no egg on the face of the musicians who did this, just paint. jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> i guess we'll keep the motion going this way. it's tony harris's turn. >> all right, fred, have a great weekend. good to see you. it is friday, march 5th. and a razor sharp focus on jobs in the "cnn newsroom" for you today. another bandage for the economy, a new report shows unemployment lines weren't as long as predicted for february. we are shining a spotlight on those who are hard at work, ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs. >> this would be my executive platinum card. fairly cherished considering how much sweat equity i have to put into earning it. >> very nice. she is a consultant who like the george clooney character lives life up in the air. and he is a surgeon who operates

on the uninsured for free. >> these people don't have health insurance, and i think it's our duty to reach out and help those type of people as often as we can. >> it is go time. good morning, everyone. i'm tony harris. let's get to work in the "cnn newsroom." >> you know, it didn't go down but it didn't go up either. new numbers show the unemployment rate held steady in february at 9.7%. that means 36,000 jobs were lost last month. that is a translation. fewer than analysts predicted. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange with more on the numbers. let's break all of this down for everyone. you know there's been a lot of talk about the weather last month. did it affect these numbers? >> reporter: i'll tell you what, tony, the government says it's hard to quantify how much those snowstorms we got in february, whether or not they skewed the report any. some say the weather did have an

impact. one of the blizzards hit the east coast when the survey was actually being taken last month and that, of course, kept workers at home. they were snowed in. if you're an hourly worker as opposed to being salaried, you don't get paid if you're not there. if you're not paid, the government doesn't count you as employed so the loss of 36,000 jobs probably was a little inflated because of that. but that could also wind upsetting us up for an even stronger jobs report next month. >> yes. >> reporter: so even with this weather, tony, the numbers are moving in the right direction. i want you to look at this chart we can put up for you. we saw more than 700,000 job losses in march of 2009. last month, though, we saw 36,000. so we're clearly not bleeding jobs as much. we are still losing jobs, but it's not that really scary situation we saw. >> so the february report, such as it is, if you could, break down the unemployment rate for us. it stands at 9.7% but that

really doesn't tell the full story, does it. >> reporter: it doesn't. here's a number for you, sit on this one. nearly 15 million people are unemployed. >> yep. >> reporter: it's amazing. that's roughly the population of pennsylvania and nevada together. i want you to get even more realistic look at the unemployment rate and that's when we look at the underemployment rate. that counts people who have given up looking for work because they're so discouraged. it's very discouraging looking for work and getting rejected all the time. this number counts people who have taken part-time jobs because they can't find anything else when what they really want is a full-time job. so adding them into it, underemployment would be 16.8%. obviously that's much higher. what's considered normal, tony, 5% unemployment. analysts say it could take years before we get back to that 5% unemployment rate. you think about those numbers and they're really huge. >> yeah. it took us a few years to get here, it's going to take us a

few years to get out of this hole that we're in. appreciate it. president obama talks jobs and the economy later this hour. live coverage of the president's remarks on clean energy jobs. the next bubble, the sector that gets us back to prerecession levels of unemployment, that 5% unemployment rate. the president's remarks in the "cnn newsroom" 11:25 eastern, 8:25 pacific time. let's check the other big stories we're following today. a passenger bus wrecks near phoenix, arizona, killing six people. a spokesman said the bus veered off the interstate and rolled over after rear-ending a car. which,if any, people were injured, five seriously. a pair of strong aftershocks rocked chile's quake zone today. one set off brief panic near the epicenter of saturday's earthquake at concepcion. chile's president says a three-day mourning period starts sunday. today the u.n. secretary general arrives to see the damage. iraq's leader flexes on a

deadline as voters get ready to go to the poll on sunday. he has not said he would ask u.s. combat troops to stay past august but left that possibility open in an exclusive interview with arwa damon. >> translator: it depends on the future on whether established iraqi army and police would be enough or not so this issue is depending on the developments of the circumstances and reg laid by the strategic framework agreements between the united states and iraq. >> reporter: so just to clarify, if the situation dictated it, you would be willing to have u.s. forces extend their stay in iraq. >> translator: absolutely. education is a right. >> so nyu students fed up with the rising costs of higher education and one of dozens of walkouts held coast-to-coast yesterday. >> this is not a matter of budget, it's a matter of rights. we have a right to education. we have a right to affordable education. >> many of us have to work two

jobs to support ourselves to pay school, to then buy our books. >> okay. following up on yesterday's day of protests, later this hour we will hear from a student organizer in california where this nationwide movement started. police are digging today into the background of a man who opened fire outside the pentagon. he is dead. two police officers wounded. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joins us now. chris, what do we know about this suspect and his motives? >> reporter: well, tony, we're learning now that he was a well educated man. in fact on his website he said he's got a bachelor's degree in physics. he was apparently living out in california with his parents. he's 36 years old. he started driving east, making his way east a few weeks ago. in fact in addition to the two 9 millimeters that he brought here to the pentagon, when police searched his car that was parked at a shopping mall not too far from here, they found even more ammunition. but at this point they say this

was not a terrorist attack. >> well, chris, how did this guy get guns so close to the pentagon? that's the question i hear over and over again this day. >> reporter: take a listen, tony, to what the police said about him so we get a better idea of exactly, you know, what they think they're dealing with here. >> it appears he's had some issues in the past. he has had a couple of contacts with the law. he's a very well-educated individual. right now we don't know if we have a motive yet. there is no indication at this point that there are any domestic or international terrorism nexus to this at all. at this time it appears to be a single individual that had issues. >> reporter: he had issues. he had anger it appears against the government in general. in fact we've got some audio tape of him, you know, sort of raising this issue of the government being too intrusive and exerting too much authority

over people's lives. take a listen. this is in his own words. >> to prevent themselves from being enslaved, the powerful masters of our existing governments use every means at their disposal, including bribery, theft, and murder, to control those governments, which are imperfect institutions operated by imperfect individuals. in order to properly address these very serious matters, it is necessary to recognize the importance of enduring principles for setting a positive direction that we can pursue, mindful of the real threats that we must overcome. >> reporter: so i don't know how that translates to coming into the pentagon to shoot two police officers, but, tony, he walked up. they thought he was pulling out an i.d. out of his coat. instead he pulled out a gun and started shooting. >> what do those words mean. my goodness. chris lawrence at the pentagon for us. she flies all over the world for her job and now there's a movie about her lifestyle.

and can it be, a bit of a warmup. rob marciano working the phones, double checking his forecast. we'll talk to him in a second. but first, the latest on the dow and new york stock exchange now and we are in positive territory. the markets seemingly reacting positively to the jobs report. unemployment holding steady at 9.7%. we will check these numbers throughout the day for you right here in the "cnn newsroom." okay, class, our special guest is here -- ellen page. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen!

we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco.

