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CNN NEWSROOM

Mental Health in Gun Proposals; Obama Faces Budget Deficit in 2nd Term; How to Make Your Career Pay; Algerian Militants Holding Americans Hostage; 2 Japanese Airlines Ground Boeing 787s; Schwarzenegger is Back in Film; Winter Weather from Maine to Mississippi; Facebook Tool Triggers Scam Fears.

Aired January 16, 2013 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And I want to show our viewers here, this is a quick graphic we made here. Obviously, some of the things you want to have accomplished. They're implementing school-based mental health services, lack of health insurance coverage for mental services, must implement key provisions of Affordable Care Act. These are some of the things you are putting on the table. What do you make of the NRA and their suggestion that there be some sort of registry for those who are mentally ill?

MICHAEL FITZPATRICK, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Well, there is a registry already in place that has had a number of problems over the years. Not enough states report. That needs to be tinkered with, changed. Language needs to be changed.

Again, you need to be very, very careful when you set up a registry like this that you're not putting up a block for people to get the services they need.

What we know, and as part of our recommendations in regard to this horrible tragedy, is we need to have early intervention. We need to get to people sooner. We need to make the mental health system accessible. We don't want a reporting system for weapons and guns to block people from getting the treatment that they need.

MALVEAUX: And do you think the task force is dealing with the need of mentally -- those who are mentally ill? The fact that there are so many people in this country, and it's almost hard to believe, that do not get treated?

FITZPATRICK: Right. And that's what the reality is. It's what I said earlier. The way -- more than half of the people in this country don't get the treatment they need. It takes between eight and 10 years for a child that's diagnosed to get the treatment they need. We also know that many of the kids who exhibit emotional disturbances or mental health problems begin to exhibit those problems at the age of 14. So we need to be in schools. We need to be doing mental health screening. We need to have early intervention.

The system of care in this country for mental health right now spends too much time looking at the back end of the system and not looking at the front end of the system, where we can get services to people when they need them. MALVEAUX: Michael Fitzpatrick. Thank you. We appreciate it.

FITZPATRICK: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: As we've been reporting, the president pushing for tighter gun laws. Is this going to be part of this legacy or it is going to be a fight to fix the country's financial crisis, the problems on that end? We're taking an in-depth look on how to plan -- how he plans to fix the deficit and whether or not it's going to work as he suggests.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN: President Obama struggling with the debt ceiling, that's always a fun comedy premise.

(LAUGHTER)

Wow. This will be good. Debt premise.

(LAUGHTER)

No, President Obama told Congress it must raise our debt limit because the U.S. is, quote, "not a dead-beat nation." Yes. And the president added, by the way, "If China calls, I'm not here."

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Conan O'Brien poking fun at the latest financial crisis. Comedians, of course, joking about it.

The country's debt, one of the big issues facing the president over the next four years.

Alison Kosik is taking an in-depth look at how we got there and why it is important to do something about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The challenge? Taming the national debt. Just a few steps from the billboards of Times Square is a billboard of a certain sort, the National Debt Clock.

New York real estate developer, Seymour Durst, set up the first debt clock in 1989.

DOUGLAS DURST, SON OF NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK INVENTOR: When my father designed the clock, the debt was about $2 trillion. He would be shocked that we're at this number today.

KOSIK: Last year, the federal government spent $3. 6 trillion, but it only took in $2.45 trillion in revenue. It borrowed the shortfall, about $1.1 trillion. That's the deficit. The accumulated annual deficits or shortfalls, plus interest make up the national debt. That's more than $16 trillion today.

The debt had run up under Republican and Democratic presidents and Congresses. Both have had opportunities to tackle it, but it's never politically palatable.

President Obama formed this Simpson/Bowles Commission, headed by former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and President Bill Clinton's chief of staff, Erskine Bowles. They came up with a plan to cut the debt by $4 trillion over 10 years.

Critics say President Obama has all but ignored it. Commission co- head Simpson says the growing threat poses a major threat to the U.S. economy.

