is raising the threshold for launching an inquiry into alleged homosexual behavior.
And new threats supposedly from Osama bin Laden. There's a new audio tape said to be from the al Qaeda leader. It threatens to kill Americans if U.S. executes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind. Mohammed faces an upcoming trial.
All right. When we come back, avatar Elizabeth is back. She's standing by. She's got those avatars that tell you how health-care reform has an impact on you. We are going to introduce you to some people who look like funny cartoons but may seem a little bit like you. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. I called her Avatar Elizabeth. Elizabeth Cohen, you will know her as our senior medical correspondent. She is -- she's been just knocking it out of the park with explaining this. I mean, for all the studying everybody has done, these avatars make it clearer to people how they are going to be affected by health care. So take it away.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It makes me so happy to hear that.
All right. The health-care reform bill, what does it mean to Student-Loan Sally? Well, you see, she's happy. She's happy for a reason.
The reason is, is that the government, you know, they issued these government-backed loans.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: Right? And they used to be that most of them were done through the -- through private banks but now they're going to make them all through the federal government. That saves money.
So her -- the size of her grant is going to go up.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: She's getting a grant from the federal government. It's going to go up by about $600...
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: ... between now and 2017. So hopefully she won't still be in school seven years from now.
VELSHI: Right, right.
COHEN: She looks pretty bright, right? She's going to graduate. But someone like her, their grant will be $600 bigger in seven years.
VELSHI: Yes. And the idea is that education, like health care, is increasing faster than inflation. So they're going to let these increase. But fair to say this student loan thing has nothing to do with health care. It was just added on.
COHEN: Just put in there. Right.
VELSHI: But Student-Loan Sally does well from it. Now, I saw Flexible -- what was her name? Flexible...
COHEN: Flexible Fran.
VELSHI: Whose hair looks a little like yours.
COHEN: Yes. Funny. We both do yoga, so there we go. There you go.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: All right. Flexible Fran, you can see she is sad.
VELSHI: OK.
COHEN: The reason why is that Fran used to put $5,000 into her flexible spending account. Right?
VELSHI: Right. Which we think is a good thing for most people.
COHEN: It's a good thing. But now the government says, you know what? With this legislation, Fran, you can only put $2,500 away.
VELSHI: Wow.
COHEN: Yes.
VELSHI: And is that for Flexible Fran and everybody else or is it her particular situation?
COHEN: No, for everybody. It's going to be very limited. Now, I feel for Fran.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: I feel her pain. However, we're told there aren't many Frans out there.
VELSHI: OK.
COHEN: We're told that most people put sort of like $1,400 away.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: So most people never get anywhere near this money, $5,000.
VELSHI: Right. The $5,000, you know something specific is happening. Maybe her kids are getting braces or something like that.
COHEN: Yes, that's right. Maybe Fran's a hypochondriac.
VELSHI: Right.
COHEN: I mean, who knows?
VELSHI: But most people don't put that much? That's interesting. So they're bringing the limit down on how much you can spend.
COHEN: Right. But it's going to affect Fran but probably not a whole boatload.
VELSHI: Sure. OK. That's interesting. What else have you got?
COHEN: OK, all right.
VELSHI: This one is me. The next one coming up was made for me.
COHEN: Oh, that's right.
VELSHI: Fast-Food Frank.
COHEN: No, we gave him hair, Ali. That's not you; he's got hair.
VELSHI: Not me, but Fast-Food Frank.
COHEN: I see, I'm sorry. I thought you meant the hair. OK.
VELSHI: I'm a fast food aficionado.
COHEN: OK.
VELSHI: But again, if you take off the hair, he does look a little like me. Yes.
COHEN: OK. It does look suspiciously like you. That is so true.
All right. You can see that Frank loves his fast food.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: He's happy, but I'm not really so sure he's going to be happy. Because what's going to happen is that the menu at fast food places is now going to have nutritional information. So nutritional...
VELSHI: You and I talked about this, because it started -- we started seeing this in New York. And it has changed my eating habits.