unemployment unchanged and the labor department's report showing employers making fewer job cuts than expected. in this difficult economy many people go to great lengths for their jobs. kareen wynter introduces us to a woman who really goes the distance. >> reporter: george clooney is the ten million mile man in the film "up in the air," a frequent flier whose life is one long business trip. >> oh, my god. i wasn't sure these actually existed. >> it's a concierge key. >> reporter: hard to imagine that some people live this hectic lifestyle and love it. we're talking serious air mileage. >> this is earned by flying 100,000 miles a year. >> reporter: that for some comes with big rewards. business traveler jennifer moody

has her own precious piece of plastic. >> fairly cherished considering how much sweat equity i have to put into earning it. >> reporter: the health care consultant who travels the world advising medical facilities says her life is up in the air. >> it's funny, when the movie first came out, my friends would go see it and then call me and say you're not going to believe this but they made a movie and george clooney is starring as you. it's in my blood, it's my life and i can't imagine not doing it racking up miles. >> reporter: more than 200,000 last year alone. that was just for work. this year she hopes to fly past the three million mile mark. this is one of the many perks that comes with being a frequent flier. >> absolutely. massage chairs in some airports, even showers. >> reporter: also private bars, comfy lounges, even nurseries. forget waiting in long airport lines, fighting for seats at cramped airport gates. the life of an ultimate frequent flier means access to elite

airport clubs like this one at l.a.x. at a discount. >> so you're going to be boarding in a couple hours. we're going to give you a little quality time. >> thanks. >> reporter: she needs it after her last trip that included stops in miami, london, chicago and l.a. all in one week. moody says she wouldn't have it any other way. and feels for clooney, who gets grounded in the film when his company cuts back on travel. >> they're pulling us off the road. we're going home. >> i think i might be devastated. for me it's my routine so being home is a little bit of a disruption. >> reporter: at 38 she's single and admits there's a downside to the life tile. >> it's very hard to establish relationships. friendships i have to work at. >> reporter: but has no intention of touching down. her next stop, vegas. first class, of course. >> finally, now i can relax. this is my life, up in the air. >> boy, vegas, good. i've had enough of it for a

while, though. kareen wynter is at the red carpet in front of the kodak theater. great to see you. >> reporter: hi, tony. >> good to see you. any changes in this year's oscar show? >> reporter: just a couple. this year we're having two hosts, tony. steve martin and alec baldwin, and they have been playing off each other so well in the media. you know, the academy is hoping that will be a hit. we saw that happen with hugh jackman last year. a small spike in ratings, up to 36 million from 32 the previous year so they're hoping that the audience will definitely love it and people will tune in. also, tony, this is the biggest change. the best picture category, we're used to seeing just five nominees. well, they have expanded it to ten this year and giving people a little bit of everything. you have a little animation in the movie "up," so many different things, sci-fi with "avatar" so they're hoping more people will say i'm going to tune in and root for my favorite and see if it will win so we'll

have to see what happens on sunday if all of this plays a part in spiking the ratings. in the meantime we're out here at the kodak theater. they're laying the groundwork for sunday's big show. you have media from all over the country preparing. you have different reporters, am today crews. you can see in the backdrop wolfgang puck and that amazing display. i'm hoping he'll make his way down here so we can sample one of those gold dusted chocolate statues. but it's getting quite busy out here. you can see the canopy is up. the good news is that it's not expected to rain on sunday, but a little rain in the forecast for today and tomorrow, so fingers crossed that it will not rain on sunday's big parade. >> hey, i ask you every year and i don't know that you answer me every year but i'm going to try it again. have you picked out your dress? who are you wearing? >> reporter: i knew you were ask me this. i was sitting here thinking, darn it, who's a designer. i can tell you it's red. i don't go crazy about this

stuff. i go in, take five minutes and whatever is comfortable. so i'm a tom boy at heart but it's red. that's all i can tell you. it's going to be a long day on sunday. >> good to see you. appreciate it. next hour we focus on how hollywood is being influenced by african-americans. it's what matters. and the editor-in-chief of "essence" magazine joins me. "showbiz tonight" will be live with two special shows sunday, march 7th. coverage begins with a.j. hammer and brooke anderson live from the red carpet. coverage continues live on hln at 11:00 eastern and go to cnn.com to rank your favorite celebrity styles. fed up with higher tuition and budget cuts, students took their message to the streets yesterday. so what now? we talk with a protest organizer. she's right there in the middle, is that right, jen cook? first, some of your phone calls about the tuition hikes. >> the cost of education is

already too high and if they don't raise it at all, that is like a raise in this economy that we live in. >> caller: if the schools close down because they can't afford to have them open, wee not going to have any education. >> caller: if they would lower their fee, the students could afford it and you'd get more enrollment. >> caller: i am a college professor, but i'm just wondering how much most college professors are paid because i'm actually paid really well but i think i'm low on the scale. and, you know, maybe that's part of the problem.

let's get you caught up on our top stories right now. new unemployment numbers out today and they are somewhat encouraging. look, 36,000 jobs were lost in february. fewer than expected. the unemployment rate steady at 9.7%. president obama discusses clean energy jobs in just a few minutes. see it live right here at 11:25. the head of toyota tells employee let's fix our cars and fix our brand. akio toyoda said the automaker

should start over. their reputation and quality took a hit in the perception it moved too slowly on safely recalls. federal safety regulators are talk with ten toyota drivers who say their car has experienced sudden acceleration after toyota supposedly fixed the problem. that is raising new concern the flaw is in the software, something toyota denies. >> so they did the computer software revamp from what i'm told as well as working on the carpeting and the gas pedal. but in the end whatever they did didn't work because i almost got into a serious accident last week, after the fix was done. navigating the job market could be tough, as many of you know, making contact with potential employers, avoiding scams and ripoffs. stephanie elam has advice on all of that and more in today's top tips report. >> reporter: today we're focusing on job-related questions and viewers have some great ones. first up, kyle.

kyle writes i recently filled out a job application. i wrote my work e-mail address as a way to contact me. should i have written another e-mail address? here's the bottom line on this one, kiem. yeah, totally. get a free personal e-mail address like hot mail or g-mail when you're looking for work. you don't want to use company resources when you're trying to get a new job and you never know someone from your current job may come across e-mails that you wouldn't want them to see. maybe the higher-ups can scan employees' work i mails. don't send it out from your work e-mail. kristen is in georgia and she asks i have an upcoming job interview but the employer wants me to get a credit report before the interview at a time. they recommend using a specific website for this information. is this legit? i'm really glad that this raised your red flags on this one, kristen, because this is totally a scam. the employer probably isn't real. we spoke to the better business bureau and this kind of thing has been happening for years.

that website that you've been directed to isn't a place to get your credit record, it's a credit monitoring service that charges your credit card every month. the only place to get your credit report is annualcreditreport.com. further, if a legit employer wants to check out your credit, they're going to pull it themselves. if you have any doubt about a employer's legitimacy, check it out at bbb.org. last question coming from jim who writes in, i need help locating green jobs. i have a feeling jim is not alone, but, jim, your best best for finding a green job is to look locally. if conservation is your passion, join local conservation groups, look for nonprofit volunteering groups and check out local networking resources like meetup.com or a nearby chapter of green drinks international. check out sites like greenbiz.com, renewableenergyworld.com and treehover.com.