ALAN SIMPSON, (R), CO-HEAD, SIMPSON/BOWLES COMMISSION & FORMER SENATOR: Where is the tipping point? I don't know where it is, but when it comes, going to be so swift and so savage.

KOSIK: Obama's plan proposes $360 billion in cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and other health programs over the next decade. But because costs in those programs are rising fast, the debt would be $6.4 trillion higher in 10 years. The president's budget also proposes cuts to discretionary and mandatory spending that would save $737 billion over a decade. Military spending would be reduced, saving $487 billion.

(APPLAUSE)

KOSIK: The fiscal cliff bill that Congress passed on New Year's Day would also reduce projected deficits somewhat. Higher taxes on households making above $450,000 and other tax increases will raise an additional $600 billion in revenue by 2022. But that's not enough.

And as Democrats and Republicans gear up over the next few months to debate spending cuts, debt limits and the federal budget, there still is not a credible plan out there that puts a serious dent in the debt.

But Douglas Durst still holds out hope that one day he'll be able to retire his dad's debt clock.

DURST: I'm an optimist. We would have a very big party.

KOSIK: Alison Kosik, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Speaking of money, if you're looking for that job that really pays, you probably want to get a college degree or pick up a second degree. That is right.

Ali Velshi and Christine Romans take a look at the careers and the schools that can help you get ahead.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks. OK. So when Christine and I were in college, the idea was to study kind of whatever you -- those were in the days before cable --

(LAUGHTER)

-- study whatever you wanted and the world was your oyster if you got a university degree.

If you had to go back and make a choice today about what to study, what would you choose?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, STEM -- science, technology, engineering, math. It's the only thing you hear employers talking about. It's the only part of the economy that you hear is driving growth for the future and driving paychecks actually right now.

I'm going to show you data PayScale.com put together for us. STEM graduates make about $20,000 more than --

VELSHI: Wow.

ROMANS: -- liberal arts majors when they graduate. $30,000 more when they're established.

Ali, look at this, $1.3 million more over the course of their lifetimes.

VELSHI: That's what you have to think about. It's not the $20,000 in the first year. It's over the course of your lifetime. That's your retirement. These students are getting recruited to high-paying jobs before they even graduate. And demand is only going to grow.

But, listen, STEM -- science, technology, engineering, mathematics -- it isn't for everyone.

I've always said this. I'd love to be an engineer. I don't know if I can be an engineer.

ROMANS: You can't have a world just full of only engineers. If you stick to a liberal arts focus, that can work for you, too. We had pay scale run these numbers on how you can succeed in the United States. It's still the only place where we value the creative outside the box thinking. A lot of people say to have STEM drive the economy you have to have the creative, innovative side of liberal arts to go with it.

Look at these PayScale numbers.

VELSHI: Five of the best jobs for liberal arts majors. Don't despair if you're in liberal arts. This is more than just salary. It takes into account stress level, job satisfaction, growth in the industry.

At the top, working as a writer in corporate communications. Now, you may -- this is a big deal. You and I always talk about this. Part of this is education, part of this is location. You may have to be willing to move. These are the top-10 metropolitan areas for liberal arts grads. Believe it or not, Washington, D.C., lands at number one, and then Boston. Those are some interesting places.

ROMANS: I think the bottom line is you can make liberal arts pay. It's not going to pay as much as that STEM job. But you can make it pay if you're smart about how you invest in it.

VELSHI: Pay attention to what it is you're studying.

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: Each week Ali and Christine will give you tips on how to put your financial house in order. Check it out, their book, "How to Speak Money."

More problems with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. There are two major airlines that are grounding the planes.

Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left politics behind, of course, focusing on a role now in Hollywood. Why he says his role as California governor made him a better actor. You'll hear from him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're following a developing story. There are Americans being held hostage in Algeria. And now, according to some reports, there are as many as 41 being held hostage. CNN is not able to independently confirm that, but we have heard from our State Department reporter, Elise Labott, saying they suspect it's militants who are linked to al Qaeda who took those hostages out of a B.P. facility. It is being called a terrorist attack. That the State Department is now in touch with the Algerians who are taking the lead on this, but certainly there's communication between the U.S. government and Algerian government officials in what is taking place on the ground. There's still a lot of information that we do not have at this time, but what we can tell you is that there are militants who are holding Americans hostage out of that B.P. facility in Algeria. At least 41 people who have been taken hostage. Could be as many as seven Americans who are among that group. That is not a number that CNN can independently confirm. But the State Department is certainly trying to get more information to learn what is taking place on the ground there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Information that we have at this time is that U.S. citizens are among the hostages. I hope you will understand that in order to protect their safety, I'm not going to get into numbers. I'm not going to get into names. I'm not going to get into any further details. As we continue to work on this issue with the Algerian authorities and also with their employers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: State Department being very cautious at this time about giving those specifics. They are still working on getting information. They are in touch with Algerian government officials. But at this time, still independent reports, aside from CNN, saying as many as 41 people who are now being held by those terrorists.

It is considered the future of air travel, but there are new concerns now for Boeing's new 787. Two Japanese airports grounding all of the Dreamliners. That is half of the 50 Dreamliners in service all around the world. Came after a jet was forced to make an emergency landing. Today's incident, the crew reported battery problems and a burning smell. It is the latest in a series of incidents over the last ten days. Those concerns had already prompted the U.S. and Japanese officials to conduct some safety reviews. The problems over the past week and half include a battery fire, a braking problem, and two fuel leaks. Boeing's stock fell almost 5 percent in the pre-market trading.

And Richard Quest, he's in Seoul.

Richard, tell us a little bit about the Dreamliner, whether or not we believe it's still safe.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Despite the fact there have been so many public problems with the Dreamliner, the experts all agree, the aircraft is safe. That's because if you look closely, all the alarms, the warnings, the detection systems have worked exactly as they were supposed to, even in the latest case of the emergency landing in Japan.

However, Boeing cannot rest easy. The aircraft maker needs to get to grips with why there have been so many problems, although no common fault between them -- cracked windshield, detection systems on the brakes, faulty fuel valve, battery problems, electrical panels. There's no common link, and that will make it even more difficult getting to grips with these glitches.

When all is said and done, though, we have two airlines, including the launch customer, having grounded their fleet, 48 percent of all Dreamliners in the air.

As for the other airlines, they've yet to say what they are going to do in case there's a question of passenger confidence.

Richard Quest, CNN, Seoul, South Korea.

MALVEAUX: Nippon Airways and Japanese Airlines could return their Dreamliners to service as early as tomorrow.

Now it's official. Mark Sanford says he wants his old seat back in Congress. Sanford is the former governor of South Carolina, who admitted to having an extramarital affair in 2009. Sanford formally announced today he's going to run for the congressional seat left empty by Congressman Tim Scott, who was appointed last month to fill a Senate seat. South Carolina's Republican primary, that is set for March 19th.

And he always said he'd be back. He kept his word. Former California Governor Schwarzenegger told CNN, at 65, he's a better actor than he's ever been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR & ACTOR: You know, I get older, I get wiser. I've experienced things as governor that helped me with my performance. I think that I'm better today than I was when I left the acting field. And so I think the movie turned out really terrific and I was very fortunate to work with the director that is really good at pulling out performances out of actors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Arnold Schwarzenegger, his new movie, first leading role in a decade. It's big on action, of course. It's called "The Last Stand." Premiered this week in Los Angeles.

Expect snow, ice, rain. Huge winter mess. Yes. Stretching from Maine to Mississippi. What you've got to know to stay ahead of this storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Ice, snow, creating some really dangerous driving conditions in parts of the northeast. The winter storm has closed schools in Massachusetts. It triggered a 40-mile backup on an interstate. That is just outside of Boston there. It is the same storm that brought this to the south. You're talking about snow, heavy ice that took down trees, created a huge mess on the roads.

Chad Myers is tracking the storm at the weather center.