COHEN: That's a good thing.
VELSHI: When I see how many calories are in something, I make a different choice.
COHEN: Right. Well, that's good. That's a wonderful thing. Frank may not like it, because he may think, "I just want to eat my Big Mac or whatever or my Whopper and not care."
VELSHI: Fast-Food Frank's eating habits cost us money.
COHEN: That's right. That's right.
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: So this is a good thing for all of us.
VELSHI: All right.
COHEN: But soon he is going to know how much calories and grams of fat, et cetera, are in that hamburger.
VELSHI: OK. I'm going to have to start hanging with you, doing yoga and eating my veggies. Because that's what...
COHEN: There we go.
VELSHI: ... Avatar Elizabeth always tells me.
Elizabeth, thanks so much.
Hey, listen, the mayor of Juarez, Mexico, was supposed to be dead today. If drug dealers got their way, that's where he would have been. We're going to talk to a guy who possibly has one toughest jobs on earth, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This is one of those stories that you've had in the back of your mind, you keep hearing about it, but something has changed in this story in the last few months. The violence in Mexico, ever since Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels back in 2006, there's been a remarkable escalation in the violence in Mexico. Much of it is along the Mexican border, but actually there's a lot of it further into Mexico.
But much of it is centered right here at Juarez, which is on the Mexican side of the border, El Paso is on the American side of the border. There's a lot of activity right around here. I want to tell you about -- there aren't any official government tallies, but a recent tally that we have looked at indicates that about 16,000 people are estimated to have died in the drug wars.
Gary Tuchman has spent some time down there, and he was bringing us the story of the mayor of Juarez, Mexico, a man who is living under a death threat right now.
Gary, bring us up to speed on the story.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, two weeks ago, the mayor, Jose Reyes Ferriz, got a note attached to a dead animal head. And the note said, that unless you quit you have two weeks to live. Well, the two weeks expired last night. Fortunately, the mayor is still alive, but he has to take amazing precautions because he knows at any time something terrible can happen to him.
And we decided when we were there in Juarez, we spent the weekend there, to spend a day with the mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The mayor of Juarez, Mexico, hates the drug cartels that have turned his city into a dangerous and violent place, a city with the highest murder rate in the world. The cartels want him gone, permanently.
MAYOR JOSE REYES FERRIZ, CUIDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO: The threats are real. They're not just intimidating, they're real and I have to take it very seriously.
TUCHMAN: Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz was told two weeks ago that if he didn't quit his job by this week, he would be assassinated. For added emphasis, a bloody animal head came with the note.
FERRIZ: I know I have a lot of people that not only don't like me but would like to do something to me.
TUCHMAN: So that's why his driver carries an automatic rifle with him at all times.
And in public, like at this patriotic celebration, the mayor has elaborate security. And he's not backing down, not only does he continue to appear at public events, he talks a lot about how the bad guys have ruined his city.
FERRIZ (through translator): Juarez is a lover of peace, and peace is what we are lacking.
TUCHMAN: During his three-year term, the mayor has fired hundreds of cops. He believed they were in bed with the narco- traffickers. The city's police force is now considered much less corrupt, and that angers the cartels and has led to assassinations of police and several threats against the mayor, including this very specific one involving the animal head.
(on camera): Mayor, how scared are you personally?
FERRIZ: Well, I take all the necessary precautions I can take.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): I asked the mayor if it's safe to tour the city a bit. So we go to a skateboard and bicycle park. It's not crowded, but there are some kids having fun. Nevertheless, even in this environment, he doesn't go anywhere without an armed guard, although here the rifle is left in its case.
FERRIZ: It's hard to have a normal life. It's -- it's extremely difficult. I love playing tennis. I haven't played in a couple of years. I love going to the movies. I haven't gone to the movies in a couple years.
TUCHMAN: He's a family man, a lawyer by trade. The mayor could quit tomorrow and live a less stressful, financially lucrative life.