>> appreciate it, thank you. some patients in kentucky who can't afford health insurance are extremely lucky. they are getting the care they need from our cnn hero of the week, dr. andy moore is next. client's come in, they're anxious. scared. they don't know where to begin. so we start to talk about what have they done and what are their goals. and then we plan. it's a very good feeling as an advisor to work with people and help get them to their goals. once people perceive that they can control their destiny then they accomplish unbelievable things. [ male announcer ] we're america's largest financial planning company. meet us today at ameriprise.com. ♪ ♪ ♪

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so it is a milestone for twitter. the microblogging site has surpassed ten billion tweets. the social media guide shows

twitter is still growing at a rapid pace. i'm not sure here, is it more people tweeting or the same people tweeting more? i'm confused. ah, the same people tweeting more. twitter broke the five billion tweet mark just four months ago. grab sunglasses, head to the beach. temperatures soaring into the 80s over much of the country, senator, rob marciano? >> i think i account for about 600 of those tweets. >> nothing is a loaded gun for me. i tweet and then get in trouble. >> it's like your life. >> that's my life. >> that's what makes you interesting. by the way, my twitter account got verified today. my friends say i have an identity crisis of some sort but that proves that i'm me. hey, this just came over the wire. earlier today we had a major aftershock in chile, 6.6. now i'm getting word of 6.5 or

6.6, they haven't figured this part out, in sumatra, that other major spot where a quake happened back in 2004 so this is a major quake here. at this size, 6.5 or 6.6, likely no tsunami generated by that, but local tsunamis potentially around that area, so this incredibly active pattern -- not pattern, but time that we're in with regards to earthquakes continues. often when you get a major quake, it can trigger quakes on other plates. >> that's the question we've been asking. is this all sort of interconnected. >> yeah, there is a yin and yang of some sort. it can weaken another spot, especially another plate. this is a completely different interaction, but everything is connected in this world. i wouldn't be surprised if one has to do with the other and it's like a trigger quake. all right, trigger this. we've got mild weather across --

milder, trying to get into the east coast. until it does, we're still below average today. it's going to be chilly. tomorrow we've got a couple of storms, one heading into southern california bringing rain and one heading into the northern plains bringing snow to places in the interior mountains right now. then temperatures trying to get above average but just to about average for the east coast here for the weekend. real quick on this, a little treat for you if you like rocket launches. >> okay, roll it. >> 2, 1, 0 and liftoff of the delta 4 rocket, completing a new weather satellite. >> that's about as exciting as an announcer at nasa is going to get. but given that it's a weather satellite, i think everybody has reason to be excited. this is going up there, there's about a dozen satellites that have been in service since the early '70s and they help us take pictures of the atmosphere. this one will have an x-ray telescope on it looking at pictures of the sun to warn us

when solar flares come at us. whether you're a weather enthusiast or not, nothing like a good rocket launch to get your weekend off to a good start. >> have a good weekend, sir. so you punch your time clock, do your work and then head home. for a lot of folks work is just a routine part of life, right? for some it is a chance to help others. our cnn hero of the week, dr. andy moore. the kentucky surgeon is reaching out to a lot of people in his community who don't have health insurance. >> when i went to go see dr. moore, this is what he seen. would you like to see it? i developed skin cancer from too much sun exposure. i have a hard time looking at this photo right now. >> this cancer was so far advanced eventually it would have killed him. he felt that he could not afford to have the surgery. in this economic time, our friends and family can't wait. they need this health care now.

>> all right, bud, how you doing? >> a little nervous. >> you'd be a little crazy if you weren't nervous. >> today he's back for that operation to reconstruct his nose. >> we're going to give you some joy juice to take care of that. >> i'm dr. andy moore. i'm a plastic surgeon. i perform free surgery on people with no health insurance. when i started 26 years ago, i would make a call to the hospital and say i've got somebody i'm going to do for free. >> this is michael wild. >> it just became more complex with computers and hmos and insurance companies. these people don't have health insurance. and i think it's our duty to reach out and help those type of people as often as we can. >> yeah, we just finished up with him and everything went great. >> it's what i went into medicine for. it's taking care of people and not necessarily expecting something in return for it. >> boy, i've got to tell you,

dr. andy moore and his organization have treated more than 3,000 patients free of charge. we have more on dr. moore and his entire family working in the o.r. at cnn.com/heroes. while you're there, nominate someone you think is changing the world. clean energy, green jobs, president obama hopes they will help jump start the job market. we will bring you the president's remarks lieve from arlington, virginia, right here in the "cnn newsroom." ♪ who's born to care this life was protected... ♪ seems you've always been right there ♪ this life was saved... ♪ soothing sadness ♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference

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get back in the game. here's the question. will democracy or religion rule in iraq? as voters go to the polls this weekend, a lot riding obviously on this election. cnn's arwa damon reports now from baghdad. >> reporter: the vote is set to take place on sunday. what happens afterwards is described as the most decisive moment in iraq's history since 2003. the government that emerges will determine if iraq stays on this path of democracy, if that's what you want to call it, or if it moves towards being a more conservative religious state. the race has proven to be very

close. we've seen all sorts of dirty politics and smear campaigning. and there is also the threat and reality that the post-election period could prove to be even more violent, as several groups outside of the political process have said that they will launch significant attacks if the government that emerges is perceived to be by them as sectarian as this one. security is definitely at the forefront of all voters' minds as they head towards the polls. now, we asked the iraqi prime minister how he assesses the security situation. he said that things were most definitely significantly better and also about the state of mind of iraqis. >> translator: i would ask you to listen to the people and how they are now staying until midnight on the streets. see the streets of baghdad, which were deserted, and life used to stop early in the evening. >> mr. prime minister, to respectfully disagree, people that we're talking to say

they're still as scared. they're still scared of an attack. they're still scared of being caught in the crossfire. of course the situation is better, but they do carry that fear within them. >> translator: they are talking about incidents like what we see happening now, but they are not talking about violence that used to happen when they wouldn't move between neighborhoods. >> reporter: but for many iraqis, it's not about just having the ability to move from one neighborhood to another. remember, this is a nation that has suffered through seven years of war and seen some of the more brutal things that one man can do to another, so any attack, no matter how small, has a very significant impact. the concern amongst many iraqis is that perhaps the government that emerges will prove to be as ineffective as this one. remember, most iraqis are still looking for the basics from their government, things like water, electricity, jobs, but again, at the forefront of everyone's mind, security. arwa damon, cnn, baghdad. a live picture now from

where the president will be speaking momentarily. this is o power, arlington, virginia, and this is a company that creates software products that promote energy efficiency. the president is all about green jobs today. the president is scheduled to start any minute now. when the president begins his remarks, we will take you back to arlington live. a very, very vocal protest against the rising cost of higher education moves across the nation. >> today we are united. we are united at 13 other campuses today, all throughout colorado, with a clear and coherent message. higher ed is dying. it is too valuable to lose.

let's get you caught up on our top stories as we await the president's remarks from arlington, virginia, on green jobs. a bus wreck in arizona takes the lives of six people and injures more than a dozen others. several people were thrown from the bus when it veered off an interstate and flipped over. deadly gunfire at the entrance to the pentagon. investigators are digging into the gunman's background right now. he's been identified as 36-year-old john patrick bedell of california. police say he was shot after slightly wounding two officers. bedell died overnight. once again let's see that live picture. o power, that is in arlington, virginia. clean energy and green jobs. president obama hopes they will