Chad, what do we know?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A couple more coming, even for Washington, D.C. I know if you think about, you hear snow on the Beltway, everybody goes out and buys every piece of bread they can find. This is going to be a quick storm. The good news it is happening on Friday night. Maybe you won't be stuck on the beltway trying to get home. Snowing in Maine, across parts of Newfoundland. A rain/snow barrier, an icy morning Westchester County, a lot of the suburbs we'll call them of New York City into New Jersey had some ice. Warming up, though, at this point, above 32, just about everywhere.

Winter weather advisory for the northeast, but this is the part of the story that changes everything. Down to the south, we have another developing low that's going to crash right through the Deep South and then on up and out into the ocean. That doesn't sound like a bad thing, but the Appalachian chain is going to be covered up by snow, snow all the way from Roanoke. I can see Roanoke -- you could pick up a foot of snow there. This is western Virginia, West Virginia, all the way back down to the mountains of North Carolina. And, yes, Baltimore and Washington.

Now, BWI and Philadelphia, I think you're going to be dry enough that you'll see flurries. But if you get down to D.C., north of Richmond, Virginia, into the Delmarva, could be five to six inches of snow right through this very populated area and not that many snowplows in that area. There is the 12 inches I was talking about there. This is western Virginia, threw through into Maryland and up to Delaware and parts of southern New Jersey.

That's the good news. Maybe that's the best news is that it mostly will be Friday night into Saturday and not like a Tuesday or a Wednesday. You'll be stuck at work because you can't get home.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: That's the good news. There is a big inauguration, the big weekend, and that Monday, of course, we'll see if that actually messes up people's travel plans.

Chad, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: Coming up, how a new Facebook feature could be used against its users.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Facebook is giving users a new way to search the content and the information that their friends have posted. So it is called Graph Search. It lets users sift their contacts photos, their likes, geographical information, all that good stuff. Mark Zuckerberg says it is going to become the pillar of Facebook's offerings.

Want to bring in Dan Simon, following this from San Francisco.

Tell us all about this.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Suzanne. Zuckerberg calling this one of the most exciting features Facebook has come out with in a long time. Now, no broadcast cameras were allowed for this event yesterday. Facebook knows so much information about us. You got a billion users on Facebook. They know our likes from hotels, cars, restaurants, all these photos. There is no really easy way to search for this information. Well, that changes with this new product called Graph Search and Facebook put together this video demonstration in terms of how it works. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: So these are some things you could potentially search for, people from my hometown who like hiking, people who like tennis and live nearby, music my friends like, photos of my friends taken in New York. So you can see, you can basically search for anything that your friends have posted on Facebook. Now this product, Suzanne, is in beta. It is going to be rolled out gradually. You can see how this might help Facebook's bottom line in terms of its business, its advertising. So, for example, you search for photos your friends took in Las Vegas, you might see an advertisement for an airline or for a hotel. So Facebook sees this as a win-win both for consumers and, of course, its business -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Dan, people look like they're having fun. They look like they're having a heck of a lot of fun over there.

Do we think it is a direct threat to Google in their search?

SIMON: You know, there is a debate about this. I don't think so. Google, of course, you're searching the web. Here, with the Facebook search, you're searching what your friends have posted on Facebook. All of the privacy settings remain in tact. So it is really only as good as what your friends have posted or what you have posted. But overall, that could change. I think that the biggest threat is to the local review sites like yelp, for instance, you might be more inclined to trust what your friends say as opposed to what other people are saying, people you don't know.

MALVEAUX: Dan, thank you. Looks cool. Thanks.

White House has changed the rules now about official online petitions. Starting today, a petition sent to the web site, We the People, it has got to have 100,000 signatures in the span of 30 days to get an official response from the Obama administration. The previous requirement for an official response was just 25,000. The White House says the change is needed after the site suddenly got very popular, flooded with sometimes not so serious petitions. One of them demanded the U.S. build a death star. Another called on the forced deportation of our CNN host, Piers Morgan.

That's it for me now.

Brooke Baldwin continues on CNN NEWSROOM.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: As reaction pours in on the president's gun proposal, we aren't going to tell you what is illegal. We will show you what's illegal. You'll hear it straight from a gun dealer.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.