As we travel in his armored vehicle, he says he's well aware a killer could target him at any time. So I ask him about quitting.
(on camera): Do you have any thoughts about that possibility?
FERRIZ: No. I won't step down from my position. It's a very important position. What we're doing is extremely important for our city. If we don't do it today, it's going to be very hard to do it tomorrow. It's going to be double hard.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The contrasts in his life are surreal. The law-abiding citizens of Juarez want him to succeed. The cartels want him punished, they want him dead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: Who can blame this guy if he quit? He has a family, for crying out loud. But he says he is going to finish out his remainder of his term. His term is over in October.
As far as running for a second term, under Mexican law you are not allowed to. So therefore, he will go into private life, but he says down the road he may run again perhaps for the governor of the state of Chihuahua where Juarez is.
Either way, he's not a quitter, this guy. Tough guy.
VELSHI: When you talk to people in Juarez, I mean clearly the violence in the city seems to be the biggest issue to them. Is this mayor seen as being able to make some change, because the killings are increasing?
TUCHMAN: No question about that, Ali, the killings are increasing. But what most people, most law-abiding good people in Juarez see is a mayor who has fired hundreds of corrupt cops and they applaud that.
But what ironically has happened is they fired the corrupt cops and it's made the drug cartels angry because they could rely on corrupt cops to help them in the past and because of their angry the crime has increased. So that's the tragic irony here.
VELSHI: All right, Gary, good to see you on this. Thanks very much. It's an important story and I'm glad you've clarified. You've made it a little bit more digestible for us. Gary Tuchman in New York on his story about the mayor of Juarez and the violence going on there.
Well, it's no secret the government doesn't like you to buy cigarettes. It doesn't want you to buy soda pop either, and now it's using stimulus money to make that happen. You might not like what Josh Levs has to tell you about this, but he's going to tell you anyway when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Let me give you a check of the top stories we're working on here at CNN.
A companion bill to the new health care reform law has become something of a political football. Senate republicans found problems with two of its provisions not related to health care. So now the Senate has got to vote on the revised bill. If approved, as expected, it heads to the House, back to the House for a final vote. That should all happen today.
As if the Vatican needed more bad PR, "The New York Times" reporting the Catholic Church got tons of warnings about a pedophile priest in Milwaukee and did nothing about it. At the time, the future Pope Benedict XVI was in charge at the office that disciplines priests and American bishops warnings went of him. Now the Vatican says it was unaware of the case until 20 years after civil authorities investigated and then dropped it.
And jobless numbers are showing a positive trend. The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims dropped last week to the lowest level in six weeks; continuing claims are also down.
All right, I'm going to take a walk over to Josh Levs. He's over at the Stimulus Desk over there. Josh is working on an interesting part of stimulus. The government is actually funding through stimulus efforts to stop people from smoking, from drinking soda that makes you fat.
Josh, what's the latest on this? What are you working on?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One thing that's going to strike you here is that some of this money from the stimulus is going to lobbying. We didn't know this, I'm just learning about this right now. So what's happened is the CDC got some money they can distribute to states and the idea is to help nutrition programs, right? They want to fight tobacco, they want to fight people drinking too much soda. And in some cases they are approving states using stimulus money to lobby state legislators to increase the prices of stuff.
I've got a couple of examples for you here, it just drills down for you some of what's going on that we didn't know about. Let me see, one of them right here, Delaware, they're getting a million dollars, and look at what they're doing with it. Basically, they're going to use the money to help lobby to raise the prices of other tobacco products, not cigarettes, so they match the price of cigarettes. So basically, they're going to reaching out to lawmakers and decision makers in the state using this money to lobby.
And I got one more for you. What do we have? Oregon, I think. There they got $3 million and some of that is going to an counter ad campaign to target people who are really advertised heavily for smoking, but also to support a policy proposal to increase tobacco price. Again, stimulus money going to states for efforts to lobby those states legislatures to charge more for tobacco.