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protests like this held coast to coast. students, educators and supporters. this video from one of your ireporters outside the state capitol in denver. >> you guys deserve an education, right? we deserve as faculty the opportunity to be able to teach you guys. >> all right. let's take you now to arlington, virginia, and the president of the united states. >> it's generating jobs and it's putting america on the path to a clean energy future. i understand last year that you doubled your workforce, thanks to donnie. you're hoping to hire another hundred workers this year? and so this is a model of what we want to be seeing all across the country. our goal for the economy is to show similar job growth in the months ahead. this morning we learned that in

february our economy lost an additional 36,000 jobs. now, this is actually better than expected. considering the severe storms all along the east coast are estimated to have had a depressing effect on the numbers. and it shows that the measures that were taken to turn our economy around are having some impact, but even though it's better than expected, it's more than we should tolerate. far too many americans remain out of work, far too many families are still struggling in these difficult economic times and that's why i'm not going to rest and my administration is not going to rest in our efforts to help people who are looking to find a job to help business owners who want to expand, feel comfortable hiring again. we're not going to rest until our economy is working again for the middle class and for all americans. that's why my immediate priority is not only providing relief to people who are out of work but also to help the private sector

create jobs and put america back to work. earlier this year after breaking through a political log jam that some of you probably saw if you were watching tv, congress passed and i signed into law a bill that extends unemployment insurance to help people who have been laid off get through these hard times. it also extended cobra so that folks who have lost their jobs don't lose their health insurance. and it extended financing for small businesses and makes it possible for 2,000 furloughed transportation workers to go back to work. so signing this bill and getting relief out the door swiftly is absolutely essential, but it's only a temporary step. the relief i signed into law will last about a month and that's why i'm calling congress to extend this relief through the end of the year. and because the best form of economic relief is a quality job, i'm also calling on congress to pass jobs measures that cut taxes, increase lending, incentivize expansion

for businesses, both large and small. both the house and the senate have passed a bill that would give businesses a payroll tax refund for every person hired this year. and for companies that are considering expanding, this credit could help them decide to bring an extra employee or two this year, so for companies like o power that are doing pretty well and already expanding, the tax credit may help them decide to hire even more workers more quickly. instead of 100, maybe we get 110, 115. we'll see. this bill would also encourage small companies to expand by permitting them to write off expenses for new equipment. while it's by no means enough, this legislation is an important step on the road to recovery and i look forward to signing it into law. now, even as we fight to help the private sector create more jobs and even as we fight to bring about a full economic recovery, we know that there

have been success stories all across america. o power is one of those success stories. this is a company that works with utilities to help folks understand their energy costs and how they can save money on their energy bills. and for the press, if you weren't able to hear, this board testifies to the number of kilowatt hours that have been saved, the amount of money that's gone back into consumers' pockets and the amount of carbon that has been taken out of the atmosphere as a consequence of the great work that these people here at o power are doing. now, part of the reason i suspect you're growing is that you're doing your jobs well. but i also know that a big part of the reason is that you're seizing the opportunities of the future. the jobs of tomorrow will be jobs in the clean energy sector. and this company is a great emblem for that. that's why my administration is taking steps to support a thriving clean energy industry

across this country. an industry that's making solar panels and building wind turbines, producing cutting edge batteries for fuel-efficient cars and trucks and helping consumers get more control over their energy bills. and that's also why earlier this week i urged congress to enact a new initiative we're calling home star that would offer homeowners rebates for making their homes more energy efficient. rebates worth up to $1500 for individual home upgrades and up to $3,000 for retrofitting their entire home. so if they're getting this good information from opower and they see that, boy, that drafty window is costing me a couple of hundred bucks a year, they're now going to have an incentive to go to home depots or go to lowe's to hire a certified contractor and make the changes that will ultimately pay for themselves, improve our environment and improve our economy. i want to thank, by the way, your home state senator, mark warner, for his great work on home star in the senate.

think about the way that the rebates we're talking about could help spur private sector job growth. it could not only help businesses like opower to help consumers make their homes more energy efficient, it's also going to create business for the local contractors and the companies hired to upgrade homes. these companies then in turn have to purchase supplies and that creates business for retailers. these retailers would need to restock their shelves and that creates business for manufacturers and almost all the goods that are required to make homes more energy efficient are actually produced right here in the united states of america. it's very hard to ship an energy-efficient window across an ocean. so, yes, people who are out of work right now need some immediate relief. yes, we need to extend unemployment insurance and cobra to help americans weather these tough times. yes, we've got to do everything we can to help the private

sector create jobs right now. but even as we do, we also need to replicate the success of clean energy companies like opower. we need to invest in the jobs of the future and in the industries of the future because the country that leads in clean energy and energy efficiency today i'm absolutely convinced is going to lead the global economy tomorrow. i want that country to be the united states of america. i want companies like opower to be expanding and thriving all across america. it's good for consumers, it's good for our economy, it's good for our environment. it's wonderfully exciting to be here, and i think when you look at this group that's gathered here, you can see the future in this company. so thanks for the great work you guys are doing. let's see if we can replicate your success all across the country. thank you very much, everybody. >> okay. president obama talking clean

energy and clean economy at opower in arlington, virginia. the president acknowledging the better-than-expected news from the jobs report but also saying that more needs to be done. here is what we're working on for the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." how did february's unemployment rate manage to hold steady when the u.s. economy is still shedding jobs? we've grabbed an economist from georgia tech to help explain that to all of us. and "essence" magazine honors black hollywood at its annual oscars luncheon. we'll hear about the african-american influence on today's film industry next hour right here in the "cnn newsroom." so, what do you think?

preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose your service, choose your savings. like an oil change for just $19.95. meineke. california students are among the hardest hit, as you may know, by tuition hikes. thousands took to the streets across the country to protest yesterday. whitney thompson is president of students for a quality education at cal straight fresno. whitney, good to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> hey, whitney, what did you accomplish yesterday? >> well, yesterday we had a wonderful turnout and a fantastic energy. i think we reached more people in telling them about how students are affected and showing them that we're really concerned about our future and

our education situation right now. >> whitney, ultimately what do you want done here? come on, these are difficult economic times, as you know. what do you want done here? >> well, we've had already like a billion dollars cut from the csu funding in the past two years, so i mean i know it's tough decisions, but thousands of eligible students are being turned away right now from the csu. basically they're the job force of the future, so if we want grads to get in the job force, they are it. >> let's see here, i think we've got some full screens here. you've got a 32% hike in student fees set to go into effect this fall, is that correct? >> yes. oh, no, we just had a 32% fee increase, yeah. >> yeah, okay. so here are the numbers. you paid, what, $1700 in 1999, then last year you paid $3,000. okay, you can see the increase there. now with this hike you're paying

$4,000. okay. how optimistic are you that you can reverse the trend line here? >> well, we're hoping really to get additional sources of funding, but also a freeze would be wonderful too. we really have just been hurt so much that we just -- i don't think we can face any more cuts without losing quality education at our schools. >> okay. so are you going to keep this going? are you going to keep the protests going? >> oh, yeah, we already have a bunch planned after this one. it's not over. >> all right. well, whitney, appreciate it. we'll follow your efforts, all right? >> thank you very much. >> thanks for being patient. we appreciate it. you know, we are tracking the jobless rates across the country. which states have jobs, which do not. our cnn money team joins me next hour right here in the "cnn newsroom." d i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking,

and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix.

some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. with the chantix and with the support system, it worked. it worked for me. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. time now for your top of the hour reset. i'm tony harris in the "cnn

newsroom." across america, experts crunch unemployment stats for february. new clues, the jobs recovery will be painfully slow. it is noon at guantanamo bay, cuba, where accused 9/11 mastermind khalid shaikh mohammed may face a military tribunal after all. it is 2:00 in chile where we consider the possibility last weekend's earthquake may be related to other pig obig ones year. the economy lost fewer jobs than analysts predicted last month, a sign the jobs market may be recovering but the process is really painfully slow. new numbers out this morning show the up employment rate held steady in february. 36,000 jobs were lost. economists were expecting 68,000. in a speech on clean energy jobs just moments ago president obama commented on the new report. >> this morning we learned that in february our economy lost an additional 36,000 jobs. now, this is actually better than expected considering the

severe storms all along the east coast are estimated to have had a depressing effect on the numbers. and it shows that the measures that were taken to turn our economy around are having some impact. but even though it's better than expected, it's more than we should tolerate. >> okay, let's bring in our money team to talk about the jobs and the new unemployment report. chief business correspondent ali velshi and christine romans in new york. ali -- ladies first. let's start with christine. let me start with your better half here. look, christine, break this out for us. the jobs report for february, good and bad here. >> well, look, we still have a very big chunk of people who have been unemployed for a very long time. 40% of people have been out of work locker than six months and that is -- >> the chronic unemployed, correct? >> yeah, this is a problem. but ali and i were just having a vigorous debate with a couple of economists who are on our show this weekend and they were saying -- one of them was

saying, look, outside of that 40%, there's some action happening for people. there's some -- the length of unemployment is shortening a little bit by just a few days. now you can expect to be unemployed 208 days instead of 212 days. at least it's going in the right direction and you're seeing big job losses slow. what i'm still concerned about and i think ali is to is the big chunk of people that have to be absorbed back into the labor market. it's going to take years to do that. >> what are your concerns, ali? >> my bright side is that many months ago or a year ago we weren't having vigorous conversations with economists like christine talked about, we were all trying to say is it bad or is it really bad. it looks like there's a big storm cloud over us that remains over us, it hasn't moved. we're not losing more manufacturing jobs, which have been the bane of our job numbers for years, not just through this recession. temporary jobs have been

increasing. we don't like temporary jobs, but they're generally a step on the way to permanent jobs. so we're seeing some of that happen. and we're seeing, as christine said, less time spent on up employment. still around six months, longer than six months, but the reality is if you're looking for a trend it's going in your direction. it's just nowhere near being able to solve the problem. as christine says, recovery, we're talking about 2013, 2014, longer, before these people laid off get back in. >> wait a minute, wait a minute, that's way too long down the road here. >> yeah. >> christine, what jump starts employment? i keep hearing when we get sustained sales surges, when we get sustained sales growth. what does that mean? is that three months? is that two quarters? >> here's the thing. nobody knows that. it's confidence. confidence and it's just a feeling of well-being and an ability to take a risk in the economy. you know, we were also talking about david gergen on the show about entrepreneurship and innovation and all this uncertainty about all these changes happening in the economy. if you want to make a change or make an investment or do

something, there are 100 reasons not to and only one or two to actually do it. so when it changes, things will get better. >> you're a health care company, you're an insurance company, you're an energy company, you want to build a new plant, you want to do something new but you can't do something new right now because you know there is legislation coming down, so this uncertainty, while it may be fantastic that we've got this activist government that wants to change so many things, that kind of change makes it hard for business to invest. as a result, a lot of business owners are sitting back saying i'm just going to wait to see how this plays out. >> oh, but you can't make money sitting on your stockpiles. you can't. you've got to move it and put it somewhere or invest it somewhere. >> chicken or the egg. >> christine, are we talking about needing a new bubble here? the president last hour was talking about the green economy and green jobs and the energy sector. isn't that the new bubble and isn't that something that potentially is sustainable beyond, say, the ten years of the housing bubble?

>> if -- look, tony, you have to create eight and a half million green technology jobs just to absorb all the manufacturing and other workers who lost their jobs in the recession and you have to create 150,000 jobs every month just to keep up with the working age population coming in. that's an awful lot of jobs. i have seen no forecast -- green technology is going to create ten million jobs? i don't think so. >> let's say it can create two million jobs. i'm just inventing that number. the rest of the economy can deal with the 100 and 150,000 jobs a month christine says we need on a sustained basis, but there has to be something, this has to be some growth area. we know energy will be part of it and health care will be part of it. but who's making big investments in those areas without knowing what legislation is going to be in place. you might see that once health care legislation is put to bed, one way or the other, you might see an uptick in spending as companies say we know what the road map is, let's start putting some money into it. >> that is terrific.

do i have to wrap it now or can i keep going? sonia? i've got to wrap it. >> blame it on the producers, tony. >> there you go. i know you guys will be back next hour. thank you, guys, we appreciate it. ali and christine will have much more on this, a vigorous debate as you heard alluded to. that's tomorrow right here and they'll be back next hour in ali's show. other top stories we're following right now in the newsroom, police say last night's shooting outside the pentagon appears to be the case of a man who had some real issues. police say john patrick bedell was shot to death after opening fire on pentagon police. two officers were wounded but they're okay. the shooting at a metro station just outside the pentagon. bedell, who lived in california, apparently left behind internet postings railing against the government and questioning the 9/11 attacks. >> he's had some issues in the past. he has had a couple of contacts with the law.

he's a very well-educated individual. right now we don't know if we have a motive yet. there are no indications at this point that there are any domestic or international nexus at all. at this time it appears to be a single individual that had issues. >> it caused a mess for morning commuters. in arizona several people were ejected from a bus when it veered off an interstate and flipped over early this morning. a states government spokesman said it happened south of phoenix. six people were killed more than a dozen were killed. iraq's leader flexes on a deadline as voters get ready to go to the polls. nuri al maliki has not said he would ask u.s. combat troops to stay past august, but he left that possibility open in an exclusive interview with cnn's arwa damon. >> translator: it depends on the future on whether the established iraqi army and

police would be enough or not. so, this issue is depending on the development of the circumstances and regulated by the strategic framework agreement between the united states and iraq. >> reporter: so, just to clarify, if the situation dictated it, you would be willing to have u.s. forces extend their stay in iraq? >> translator: absolutely. the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks could face a military file afterall. the white house may try khalid shaikh mohammed in new york. what's the new thinking that's taking shape? >> reporter: a senior administration official says now the white house advisors are considering recommending that they try the 9/11, khalid shaikh mohammed, in a military court, not a civilian court, in new york city. now, if this happens, tony, this would be an about-face for the administration on two fronts. first the location of the trial,

secondly the nature of the trial itself. the white house has been under incredible pressure, new york officials say we don't want this trial in our backyard in manhattan because of logistics and security. there are also a lot of mefbl o of congress who are saying if you want to close guantanamo bay detention facility, we want to make sure you try the guy in a military tribunals or settings, much more strict when it comes to terrorists. i spoke to robert gibbs earlier this morning. here's what he was willing to say. what he said. he said we are evaluating this based on new york city low ji y logistical and security concerns. this is different from qat we heard from the attorney general eric holder back in november when he expressed why it was that he was making the recommendation that he was. take a listen to this. >> the justice department has a long and a successful history of prosecuting terrorists for their

crimes against our nation. particularly in new york. although these cases can often be complex and challenging, federal prosecutors have suckcessfulsuck sa successfully met the challenges and have convicted a number of terrorists who are serving lengththy sentences in our prisons. >> reporter: senior administration officials are emphasizing that no final recommendation has been made or given to the president, so the president hasn't made a decision. but just the mere fact that you've got folks talking to me and other media outlets they are certainly are preparing the american people and potentially their critics for what's down the line which could potentially be a real reversal. >> floating the trial balloon. already you are hearing criticism? >> reporter: this from the aclu, the website, this is attributed to their executive director. if the stunning reversal comes to pass, president obama will deal a death blow to his own justice department not to mention american values. if the president flip-flops and

retreats to the bush military commissions he will betray his campaign promise, and lose all credibility with americans who care about justice and the rule of law. tony, you should let you know the white house if they had any response to this. they said, no, they didn't. they will let gibbs' statement as it is. we didn't have a chance to ask additional follow-ups. there was a briefing for 12:30 and it was pushed back to 3:00 and now we're told it was canceled. this was because of scheduling issues, we don't know what they are, but it certainly gives the white house more time to hone its message. >> absolutely. suzanne, thank you. what can get americans back to work? where are the jobs going to come from? we are digging deeper. first, though, our "random moment." lindsey vonn,@ she stays tough!