VELSHI: Interesting. Kind of weird that the money goes to the states to go to lobbyists to lobby the states.
LEVS: Yes, or to just group that are already involved in this to spend their time lobbying. I don't know about professional lobbyists, but it's --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: -- ad campaigns, things like that.
LEVS: Yes, exactly. So talk about stimulus money that is being used for lobbying to try to achieve something. So definitely, there are people raising controversies about this saying is appropriate use of borrowed money that we're paying interest on for the stimulus.
VELSHI: Although, people would be more inclined to like the cause. We generally think it's better to fight obesity, to fight smoking.
LEVS: Oh, yes. Look, there's no question also that they're legitimate goals, I think, here. And we talked to science officials before, National Science Foundation, CDC. They say, look, we're not giving money to anything that's a waste, right? We want to do good things for America, we want to improve the health and use the money smartly.
So that's their position, but certainly there are who are saying, wait a second, stimulus dollars are not for this.
VELSHI: OK. Have you done your taxes?
LEVS: You know what, no?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Really? I totally would have figured you would be one of those guys who'd have them done it in February.
LEVS: When do I have time? I'm here every day, when do I have time for that?
VELSHI: Look at that. He's a procrastinator just like me. I'm one of them.
LEVS: You, too? Seriously?
VELSHI: Oh, yes, yes. Look, we got a few weeks until Tax Day. If you haven't done them, don't panic. Don't panic. We are all the same. The tax lady, Roni Deutch, is standing by. She's going to tell you what to do. She'll make your life better, she's going to save you some money when we come back.
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VELSHI: I'm thinking it's about three weeks until Tax Day, but you really shouldn't go with me on this one because I'm never one of these guys who gets his taxes done on time. They get done eventually.
Let's take a look at some of the things about tax season this year. On average, the refund that people are getting is about 10 percent more than last year, and some of that is associated with some of the things that you can claim as a result of stimulus. Josh Levs was telling us about that a few days ago. So good impetus to get your tax return in is because your refund is available to you -- $3,036 is the average.
But you want to make sure you get all of your tax back. So there's this great book out there. It's by Roni Lynn Deutch and it's called "The Tax Lady's Guide to Beating the IRS." That title alone should make you want to do it. Go over to the left there and you actually see the author. Roni Deutch, she is called the tax lady -- which, by the way, is not the same as tax man. The tax man is the bad guy, that's the one who takes your money. Roni lets you keep your money and she's going to give us tips.
Roni, good of see you again. Thanks for being with us.
RONI DEUTCH, TAX ATTORNEY: Ali, I love your honesty, you and I both file on October 15th. I appreciate the shout-out.
VELSHI: That's right. You get those extensions.
But listen, what should you be thinking right now if you haven't gotten it all together? You're not organized, you're not there, tell me what you should be thinking about.
DEUTCH: You and I know that most taxpayers are unorganized and they're not prepared right now. But here's the great news, Ali, there are so many wonderful new tax credits and deductions that are available for everybody.
I think the starting point though, Ali, is truly filing status. You and I know that many Americans, right, they choose the standard deduction, they choose single. If they're married, they're not sure if they should file jointly or separately. I think it's so important to start with that because, let's face it, with 15 million unemployed people, we now have so many multi-generation households and that opens up a world of deductions and household status, which you and I know is worth $8,350. So it starts with status and then we go from there.
VELSHI: How do you make that determination? What's the best way to determine whether you should be filing jointly or singly or otherwise? DEUTCH: I think that's the biggest issue we've got to deal with today. Do you realize how many wives are very confused, are they going to sign on the dotted line and file jointly?
Here's the problem. Many people are going to owe the IRS this year. Many people have other debt that the IRS acts as a collector for. So I think you've got to really balance out, is your partner too aggressive on the tax return because so many people are desperate and may not be 100 percent forthright.
I say these issues are so significant, Ali, and require great discussion between you and your spouse.