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producers. the anchor finally gets a clue here. he looks like he's about to get out of his chair to break up the fight, but, no, he's out of there. we'll see it in a second. we think it's stage. it's our "random moment of the day." [ children shouting ] come on, kiddo, let's go. [ laughs ] hold on a second... come on up here where your brothers sit. [ birds chirping ] wow! did i ever tell you what it was like growing up with four sisters? that sounds fun. yeah...fun for them! [ male announcer ] chevy traverse. a consumers digest best buy. with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. it seats eight comfortably -- not that it always has to.

so, the latest report shows the economy lost 36,000 jobs last month. not as bad as expected. but what does that really mean for the future? the big picture here, economist from georgia tech joining me to break out the jobs report. good, bad, what are your thoughts on it overall? >> my thoughts is actually it's the best report that we've had yet, which sounds strange.

and the reason i say that is because the economy really absorbed a huge shock in terms of the weather, and it's still standing, and stow tho that meat the recovery is really taking hold. >> you believe that? >> i do. kind of like a prizefighter in the ring and you give him your best shot and he's still standing. >> overall how deep is this unemployment picture in this country? are we talking about the 10 million people who lost their jobs since the start of the recession in 2007? is it more like the 8.3 million,le 8.4 million the white house touts? >> it's deep, because we have the official figures which doesn't include individuals who are discouraged and there are 1.2 million people who are actually discouraged in the labor market. meaning discouraged they stopped looking for jobs. and then on top of that you also have about 8 million workers who are part time but want to be full time and you have the massive amount of unemployment and you have the discouraged

workers and what we call marginally attached workers, 2.5 million. so, the numbers are beyond what was actually reported. >> right. i want to get to some demographics here and ultimately give us some facts on what would jump-start jobs again. last month, i think we prepared some graphics here, experienced 10% unemployment, no change. women had 8% unemployment. that's up from maybe just a hair from the previous month. teenagers who are experiencing it, it seems here, the lions share of unemployment at 25% are actually starting to do a little better here. african-americans, the unemployment numbers went down. that's pretty good. from 16.5% to 15.5, but, still, wow. white unemployment virtually unchanged at 8.8% and hispanic unemployment went down a bit here. so, really, danny, what jump-starts job growth? >> you have to have something that is a catalyst. and i --

>> it's the bubble. i say it's the next bubble. the energy sector. the president was just talking about it last hour. >> right. >> the green economy. >> uh-huh. >> and energy jobs. >> uh-huh. >> at least has the potential, doesn't it tosh extend beyond, the real estate bubble, however long the tech bubble lasted? >> absolutely. and you're right about that. it is a long-run cure, but not a short-run solution. >> yes. >> so, it takes time to commercialize all the kind of technologies we have in the green sector, so that will take a while. but short of that, we have to find something that galvanizes the optimism of businesses and consumers so that they move back into the market and stop hoarding money. >> what do you think that is? >> i don't know. >> if we can figure it out, right, we'd be moving again, right? >> that's right. >> but here's the thing, we've got some consumer spending, the outlook for consumer spending is improving. we keep hearing if we can get some sustainable sales growth, some sustainable sales growth, then we can start hiring again.

well, if consumers start spending more, is that a way to get some movement? >> yeah, exactly. and let me tell you what a part of the solution is. one of the reasons that households and businesses are so hesitant to spend and are hoarding kahoard ing cash, because they feel they ran into some kind of situation they haven't accounted for, they can't go to the bank and borrow money. regulations are too it and banks are sitting on money, and a small business owner, where is my parachute. unless we solve that problem and unless we give businesses and households the confidence -- >> right. >>-- there is someplace that they can go and borrow money, then we can't get it going. >> okay. thanks for your time here. i'm going to see you next hour. you're going to teach me up a little more. danny, appreciate it. thank you. >> all right. and still coming in the "newsroom," hollywood is getting ready to shine in the oscars and this year diversity is taking

center stage. we are talking about it with "essence" magazine editor, there she is, angela murray, she is next in the "cnn newsroom." you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (phone rings) hello? this is rick with broadview security. is everything all right? no, my ex-boyfriend just kicked in the front door. i'm sending help right now. thank you. (announcer) brink's home security is now broadview security. call now to install the standard system for just $99. the proven technology of broadview security system delivers rapid response from highly-trained professionals, 24 hours a day. call now to get the $99 installation, plus a second keypad installed free. and, you could save up to 20% on your homeowner's insurance. call now-- and get the system installed for just $99. broadview security for your home or business -

the next generation of brink's home security. call now. top stories now. more big aftershocks rattled chile, two strong ones struck this morning near concepcion. chile's second biggest city. the shaking sent terrified residents back into the streets. last saturday's massive quake killed several hundred people. in arizona a deadly bus crash, south of phoenix, six people were killed when a passenger bus hit a pickup truck. the bus driver lost control and the bus rolled over. it happened on interstate 10 south of phoenix. full-body scanners headed to nine more airports in the united states, they will join three going online monday in boston and in the coming week in o'hare in chicago. they were bought with minneapolis from the federal stimulus package. 19 airports across the country

have the scanners. more top stories for you in 20 minutes. hollywood's biggest nightca. as african-americans continue to make their mark in the movies, "essence" magazine held an oscar luncheon to honor the current stars and the legends of black hollywood. joining me to talk more about the african-american influence on film, "essence" magazine's editor in chief, angela burt-murray, angela, it's great to talk to you. we don't get an opportunity to do it nearly enough. >> good to be here. >> tell me why "essence" chose to honor the amazing women that you hoenered at the amazing luncheon. sell us about joey saldana. >> her middle initial should be

"b" for blockbuster. this is a young woman who has been in "pirates of the caribbean," "star trek" and her amazing performance in james cameron's "avatar." this young woman's future is so incredibly bright. it was just a wonderful opportunity to talk about all the achievements that she has and also to look forward to more amazing projects from her. >> she has a couple of movies coming up in short order. >> absolutely. >> explain the power award going to, again, the great queen latifah. >> queen latifah just keeps coming back with amazing performance after another. also she's a businesswoman. she's a motivational speaker, she's an author and stars in her own films. this is a woman who really creates her own blueprint for success, so she's an incredible inspiration to so many women around the world. she's inspiring not only because of her work but also the confidence that she brings to every aspect of her career.

>> smart, smart, smart. gaby sidibe, this is, wow, this is an obvious one. talk to us about gaby and her breakout performance. >> absolutely. gabourey sidibe has given the heartbreaking performance of the year. for a virtual unknown, her very first performance, first time stepping in front of the camera, she has delivered a heart stopping performance in the film "precious." her future looks absolutely bright. it was incredible to have her in the room to talk about what this day meant to her and to see all of the heroes in the room from sicily tyson and angela bassett. >> how about a couple of lines on mary j. blige, please. >> mary j. had two incredible songs last year for powerful projects. she had the stronger song for the lebron james film "more than

a game." he h she had a strong on that soundtrack and also a song on "precious," not only has he been creating the soundtrack to im with women's live, but also the documentary and the film "precious," it was wonderful to pay tribute to her as well. >> let me give you a couple minutes to work on the next question. 20 years ago when i was 5 years old, i was working fork "entertainment tonight" and interviewing the stars of black hollywood, and the frustration then was where are the good roles for black actors. when will hollywood be truly color blind in the most culturely, racially, ethnically diverse country in the world and when will black hollywood be the deal-making, green-lighting, producing -- you know where i'm driving here? >> absolutely. >> are those still the questions being asked? look, you get great access to

black hollywood. >> definitely we're seeing the same issues that you were just talking about. when we talked to the women in the room yesterday at the "essence" luncheon, a lot of them are still talking about the very real barriers that still exist in terms of having that autonomy to green light projects, to be able to bring more authentic african-american stories to the screen. certainly we've seen, you know, a lot of progress. tyler perry is doing amazing things and he really calls his own shots. is able to produce whatever projects that he wants to, but we need more people like that, particularly we need more african-american women directing, producing, at the studios, calling the shots and of the kaing more black women in exciting roe inroles. there's still a lot of work. >> angela, terrific work. it's great to see you. >> great to see you, too. >> great. and let's get you -- the next time you're in atlanta, let's get you on the set, all right? >> thanks so much. >> have a great weekend.

>> bye-bye. to read more stories that matter to us, pick up the latest issue of "essence" magazine on newsstands now or go to cnn.com/whatmatters. and, of course, cnn will have all of your oscar coverage. "showbiz tonight" will be live with two oscar shows, this sunday, march 7th, the coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. the coverage continues live at hln at 11:00 eastern. earthquakes in haiti, chile, japan. is the earth trying to tell us something? are these disasters connected? we are digging keeper and a fact check. [ female announcer ] it's lobsterfest. the one time of year red lobster creates so many irresistible ways to treat yourself to lobster. like our new wood-grilled lobster and shrimp with parmesan scampi... our succulent lobster lover's dream,

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i discovered i only needed a twenty-minute walk. i discovered how to wake up feeling great. there's so much to discover in the accu-chek aviva system. why not start your discovery today? all: i did. massive earthquakes in chile and haiti and another strong oned if, a magnitude 6.5 near indonesia, no word of injuries there. you know, it seems the whole world is being shaken to the core these days. look at this. these big quakes have a lot of people wondering what is going

on. are they related? should we all be worried? cnn executive producer, susanne simon, and meteorologist, chad myers, have done some fact checking for us. susanne, let's start with you. you found mind-blowing numbers on the quakes. >> it's always good to step back and get a better sense of concept. are they more or are we covering bigger ones? the usgs estimates there are several million earthquakes every year, but a lot are so small they don't register. the national earthquake information center does locate about 50 of them every single day, though, and the big ones like we've seen recently, those that measure about an 8.0 or higher on the richter scale, those usually only occur about once a year. >> once a year. >> yeah. >> let's do this, several million a year. >> yeah. >> chad myers, i know you're with us, sir. >> yes. >> where are most of these quakes taking place? >> they are taking place in

boundaries what we call plates, literally parts of the earth that are floating on top of the molten lava, the magma, that's down below, that's still floating, that's still moving. that's enough movement that these plates are sliding. here, hold on, tony. my producer is just a genius. >> yes. >>er wou ewe're going to go ove i have the informational screens, every little line is a plate? >> let's get closer. >> and the words, "ring of fire." here's the aleutian trench, the hawaiian hot spot, the pacific rise, everywhere you see the black line, that's a potential area for a quake, all the way through haiti and all the way back down through chile. let's go back to where i was, this is the google earth machine, going back up, cool, the u.s., all the way down to chile. >> yep. >> 216 dots on there. do you know what they are all are there? >> what are they? >> 215 are aftershocks.

the big one is the original quake. we say, are they connected? absolutely they are connected. they are all part of the same break in where the plates came together, that plate broke. it's, like, you have two pieces of rock. and they're stuck together. >> got you. >> but yet one's moving one way and one's moving the other way and it's okay until you lose that, and then it slips. and that's what happens, an earthquake. it slips. >> well, let me ask you, you can see that those quakes there along the coast of chile, you can see -- >> they are connected. >> they are connected. >> absolutely. >> but we're talking about taiwan. honestly, we're talking about japan, we're talking about near indonesia now. >> haiti. >> haiti. so, to both of you, are all of these quakes somehow related and, suzanne, you go first? >> most of the experts we talked to said it's coincidence. >> it's a crazy coincidence. >> but, chad, prove me wrong. >> no, i just know that sometimes coincidences are

pronounced coinky-dink. the 8.8 quake made the earth go faster and it's smaller like a skater bringing her arms in, the earth spinning faster because the earthquake, because the solid mass is a little bit closer to the center. i think some of that movement could be making some of these. but they're not directly related from one to the next. it can happen. and it does. that if it -- you shake it addre at 2:00 and the wave and the shake gets to japan at 3:00 and japan has the quake, certainly those were connected. but we just haven't seen that time/distance continuum on any of these being enough and proper and connected. >> good stuff. i'm fighting back a cough, so suzanne is handling the tease. >> she's doing the rest of the show. tony, you're done, have a nice weekend. >> i'm done. bye. you're on. all right, thanks so much. tony is going to be back in just

a second, and he'll be talking about what millions of people are going to do to find a job. you might be one of these if you don't get your voice back, right? >> oh, that's great. >> our ines ferre is finding out. that's right, we're at an employment center in yonkers and we're speaking to job speakers who are acquiring new skills to stay competitive.

look, you saw a couple of stars of our cnnmoney team at the top of the hour with christine romans and ali velshi, and ali velshi will be back in a couple of minutes in the "cnn newsroom." we love to direct you to cnnmoney.com at this time of day. just so that you have access, always, you are just a click away from the latest financial

news and analysis. cnnmoney.com. let's get you to the new york stock exchange now for friday. better than three hours into the trading day, and we're in positive territory. we've been like this all morning. the dow as you can see is up 81 points, and the nasdaq, jen help me with that, up 25? up 25 points. yeah, up 25. follows these numbers throughout the day right here in the "cnn newsroom." you know, even though the unemployment rate held steady last month, almost 15 million americans are out of work. cnn's ines ferre has been talking to people looking for work. she joins us from a job center in westchester, new york. great to see you, lady. what are folks saying to you? >> reporter: well, they're looking for jobs and they're coming here and looking for resources, too, look, tony, this is one of the jobless folders that they've got here that's listing civil jobs, jobs in all sorts of industries, and here are the stacks of them. they can come here to the job center and use computers, talk to counselors, take workshops.

and today we're talking to russell, who came this morning to use the fax and also the internet. and, russell, your story is really interesting, because you've been out of a job for a year and a half. correct? >> yes, i have. >> reporter: and you were in the mortgage industry. >> yes. >> reporter: and now you decided to switch to another industry. can you tell us about that? >> well, i came here one day just to do some job searching and my counselor, lynn carr, knows some of the skills i had and thought it might be transferred into something teaching. i never thought about teaching before, and it was something that really i thought i want to do to mold young minds and help young people. so, it's something i'm really aggressively going after, much to her help. she really helped me out on that one. >> reporter: and how long was this teaching scholar -- what you received, this education, teaching education? >> well, i went back to school, after 30 years, and it was really -- it was something for me that was really eye opening. i hadn't been back to school in a while. it was -- it was really challenging, but i did pretty

well and got a 4.0 in the process for my first semester back. >> reporter: well, congratulations. >> thank you. >> reporter: may is when you're ending the course? >> i'll be a graduate teaching assistant and from there i'll get my bachelor's and get my master's and be teaching full time. >> reporter: excellent. what i am hearing from the counselors pair up people's skills with job opening's and if they don't have the skills, transfer them to a new industry. >> what is he going to be teaching when he gets his course work done, what is he going to be teaching? >> hopefully inner city schools where the kids really need practical experience along with trying to mold those minds and bring some of the academics to them as well. >> that's terrific. boy, we need you in the classroom. we certainly need more african-american men in classrooms across the country. we'll be talking about that very subject next here in the "cnn newsroom."