VELSHI: All right. We've got some Facebook questions I want to ask you about. There are some tools that are available to you that I want to talk to you about. Stay right there. We're right back with a tax lady after this break. We're going to tell you more about things you can do that can save you money and help you file your taxes.
Stay with us.
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VELSHI: Take a look at these, your top ten procrastinating cities in America -- Houston, Chicago, New York, Austin, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas. Just sounds like a list of ten big cities, which makes me think city peeps delay on their taxes.
Here's the weirdest thing about Roni Deutch, she's a tax attorney and is always smiling. Nobody else is smiling when they talk about taxes.
Roni, good to see you.
Hey, one quick question before we go on. If you're like me or anybody else, you don't really understand taxes that much. You might be smart about other things, but who understands taxes except tax attorneys. Should you use these software programs? Like are they safe enough to use to get you through if you don't really understand?
DEUTCH: First of all, I'm smiling because I'm talking to you.
But as far as software packages, Ali, it's very simple to determine that. If you received one W-2, you only have a job and you do not own a home, have stocks, have bonds, investment income, it's very easy to use the software. But anything over that, becomes confusing, convoluted, especially with all the new tax changes. That's when I believe you would need a tax professional.
VELSHI: All right, very good. Let's go to Facebook. I've got a question here from Kawme, "What age do parents stop claiming their son or daughter as a dependent?"
DEUTCH: This a great question. Generally, there's five tests to satisfy whether you can claim a child as a personal exemption. Age is, of course, an issue. You look at the child between 19 and 24 years of age and you ask yourself, do you support them more than half the year, have they lived with you for over half the year. Those are the real issues that you've got to determine as a parent.
But, remember this, you also as a parent can now also consider head-of-household status if you've taken in a niece or a nephew. Let's not forget the important bit of news for families that are helping other families out.
VELSHI: As you said, a much bigger thing today than it was two or three years ago.
J.C. writes on my Facebook page, "For new home office corporations, what is considered deductible? I've heard so many different versions. I'm glad you're available to give factual answers."
DEUTCH: Yes, very important to know about that home office deduction.
First of all, the IRS will scrutinize your tax return to the nth degree if you take that home office deduction. But here's what I need to know. Do you actually use that home office a couple hours a day? A couple hours a week?
And, are you designating a specific area of your home that you're using exclusively for that office? You can't use your gym. You can't use the great room, and you certainly can't use the bedroom. So make sure that you designate a certain space for your office and use it a couple hours a day, a couple days a week, and you will absolutely qualify for this fantastic deduction.
VELSHI: Hey, we've been hearing about a lot of people getting audited. A lot of people getting audited. What should go through your mind first if you're getting audited? What I've heard is this, they are often looking to see if you made mistakes or cheated the government. If it's just mistakes, they don't tend to be as tough on you as if they find out that you're being dishonest.
DEUTCH: Let's be honest. When you distinguish between a mistake and something intentional, that could be the difference of jail time and merely paying penalties and interest.
Here's what the IRS is looking at right now, Ali. If you make over a million dollars, I think you have a great chance of being audited. If you own a small business, you better plan on being a audited. And if you are taking deductions or claiming things like the earned income tax credit, too much in meals and entertainment, you're traveling a little too heavily, or your income does not match what the IRS receives.
Here's where people get in to trouble, the IRS knows everything you make, because they have copies of your bank statements. They absolutely look at the interest you receive from your bank statements and they get a copy of every 1099.
Here's my bottom-line advice -- be honest on your tax return and do not claim anything unless you can substantiate, because we know that audits will increase significantly this year.
VELSHI: Sure, the government needs it's money.
Roni, if you were the person advising me, I'd file my taxes four times a year. You are such great energy. Thanks very much.
Roni Lynn Deutch is the author of "The Tax Lady's Guide to Beating the IRS" and it has some fantastic tips for how you can do it. Roni, thanks a million. We'll talk to you again soon, I hope.
DEUTCH: Thank you so much.
VELSHI: All right, when we come back, have you ever heard of Walter Morris? This guy has gone unsung for far too long, but he was a trail blazer. Now the first African-American paratrooper is finally getting honored.
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VELSHI: OK, big deal at the Pentagon today. They're honoring the three living members of the Triple Nickel. Triple Nickel -- 555, that makes sense -- 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the first unit of black paratroopers. Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent, is on this story, she joins me now.
Hi, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali.
Well, you know, today at the Pentagon a very small ceremony to honor men with a very big accomplishment. I want you to meet one of them, meet Walter Morris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER MORRIS, FIRST BLACK PARATROOPER: Here I am, here.
STARR (voice-over): When Walter Morris joined the Army in 1941, he knew the Army was segregated, but the Army didn't know Walter Morris.
MORRIS: They had two Armies -- the white soldiers were the combat troops, the colored soldiers were the servants.
STARR (on camera): When you say that, and it's the words that you're using, "the colored soldiers," "servants," it's so hard for people these days, and I suspect for many of the young troops today, to really understand.
MORRIS: They looked at me and shake their heads. They couldn't believe that existed, you know? But we were servants, we were not soldiers. And -- STARR: And how did you guys feel about that?
MORRIS: Well, we felt -- most of us had an inferiority complex.
STARR (voice-over): Walter was sent to parachute jump school to perform menial duties. He wanted the same opportunities as the white soldiers he saw getting ready for war.
MORRIS: And it was that feeling of inferiority that caused me to uplift my men. So, with the help of the other NCOs, noncommissioned officers, we started to imitate the white students.
STARR: Walter and his men started teaching themselves the same exercises, doing the same training as their white counterparts. All the while, living, eating, and working in facilities marked "Colored Only." Walter wanted more for his men.
MORRIS: They had no incentive. Their self esteem was low.
STARR (on camera): But there was something -- it sounds to me like there was something in you that knew it could be different.
MORRIS: Yes, because I know I could do better than I -- what I was doing.
STARR (voice-over): What Walter was about to find out, the Army was starting a paratroop unit for African-American soldiers. Walter would run the 555th, the Triple Nickel.
Sixteen men graduated from jump school on February 18th, 1944, ready for war, but the Army wasn't really ready for America's first- ever black paratroop unit.
MORRIS: You had to be in a separate area. So we were behind our barracks, and we were not permitted to be the other graduating students.
STARR: These days, Walter often talks about the segregated Army to young troops, including one special soldier, Captain Michael Fowles (ph), a veteran of Iraq and Walter's grandson.
MORRIS: The grandfather pinning the grandson. And when I finished pinning him, Barbara, I was so filled with admiration that I hugged him, and he was so embarrassed.
STARR: Across the generations, a man once referred to as a colored paratrooper honoring his paratrooper grandson.
MORRIS: It means that the progress in this country is evident that we are moving forward. We haven't gotten to the end of the so- called tunnel, but we can see the light.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And, Ali, the last three survivors of the Triple Nickel being honored here today at the Pentagon. You know, Walter told me that he wanted people to know he knew General David Petraeus, another famous paratrooper, long before he became a public figure. I went to General Petraeus. I said, what do you know about Walter Morris. General Petraeus told me Walter Morris, in his view, is a true American hero -- Ali.
VELSHI: Barbara, you know, on one hand it's just so great that they're finally honoring him and your story how he got to put the pin on his grandson, but why did it take so long?
STARR: Well, you know, I think that there is a growing sense of history in the military. That the World War II generation is passing and they need to be recognized before they leave the scene and their stories to be heard and passed on to other generations.
Walter has spent many years now, actually, going around to various military bases, telling his story, talking to young troops. And it's really interesting what he said. I suspect there's a broader message here. He says, when he talks to young troops today, they just don't believe what it was like for men in the military 60 years ago in a segregated military, in a segregated society. So I think the Pentagon, the Army, the U.S. military now realizing time is passing and they need to honor these men and women -- Ali.
VELSHI: Great story, Barbara, thanks very much.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, our Pentagon correspondent.