>> absolutely. >> russell, thank you. ines, good to see you. >> thank you, tony. >> keep us posted, will you please, sir? >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. stop what you're doing right now. take a look at this number. can you figure out this website? hurry, hurry, hurry, 10 billion and ticking up. is it the national debt? funny, funny, funny, my credit card balance or what. your answer next and your top stories. lindsey vonn,@ she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over, achy cold. what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer. alka-seltzer plus. rushes relief for all-over, achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus.

quickly now, let's get you caught up on the top stories. a potential reversal for handling the 9/11 terrorists case. a senior white house advisers close to recommending a military instead of a civilian trial for khalid shaikh mohammed. president obama talking about green energy and job growth. he noted february's job figures are better than expected, but added they are still, in his words, more than he should tolerate. twitters passes a milestone more than 10 million tweets. twitter broke the 5 billion-tweet mark just four

months ago. at its current rate of use, it's estimated the 20 billion tweets will happen in july. cnn's elizabeth cohen told you about outrageous medical bills, and now you are telling her your horror stories. we've got them for you next in the "cnn newsroom." [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™

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so many times, but those days came and went and the cigarettes remained. ♪ today's a new day. talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options and support. and this time, make it your time. getting answers for you. cnn's help desk is committed to helping you during these difficult financial times. our stephanie elam has been reading your e-mails. >> time now for the help desk, where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me this hour, doug flynn a certified planner and founder of flynn-zito capital management and donna rosato, a senior writer from "money." i am overloaded with debt and credit cards. i have paid the minimum balance on my credit cards for more than

three years. how can i get debt free and what type of programs can you recommend? >> the best thing to do when you are thinking of getting out of credit card debt is, first of all, stop using your credit cards and stop digging the hole. if you feel tempted, don't take them with you when you are going out. some people put them in a block of ice. but then start paying them down. there are two philosophies, we usual recommend start with the highest interest rate credit card first, those are the cards that you will pay the most interest rate over the long term. if you have a number of cards and a couple of with small balances, you can get a real psychological boost by wiping out a couple of the smaller credit card balances, i also feel it's a lot of a behavioral issue. stop using the cards. start paying them down, if you can knock out a bunch of them, it will be easier to tackle the debt. >> it's true. if you get somewhere into it. the next question is from lawrence, he writes, i'm 55 years old and in good health.

do you have a formula for knowing when to take a lump-sum payment versus a monthly pension check? that's a dicey one, doug. what do you think? >> there's no magic formula, but when someone is 55, the first thing that comes to mind, it's probably a reduced pension number. you usually get a reduction for not waiting until 60 or 62, but whatever the number is, one of the places you can go to compare what you're going to get from your provider, versus what's out there, is to go to immediateannuities.com. that's a good place. you can punch in how much your lump sum would be and what you can get elsewhere as a comparison. the problem i see he really needs to get the information if he waited until 60 or 62, whatever his social security time is, because retiring at 55 these days is a very aggressive goal and you might be getting a very low payment for the rest of your life. and really, if you have all of that information, what i would recommend, is you probably take all that info, along with your longevity, history, and your family, and go to a qualified financial planner who

specializes in this, they can crunch all the numbers for you and come up with the best solution for you in your unique situation. it's a little more complicated than a magic formula. >> and it might give them the incentives to let the money sit there until he gets to the right age. >> he can roll it over and defer it, which is always a good thing to do. >> thank you. send us an e-mail and we might have the answers to your question next week. you can pick up the latest issue of "money" magazine, which is on newsstands now.

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so, this week we have been telling you about some of the outrageous costs connected to health care. now it is your turn. cnn's senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, is back with responses to her series, "health care prescription for waste." boy, you could do this for the rest of your days here at cnn. i mean, all the waste and whatever else and people are weighing in big time, aren't they? >> oh, hundreds of people responded to this. everybody it seems has a story about some ridiculous charge on their hospital bill, so let's get right to it. we have two examples right here. we had a viewer who wrote in who said i was in the hospital with my child and she needed some tylenol. two ccs, that's what you are seeing, two ccvs of ttylenol, t

cost, $128. >> are you kidding me? >> that's what the viewer told us. $128 for two ccs of tylenols. you recognize this? >> the binkkys. >> some say it is worth their weight in gold. because it will calm the child down. but this 21 one is worth $121. >> come on. >> $121. and to make it worse when it falls on the hospital floor, the nurse doesn't wash it off, they open up a new one, so this child had 11 pacifiers and so the bill, came to -- >> come on! >> -- $1,331 for pacifiers for this child's hospital stay, so those are just two of them. one of my favorite ones, a guy, a man, who got charged for a pap smear. can't do a pap smear on a man. >> you said that like i didn't know that. >> i just wanted to make sure that we were clear on that. >> yes, perfectly. >> okay, you got it. >> crystal clear. >> let's get to an e-mail from -- that came to us at cnn.com.

and here it is. want to read it to you. "all i can say is we need to standardize costs across the board, that no one can set prices that are as outrageous as these." so, elizabeth, here is the question, why don't the hospitals and insurance standardize costs. >> i think what this person is trying to ask, why doesn't the government step in and do it, right? industries don't set prices, some say they shouldn't do that, but having the government come in and stay, you can only charge $2 for a pacifier or whatever, is a lot of government protrusion that people protest. all through the summer we heard people going on about it. now it's a free market economy and if you can get away charging $121 for a passfier, that's what happens. >> it's outrageous. it's crazy. elizabeth, good to see you. have a good weekend. tired of rising costs and budgets, teachers and students take their messages to campuses. when you hear a click, you know it's closed and secure.

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♪ stinky! stinky! ♪ stinky! stinky! ♪ hefty! ♪ hefty! ♪ hefty! a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthritis pain all day. how about this? about 200 students and teachers at a california middle school rallying against education cuts. it was just one of dozens of protests in 33 states. this demonstration -- we'll see it here in a second -- at the university of wisconsin in milwaukee, not quite as peaceful. at least 15 were arrested when the protest over tuition

increases spun out of control. back in san diego now, we hear a teacher's perspective on all of this. >> i've been here for six years and i've watched the sort of steady decrease of the quality of work of my students. they don't have the time to put as much effort in to their work as they could. if they didn't have to work several jobs at the same time while going to school full time. >> and now to the phones we go to hear what some of you think about the budget-cut protests. >> caller: the cost is too high. students can't get jobs. students need a way to be able to get work and pay back their debt and it's not working. >> caller: what are they saying when it comes to costs? because most colleges you're lucky if you get a professor in the classroom. >> caller: i graduated from high school, and i've already gone one semester without going to college. i don't have the funding. my parents can't pay for it. >> caller: if they would lower their fees, the students would be able to afford it. you'd get more of